Max Korzh
Maksim Anatolievich Korzh (Russian: Максим Анатольевич Корж; born November 23, 1988), professionally known as Max Korzh (Russian: Макс Корж) is a Belarusian singer and songwriter.
Max Korzh | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Maksim Anatolievich Korzh |
| Born | November 23, 1988 Luninets, BSSR |
| Origin | Belarus |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | singer, singer-songwriter, director |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Website | maxkorzh |
Biography
At a young age Max Korzh was enrolled into music school by his parents. At the age of 16, Korzh started his first band called “Lun Clan”, alongside his friends but the band didn't last long and dissolved. Korzh was a part of a couple other projects, although none of them proved to be successful. In his teen years he used to record songs in Belarusian.
Shortly after Korzh followed the path of becoming a beatmaker making music for other artists but to no critical success. This made him decide to record his own songs over his own instrumentals.
Korzh recorded his first solo song while studying at Belarusian State University; the biggest university in Belarus. During the 3rd year of studying at the university he decided to drop out and concentrate on his music career. He borrowed $300 dollars from his mom, went to a studio and recorded "Nebo Pomozhet Nam" (English: "Sky Will Help Us") and posted it on VKontakte, the biggest Russian social network. Shortly after he was enlisted in the military. When he returned from military service, he found out and learned that the song went viral and gotten big in Belarus. The track “Nebo Pomozhet Nam" (English: "Sky Will Help Us") garnered a big following and gotten airtime on the radio. To make it gain more popularity, Korzh then proceeded to send the track to various Minsk DJ’s for them to play at parties.[1]
Solo career
On April 7, 2012 Korzh released his first ever music video "Nebo Pomozhet Nam" (English: Sky Will Help Us”). It proved to be successful on the charts.
On May 1, 2012 he released his debut album "Zhivotniy Mir" (English: "Animal World") which consisted of 16 tracks, each written by Korzh himself. Later that same year he signed with a Russian record label: Respect Production founded by Kasta, a legendary Russian rap group. This allowed Korzh to travel more and play shows not only in Belarus, but in Russia and Ukraine also.
When asked about the theme for his debut album by a Russian publication "Argumenty i Fakty", Korzh said in a statement:[2]
In the early stages of 2013 Korzh went on his "The Take-Off March" tour around Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. One show took place at the Minsk Sports Palace in his home country of Belarus and he hesitated to take on the venue because he felt that "we could have lost a tonne of money" but eventually decided to go with it and the venue sold 6,500 tickets.[3]
In the summer of 2013 Korzh was nominated as a Breakthrough Artist at Muz-TV Awards.[4][5]
On November 2, 2013 Korzh had the honour of becoming the first Belarusian musical artist to have ever performed a sold-out show in Belarus, Minsk-Arena for 13,000 people.[6][7][8]
Reputable Russian magazine ‘Afisha-Volna’ described Korzh's music as "pop-rap with club energy and street honesty" and said its "hybrid of genres presents 100% bestsellers that tend to stick in your head".[9]
His 2014 “Torn Out May" tour gathered 6,000 people in Minsk and sold out Moscow’s Luzhniki Palace of Sports.
In June 2014, Korzh won the nomination for Best Album at Muz-TV Awards for his second album "Zhit’ V Kaif".[10]
On November 8, 2014 Korzh released his third album “Domashniy” (“Domestic/ Homely”). The tour performing in Europe and CIS countries to support this album was called “The Big Flat” tour.
In June 2015 Korzh was nominated for three awards at Muz-TV Awards: Best Hip-Hop Artist, Best Album and Best Live Show.[11]
On December 16, 2017 Korzh now marked his second sold-out show in Minsk-Arena.[12]
In 2016 and 2017 Korzh decided to release his fourth album in 2 parts; The first part in 2016 and the second part in 2017. He titled the fourth album "Maliy Povzroslel" (English: “The Boy Has Grown”). The first part was released in 2016, "Maliy Povzroslel, Pt.1” (English: “The Boy Has Grown Pt.1”) and the second part in 2017, "Maliy Povzroslel, Pt.2" (English: “The Boy Has Grown, Pt.2”). On December 22, 2017 his "Maliy Povzroslel" album won the VK Music Award.[13]
In 2018 Korzh had his first ever tour of the United States.[14]
In 2019 Korzh went on a huge ‘stadium’ tour around Belarus, Ukraine and Russia.
Discography
Studio albums
2012 — "Zhivotniy Mir" (Animal World)
2013 — "Zhit’ V Kaif" (Live Dope/ Life Is Good)
2014 — "Domashniy" (Domestic)
2016 — "Maliy Povzroslel, pt. 1" (Boy Has Grown, Pt.1)
2017 — "Domashniy (Extended Version)" (Domestic, Extended Version)
2017 — "Maliy Povzroslel, pt. 2" (Boy Has Grown, Pt.2)
Remix albums
2016 — "Best Remixes"
Singles
2016 — "Slovo Patsana (The Word of a Man) (Bassquaid & ST Remix)»
2016 — "Slovo Patsana (The Word of a Man) (Subranger Remix)»
2017 — "Optimist»
2018 — "Proletarka" (Proletariat Station)
2019 — "Control»
2019 — "Shantazh" (Blackmail)
2019 — "2 Tipa Lyudey" (2 Types of People)
2020 — "Raznesem" (Crash the Stadium)
Official clips
| Year | Video | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Nebo Pomozhet Nam (The Sky Will Help Us) | Max Korzh |
| 2012 | Gde Ya (Where Am I) (First Version) | Max Korzh |
| 2012 | Gde Ya (Where Am I) (Second Version) | Egor Abramenko |
| 2013 | V Temnote (In The Dark) | Ivan Lebedev |
| 2013 | Zhit’ V Kaif (Life Is Good) | Alexey Bochenin |
| 2014 | Motyle’k (Papillon) | Max Korzh |
| 2014 | Stan’ (Become) | Rustam Romanov |
| 2014 | Amsterdam | Max Korzh |
| 2014 | Domashniy (Homely) | Max Korzh |
| 2014 | Ne Vydumyvay (Do Not Make Stuff Up) | Max Korzh |
| 2015 | Plamenniy Svet (Fire Light) | Max Korzh |
| 2015 | Flat (feat. F.O.T.H) | Max Korzh |
| 2016 | Bessonitsa (Insomnia) | Anton Mamonenko |
| 2016 | Slovo Patsana (The Word Of A Man) | Max Korzh |
| 2016 | Moy Droog (My Friend) | Anton Mamonenko |
| 2016 | Style’vo (Stylish) | Andrey Svetlov |
| 2017 | Maliy Povzroslel (The Boy Has Grown) | Max Korzh, Mitriy Semenov-Aleinikov |
| 2017 | Maliy Povzroslel 2.0 (The Boy Has Grown) (Rozochka Remix) | Max Korzh |
| 2017 | Optimist | Max Korzh |
| 2017 | Napalm | Max Korzh |
| 2018 | Malinoviy Zakat (Raspberry Sunset) | Max Korzh |
| 2018 | Gory Po Koleno (Knee High Mountains) | Max Korzh |
| 2019 | Control | Max Korzh |
| 2019 | Shantazh (Blackmail) | Max Korzh, Andrey Svetlov |
References
- "Певец Макс Корж: "Я без блата и каких-то связей"" (in Russian). Комсомольская правда. April 4, 2013. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
- "Макс Корж: "Музыку нельзя назвать работой"" (in Russian). АиФ. June 26, 2013. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
- "Макс Корж: "Я в шоке от того, что смог собрать Дворец спорта"" (in Russian). news.tut.by. March 7, 2013. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
- "Стали известны номинанты "Премии Муз-ТВ 2013"" (in Russian). apelzin.ru. March 27, 2013. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
- "Премия МУЗ-ТВ 2013. Перезагрузка" (in Russian). Муз-ТВ. June 13, 2013. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
- "Макс Корж все-таки собрал полный зал в "Минск-Арене"" (in Russian). Наша Ніва. November 4, 2013. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
- "Макс Корж бьёт новые рекорды: концерт хип-хопера на ОНТ потеснил мировые тренды в Twitter – ОНТ" (in Russian). ont.by. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
- "Феномен белорусского шоу-бизнеса: Макс Корж собрал полную "Минск-Арену"" (in Russian). afisha.tut.by. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
- "Как рэпер Макс Корж завоевал Белоруссию — и почему с Россией будет так же" (in Russian). Волна-Афиша. Archived from the original on January 11, 2014. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
- "Белорус Макс Корж получил премию "МУЗ-ТВ" за лучший альбом. Список победителей" (in Russian). ctv.by. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
- "Номинанты на премию "Муз-ТВ 2015"" (in Russian). Муз-ТВ. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
- "Концерт Макса Коржа во второй раз отгремел в "Минск-Арене"". Белорусское телеграфное агентство (in Russian). December 17, 2017. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
- ""Вконтакте" назвала победителей первой музыкальной премии VK Music Awards" (in Russian). moi-portal.ru. December 26, 2017. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
- "МАКС КОРЖ В ТУРЕ ПО АМЕРИКЕ ОСЕНЬЮ 2018" (in Russian). Russian perspective. August 13, 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2020.