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Биография

  • 1983

    -I was born on October 29, 1983 in a musical family. My parents, Lyudmila Nikolaevna and Alexander Ivanovich Karafetov, are honored artists of Ukraine, the founders of the regional cultural center AME-ROMA and the family theater BlackEyes. In Soviet times, they traveled all over the USSR from Sakhalin to the Carpathians, and in the early 90s they reached the United States, where they performed with Willie Tokarev, Mikhail Shufutinsky, Lyubov Uspenskaya ...

  • - Dad, a man-orchestra, played so many instruments that it is difficult to count: there are keyboards, wind instruments, button accordion, and of course, guitar. What a gypsy without a guitar? Mom is a wonderful singer, a talented organizer and soul of all family endeavors. Mostly thanks to her ebullient energy and desire to help people, a school started working at the AMEROMA center: Roma children studied everything that concerns their native culture, songs, dances, mastered Ukrainian culture, learned to behave in society. And now we can see the result: they grew up, received higher education, became lawyers, economists, teachers, doctors, even prosecutors ... They found themselves and continue to realize themselves, what our family and their relatives are proud of.

  • 1983

    - When people ask the question: "What’s your nationality?" - I answer: "Gypsy!" Because my dad is a gypsy, and mom, as it was used to say before, is "a Slav on the Jewish line." But over the years of her life and work with her father, she probably became more of a gypsy than anyone, letting through all the troubles and joys, problems and challenges, all the things by which Roma live in Ukraine.

  • - Thanks to my parents, I grew up on the stage - just like my brother and sister. He sang for the first time for the audience at the age of three. “Only once in life there is a meeting, only once the thread breaks by the fate. Only once, on a cold winter evening, I so much want to love … ” To be honest, I don’t know what bribed the audience: the age of the “artist” who took on such an adult repertoire, or all the same charisma, but that evening I got a standing ovation and received my first fee, which much later (when I already knew how write) wrote the following: I was born into a family
    of honored artists
    I did not choose a profession by myself:
    Father's belt teaches very quickly,
    How to make a contribution to family capital.
    And now - my first performance in a restaurant,
    I got on a chair and sang one song.
    They shout: "For an encore!" - and guys, and ladies,
    And they gave me a hundred rubles for the first time ...
    I don’t remember what I spent it on.
    And I needed to save money for the first clip ...

  • - In 2001, I left school, or rather, two at once - secondary and musical ones. I remember once my dad asked: "And what do you want to become?" And I - apparently, having seen enough of popular films about cops and investigators, issued: "I will go to the Law Academy. In Kharkiv. I will be an investigator." To which dad calmly replied: "This is a dog's work, you do not need it." "Well, then," I say, "I will sing. Although the work of an artist, in my opinion, is not at all easier at all ...".

  • - Since my youth, I performed with the gypsy show of parents, and for some reason it seemed to me that I needed to look for something else. Something my own. But in my studies I followed my father's footsteps - I entered the Kharkiv State Academy of Culture. I still remember how I wrote an essay at the introductory, and then suddenly decided to pull out a cheat sheet and check it, which is why I almost left the race at the very first stage. And, of course, how at the audition I performed the star performance : "Only once in life there is a meeting ...". And I think, I played the piano Pauls - "It's not the evening yet." "Anything else you can?" - the examiners asked. “Gop-stop,” I blurted out without thinking too much. - "Thank you, not necessary. You can be free." As it turned out, the selection committee was impressed by my timbre, and experienced professors said, as for the repertoire “he should work more”. Here, I still work ... Upon graduation from the academy, I received a diploma of an artist-vocalist. And then a lawyer: well, youthful dreams, they must come true, right? Even if not completely. Over time, I learned to be an economist. Although I never learned how to be economical- at least not with everything that concerns creativity. Because there can be as many diplomas as you like, but the vocation is one. My vocation is to sing. Father was right ...

  • - I was lucky: I became a member of the TURBO band. This legendary collective was founded back in 1986 - and glorified Kharkiv throughout the USSR. At that time, there was not such dance or pop competition, from which the Kharkiv break-dance masters would not have brought the first prize. And there was no such star who did not want to cooperate with TURBO. In 1988, Pugacheva herself could not resist the pressure and talent of the soloists: Kharkiv citizens were invited to her theater. Of course, I came to the group much later, when all these "Christmas meetings" were left behind, cooperation with "Dune", "Lube", Minaev and other top artists of the 80s - 90s, and even getting to know Schwarzenegger, who wished take pictures with incredible dancers. But I remember that period - when TURBO was a part of my life - with gratitude. As the most powerful school of show business. Looking from the audience or from behind the curtains, how these guys are dancing a break, what boy has not dreamed of learning the same way? It's like watching Shaolin monks - you stand, with an open mouth, you look and think: what if I would ...

  • 2002

    My older brother helped me to overcome doubts and believe in myself. He noticed my interest and asked: "Do you want to do the same?" - "Yes, sort of." - "Okay. I'll show you where the gym they train in. You go there and ask Cactus. Say: I am a brother of Sanya Karafetov, he knows me ... ”. What is the name of this Cactus, of course, for joy I did not specify (but it was worth it, because we are talking about the famous dancer and choreographer Ruslan Zhivokorentsev), but I went to look for him the next day ... Soon I began to work on two fronts: performing with TURBO in nightclubs, and with gypsies in restaurants. Break dance in a gypsy costume, of course, tried not to perform, and earnings - not to compare, but I quickly realized that the general public still loves gypsies a little more than break dancers ...

  • - I started writing songs in 2006, but people started talking about me in 2010 - after the release of the song "Paradise". I don’t remember who once said that you can only be considered a famous chansonnier when you heard your song sounding from a police car. “Paradise” is exactly that case: both the old militia and the current police, according to the stories of my acquaintances (I, thank God, didn’t check it myself!), was listened to the core. Probably because there is no thug romance in it - this is thug anti-romanticism. About "dad", to whom you cannot say " a little", about "sons", "well-fed puppies" who "every day take from a full bowl for women and for whiskey." And the woman about whom it is said: "You silently condemn barking, but choose this" paradise "... I am often asked: who is she, the heroine of this song, did you know her? Go outside, go to a restaurant or bar and you will find out. There were, are and will be a lot of them. But, again, it is not for me to teach someone life, life will teach everyone itself. And the song ... I would say it's just about a choice that everyone makes for himself. "Paradise" appeared spontaneously. My friend, businessman and philanthropist Sergei Pirozhnikov, once showed me his poems. I really liked one. "Listen, - I say, - and drop it to me in the post office ...". Then he opened it, read it - and rushed to the studio, changing some lines in my mind on the way to make it sound clearer, more accurate and "hit harder". The melody was already there, my friend, an experienced sound engineer, who wrote for many stars, both ours and foreign ones, said: "You know, the text does not fit. We should remake it." "We shouldn’t!" I waved it off. “I can already see and hear all this!" "Ok," he says, "only if you record it from the first attempt ... Try it!" And I sang "Paradise" in one breath. Immediately! And then he shot a video for the song and released the album with the same name - in 2011.

  • - 2012 brought acquaintance, friendship and cooperation with amazing people. One of the results of such cooperation - with the famous singer Yevgeny Kemerovsky - is the song "Gypsy Blood", for which a video was released in 2012. The song was born from the first line of the chorus. "And gypsy blood!" - Zhenya sang, and then literally poured out: "The soul of a boy ...". People appreciated it and loved it - I still get reviews.

  • - In 2014, my album "Anyway" and a video for the song "A Woman Called Love" were released. I am often asked: "What kind of Love, if your wife is Christine?" "Wait," I say, "don't be confused! Christina became my wife in 2015, and the one who is Love is called Elena, and she is not my wife, but just a good friend ...". And the song itself is repeatedly ordered as a gift to Katerinas, Tatyanas, and Irinas ... In a word, for all beloved women.

  • - To Christine, the one about whom I sing: "They baptized you with the name Christine ...", we got married in 2015. I do not know who said this wonderful wise phrase: "You need to marry a girl from your street", but he is a thousand times right. This is exactly what I did - I chose a girl from the same Sunday school for gypsy children that my parents had founded. Now we have a common path, a common world in which we live, and common great happiness - our son Renat. God willing, someday we will go on stage with him - just as daddy came out with me in his time ... And then it will happen as he chooses and decides for himself. Over the years, I catch myself thinking that I am starting to resemble my father more and more. At least because I live the same touring life. ... In my schedule are Ukraine, Georgia, Turkey ... Concerts and festivals, one after another. But if you called yourself an artist, you can't do otherwise. And if you are also a gypsy, then all your life is a road ...

  • - 2018 is a truly significant and important year. First of all, because of the anniversary: I turned 35! And for this occasion, my big anniversary concert took place in my native Kharkiv 35 - is this a lot or a little? For an artist, for an author-performer, probably just right - this is exactly the age when you already have something to tell the audience about. And when your viewer and listener is ready to believe your words, your music, your life experience. The age when you understand: staying up in one style, image, freezing in one manner is absolutely impossible, you need to try new things, constantly test yourself and your creative abilities. That is why I had banter with kitsch, humor on the verge of a fall in the video for "Whiskey", and ... "Goryanka" by Nikolai Mozgovoy, which I guarantee! - the gypsies have not performed yet. At least from the stage of the National Palace "Ukraine". New songs were released - "Bye-bye" and "You will say" no. " a grandiose show program dedicated to the World Day of the Roma, a colorful, vivid action with the participation of the best performers of the gypsy song and all those who are really not indifferent to this music and these people. What will it be? Of course, I will not reveal all the secrets. For many people, it will probably be a meeting- with the culture, songs, traditions of the Roma. And for us, especially now, it is very important to get to know each other. And to understand that we are all part of one big whole thing. The country in which we live and which we simply must make so that our children would like to live in it ...

  • - 2019 has become a year of active creative and touring activity for me. Tours in Turkey, Germany, the USA. In spring there was a tour to the cities of Ukraine. In my native Kharkiv, three concerts were held with a full house. Only the most favorite songs and songs sounded from the stage, which literally a few months later were included in the new album "Two halves". On September 1, as usual, I took part in a concert in memory of N. Mozgovoy. In my performance, the song "Goryanka" sounded in a new way and was warmly received by the audience. On September 26, the presentation of my third album "Two Halves" took place, the songs which have already become real folk hits. In October, together with the Karafetov Show, we took part in a joint concert tour with the legendary Lyubov Uspenskaya! 5 cities. 2 concerts in each with a full house, passed by like one day. And this is just a small part of what I would like to tell about ...

  • - 2020 was the most extraordinary year in my career. Covid 19 and quarantine have made dramatic changes to the artist's usual work schedule and life. Most of the time, my team and I devoted to studio work. In summer I released a video for the song "To the seaside!". The clip was made in a new, cartoon style, unusual for me. Then, there was a joint work with the famous sound producer Tomas Lukas. The result was the hit "Without You", which is now being successfully rotated on radio stations. I plan to shoot a video for the same song, the idea of which I am now hatching. Also, I wrote several songs, at the request of my friends, which became gifts for the closest people. Now, I am working on a new repertoire for the "Karafetov Show". So, wait for new performance, new songs. I can also say that my new album is almost ready. I'll keep the name a secret for now. I will only say one thing: "I will have something to surprise you with!"