Monetochka

Elizaveta Gyrdymova was born on 1 June 1998 in Yekaterinburg. From childhood, Elizaveta enjoyed writing poetry and published her work on the site Stihi.ru as a teenager.{{cite web|last=Red'kin|first=Nikolai|date=5 September 2017|title=Монеточка. Жизнь после хайпа|url=https://the-flow.ru/features/monetochka-interview-2017|access-date=7 August 2020|website=The-Flow.ru|language=ru}}

In 2014, she entered tenth grade at the Specialized Educational and Scientific Center of the Ural Federal University.{{cite web

|url = https://lyceum.urfu.ru/fileadmin/user_upload/Avangard/2020-01.pdf

|title = "Я ЛИЗА, И Я НЕ КРУТАЯ"

|author = Анастасия Антошина

|language = ru

|date = 2020

|publisher = lyceum.urfu.ru

|accessdate = January 29, 2023

}} In 2016, she enrolled in correspondence courses in film production at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in Moscow. She chose the school because of her love of classic cinema.{{cite web|date=2 January 2017|title="Я волнуюсь, стесняюсь и боюсь": Монеточка представляет клип "Ушла к реалистам"|url=https://daily.afisha.ru/music/4281-ya-volnuyus-stesnyayus-i-boyus-monetochka-predstavlyaet-klip-ushla-k-realistam/|access-date=7 August 2020|website=Afisha Daily|language=ru}}

Since September 2016, she has continued her studies, and her first internship was at the ETV channel in her native Yekaterinburg, where she released joint projects with the poet Alexandra Aksyonova.{{cite web|last=Demekhina|first=Irina|date=2 January 2017|title=Лиза Монеточка спелась с поэтессой Сашей Аксеновой|url=https://ekburg.tv/novosti/razvlechenija/2017-01-27/liza_monetochka_spelas_s_poehtessoj_sashej_aksenovoj|access-date=7 August 2020|website=ЕТВ|language=ru-RU}} She then worked for some time as a producer at ETV.

File:Монеточка_на_VK_Fest_2018.jpg 2018 in Saint Petersburg]]

File:Монеточка на VK Fest 5.jpg

File:Monetochka.jpg ]]

At the end of 2015, Gyrdymova uploaded her first album, Psychedelic Cloud-Rap ({{Langx|ru|«Психоделический клауд рэп»|lit=|translit=Psihodeličeskij klaud rèp}}), to the social network VKontakte under the pseudonym Monetochka. She recorded the songs at home on a synthesizer.{{Cite web|last=Gorbachev|first=Aleksandr|date=3 May 2018|title=A 19-year-old musician just released the best Russian pop album of the year. Seriously.|url=https://meduza.io/en/feature/2018/05/31/a-19-year-old-musician-just-released-the-best-russian-pop-album-of-the-year-seriously|access-date=6 August 2020|website=meduza.io}}{{cite web|last=Lee|first=Julia|date=2 July 2018|title=Живущая в сети. Как Монеточка построила музыкальную карьеру нового типа|url=https://www.forbes.ru/forbes-woman/364927-zhivushchaya-v-seti-kak-monetochka-postroila-muzykalnuyu-kareru-novogo-tipa|access-date=13 August 2020|website=Forbes.ru|language=ru}} Soon after, she began uploading videos of her live performances to YouTube.{{cite web|last=Varkentin|first=Irina|date=9 February 2016|title=Звезда YouTube Лиза Монеточка: "Петь про Путина мне еще рано. Вам же не нужны вторые Pussy Riot?!"|url=https://66.ru/news/society/181870/|access-date=7 August 2020|website=66.ru|language=ru}}

On 22 January 2016, she officially released Psychedelic Cloud Rap. The album was posted in one of the popular social network communities and quickly went viral. By the end of February, she had over 20,000 followers on her VKontakte page and received offers to give concerts and interviews.{{cite web|last=Raspopina|first=Sasha|title=Meet Monetochka: this teenager's songs went viral. Don't be fooled by her sweet voice|url=https://www.calvertjournal.com/articles/show/6347/liza-monetochka-viral-internet-pop-star-russia|access-date=13 August 2020|website=The Calvert Journal}}

In January 2017, Monetochka released the video for the song "Ushla k realistu" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Ушла к реалисту»}}). On 1 June 2017 the video for the song "Childfree" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Чайлдфри»}}), recorded with Noize MC, was released. The song and video became the subject of a scandal. The Moscow lawyer Sergei Afanasyev wrote to the prosecutor's office to check "Childfree" for legal violations, claiming that the lyrics promoted teen suicide.{{cite web|last=Bobylev|first=Roman|date=2 June 2018|title=Адвокат потребовал проверить песню "Чайлдфри" Noize MC и Монеточки на призыв к детскому суициду|url=https://daily.afisha.ru/news/17962-moskovskiy-advokat-nashel-v-pesne-chayldfri-noize-mc-i-monetochki-prizyvy-k-detskomu-suicidu/|access-date=7 August 2020|website=Afisha Daily|language=ru}}

In 2017, Monetochka began to collaborate with the alternative R&B musician and producer Viktor "BTsKh" Isaev.{{cite web|last=O'Callaghan|first=Tommy|date=9 July 2018|title=Meet Monetochka, the popstar fast becoming the face of young Russia|url=https://www.rbth.com/arts/328716-meet-monetochka-popstar-adult-coloring-books|access-date=7 August 2020|website=www.rbth.com|language=en-US}} Their first collaboration, the single "Poslednyaya diskoteka" ({{Langx|ru|«Последняя дискотека»|lit=The Last Disco}}), was released on 31 October 2017.

On 25 May 2018, Monetochka released her first studio album, Coloring for Adults ({{Langx|ru|«Раскраски для взрослых»|translit=Raskraski dlâ vzroslyh}}), produced by Isaev. According to the press release, Coloring for Adults marked a new sound for Monetochka, "containing musical references to the 1980s and 1990s, contemporary club music, music from cartoons, and even folklore."{{Cite news|date=2 May 2018|title=МОНЕТОЧКА – РАСКРАСКА ДЛЯ ВЗРОСЛЫХ|language=ru|work=Месмика – гид по музыкальной индустрии России, Европы и мира|url=https://mesmika.com/news/670-monetochka-raskraska-dlja-vzroslyh.html|access-date=16 July 2018}} The album contains multiple references to the late Soviet rock musician Viktor Tsoi, including a musical quote from the Kino song "Khochu peremen!" ({{Langx|ru|«Хочу перемен!»|lit=I Want Change!}}) and lyrics mentioning a "weary Tsoi".{{Cite web|last=Engström|first=Maria|date=2 June 2018|title=Monetochka: The Manifesto of Metamodernism|url=https://www.ridl.io/en/monetochka-the-manifesto-of-metamodernism/|access-date=13 August 2020|website=RIDDLE|language=en-GB}}

On 28 May 2018, Monetochka performed the song "Kazhdyi raz" ({{Langx|ru|«Каждый раз»|lit=Every Time}}) on the late-night talk show Evening Urgant. In his introduction, the host, Ivan Urgant, said that some critics considered Monetochka's new album "one of the major Russian-language albums of this year." On 1 June 2018, a concert presentation of the new album took place in Moscow.{{Cite news|last=Lyabina|first=Aleksandra|date=3 May 2018|title=Звезда соцсетей Монеточка выпустила альбом "Раскраски для взрослых"|language=ru|work=«Комсомольской правды»|url=https://www.kp.ru/daily/26836.4/3877075/|access-date=16 July 2018}}

On 2 October 2020, Monetochka released the studio album Arts and Crafts ({{Langx|ru|«Декоративно-прикладное искусство»|translit=Dekorativno-prikladnoe iskusstvo}}).{{Cite web|last=de la Torre|first=Lucía|date=2020-10-02|title=Listen to the new album from Russia's witty, provocative pop star Monetochka|url=https://www.calvertjournal.com/articles/show/12198/monetochka-new-album-liza-girdimova-russian-pop|access-date=2020-10-02|website=The Calvert Journal}}

In 2022, Monetochka toured with Noize MC, raising over €200,000 for a Polish charity that helped refugees resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.{{cite web | url=https://www.euronews.com/culture/2022/04/26/voices-of-peace-meet-the-russian-musicians-taking-a-stand-against-the-war-in-ukraine | title=Meet the Russian musicians taking a stand against the war in Ukraine |work=Euronews |access-date=18 September 2022 |agency=AFP |date=26 April 2022 }}

In a review of Psychedelic Cloud Rap on the InterMedia website, the music critic Alexei Mazhaev wrote that "in Liza's music, stiob is combined with sanity on the verge of cynicism", and "excellent command of words, a sense of language and accurate orientation in the signs of the times are seasoned with charming naivety."{{Cite web|last=Mazhaev|first=Alexey|date=1 February 2016|title=Лиза Монеточка—"Психоделический клауд-рэп"|url=http://www.intermedia.ru/news/291003|website=InterMedia|language=ru}}

According to music journalist Alexander Gorbachev (Meduza), despite the fact that Monetochka started off as an Internet meme, she did not share the formulaic path of short-lived celebrity. Comparing the singer's songs from Psychedelic Cloud Rap to the new songs of Coloring for Adults, Gorbachev notes that "the toylike childishness of Monetochka’s early music has grown into something far more complex in this album."

The poet Vera Polozkova spoke about Monetochka's success in the following way: “This is absolutely a child telling you about what is happening around you, with such irreconcilability which you would never have dared to use yourself."{{Cite news|last=Parfenova|first=Anastasia|date=5 June 2018|title=Монеточка рубль бережет|language=ru|work=Коммерсантъ|url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3650353|access-date=7 August 2020}}

Maria Engström claims that "Monetochka’s album [Coloring for Adults] today is the only intelligible manifesto of the aesthetics of Putin’s fourth term in office."

The singer Zemfira called Monetochka's lyrics "excellent", but said she considered the singer's voice "repulsive".{{Cite web|date=1 July 2018|title=Одна — очень некрасивая. У второй — отличные тексты, но омерзительный голос. Земфира оценила Гречку и Монеточку|url=https://meduza.io/shapito/2018/07/19/ochen-nekrasivaya-otlichnye-teksty-no-golos-omerzitelnyy-zemfira-otsenila-monetochku-i-grechku|access-date=7 August 2020|website=Meduza|language=ru}}

Boris Barabanov named "Kazhdyi raz" one of the 16 top songs of 2018 and wrote that by releasing Coloring for Adults, Monetochka "managed to break the framework of the independent scene and break into the mainstream."{{Cite news|last=Barabanov|first=Boris|date=3 December 2018|title=Слушая 2018–й|language=ru|work=Коммерсантъ|url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3834793|access-date=7 August 2020}}

On June 28, 2018, Moscow lawyer Sergei Afanasyev said that the prosecutor's office, at his request, began checking the song "Childfree" of Monetochka and Noize MC for, in his view, calls for adolescent suicide in the song, specifically in the following lyrics:

{{Quotation|1=Listen to my advice in MP3 format: don't wait until you get old, rather die. It's a shame your parents aren't childfree. Burn in hell, burn in hell!{{Cite web |url=https://www.znak.com/2018-06-27/moskovskiy_advokat_prosit_prokuraturu_proverit_pesnyu_monetochki_i_noize_mc |title=Moscow lawyer asks the prosecutor's office to check a song of Monetochka and Noize MC |access-date=11 May 2021 |archive-date=11 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911002358/https://www.znak.com/2018-06-27/moskovskiy_advokat_prosit_prokuraturu_proverit_pesnyu_monetochki_i_noize_mc |url-status=dead }}}}

Vitaly Milonov, a deputy from United Russia, was also extremely outraged by this work and said in an interview that medical experiments should be carried out on Monetochka and Noize MC.{{Cite web|lang=ru|url=https://www.gazeta.ru/culture/news/2018/11/07/n_12259597.shtml|title=Milonov sent Monetochka and Noize MC to psychiatrists|date=7 November 2018 |publisher=Gazeta.Ru|accessdate=2019-10-08}}

However, many famous people defended the performers, stating that one cannot judge the entire composition by a phrase taken out of context. For example, Mikhail Osadchiy, Vice-Rector for Science of the State Institute of Russian Language, spoke as follows:

{{Quotation|1=If you carefully read the text, then in it you will see not propaganda for suicide, nor incitement to suicide, but ridicule of suicides committed due to influence by the media. The text, of course, is devoted to the negative impact of the information field of modern society on a person.{{Cite web|lang=ru|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6vgNdf15XI|title=noize MC shocked by the checking his song with Monetochka - Russia 24| website=YouTube |accessdate=2019-10-08}}}}

In December 2016, Monetochka's track "Gosha Rubchinskiy" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Гоша Рубчинский»}}) was ranked 11th in The Flow's "50 Best Tracks of 2016."{{Cite web|date=1 December 2016|title=50 лучших треков-2016|url=http://the-flow.ru/features/treki-2016-20-11|website=The Flow|language=ru}}

In January 2017, Psychedelic Cloud Rap was ranked 6th in The Flow's "33 Best Russian Albums of 2016".{{Cite web|date=1 January 2017|title=33 лучших отечественных альбома-2016|url=http://the-flow.ru/features/2016-rus-albums-pt3|publisher=The Flow}} Psychedelic Cloud Rap was 14th in the list of the 20 best Russian albums in Afisha Daily's "40 Albums of the Year" for 2016.{{Cite web|date=2 December 2016|title=40 альбомов года: выбор "Афиши"|url=https://daily.afisha.ru/music/4034-40-albomov-goda-vybor-afishi|publisher=АфишаDaily}} In December 2017, "Poslednyaya diskoteka" was ranked 17th in The Flow's "50 Best Tracks of 2017."{{Cite web|date=1 December 2017|title=50 лучших треков-2017|url=http://the-flow.ru/bestof2017/50-luchshih-trekov-2017-vol4|publisher=The Flow}}

In 2018, at the Jager Music Awards, Monetochka won in the categories "Group of the Year" and "Single of the Year" with the song "Kazhdyi raz".{{Cite news|date=1 November 2018|title=Монеточка стала "Лучшей группой" на Jager Music Awards|language=ru|work=InterMedia|url=http://www.intermedia.ru/news/329677|access-date=24 November 2018}} All 10 songs from Coloring for Adults entered Yandex Music's Top 100 chart within three days of the album's release. The song "Nimfomanka" received the highest ranking, reaching number one in the chart.{{Cite web|date=5 June 2018|title=Монеточка – Раскраски для взрослых|url=https://music.yandex.by/album/5393158|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180605072942/https://music.yandex.by/album/5393158|archive-date=5 June 2018|publisher=Yandex.Music}} In summing up the music of 2018, Yandex Music named Monetochka as the breakthrough artist of the year and noted that "Kazhdyi raz" was one of the most streamed tracks across their markets.{{Cite web|title=Looking Back on 2018 with Yandex.Music — Yandex company blog|url=https://yandex.com/blog/yacompany-com/music-2018|access-date=7 August 2020|website=yandex.com}} The Flow ranked Monetochka's tracks "90" and "Kazhdyi raz" in the 20th and first places, respectively, in their list of the 50 best tracks of 2018,{{Cite web|last1=Red'kin|first1=Nikolai|last2=Busarenko|first2=Kirill|last3=Gorbash|first3=Lesha|last4=Nedashkovskiy|first4=Andrei|last5=Zav'yalov|first5=Vladimir|date=1 December 2018|title=50 лучших треков 2018. Финал|url=https://the-flow.ru/best-of-2018/50-luchshih-trekov-2018-final|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181219135753/https://the-flow.ru/best-of-2018/50-luchshih-trekov-2018-final|archive-date=19 December 2018|access-date=20 December 2018|website=The Flow|language=ru}}{{Cite web|last1=Red'kin|first1=Nikolai|last2=Busarenko|first2=Kirill|last3=Gorbash|first3=Lesha|last4=Nedashkovskiy|first4=Andrei|last5=Zav'yalov|first5=Vladimir|date=1 December 2018|title=50 лучших треков 2018. Часть 4|url=https://the-flow.ru/best-of-2018/50-luchshih-trekov-2018-vol4|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181218161701/https://the-flow.ru/best-of-2018/50-luchshih-trekov-2018-vol4|archive-date=18 December 2018|access-date=20 December 2018|website=The Flow|language=ru}} and according to the results of a popular vote, Coloring for Adults came third among the best albums of 2018 and first among pop albums of the year.{{Cite web|date=1 January 2019|title=Народное голосование на The Flow-2018: итоги|url=https://the-flow.ru/best-of-2018/vote-or-die-2018-itogi|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190121232914/https://the-flow.ru/best-of-2018/vote-or-die-2018-itogi|archive-date=21 January 2019|access-date=21 January 2019|website=The Flow|language=ru}}

In May 2022, it was reported she left Russia for Lithuania.{{cite web |date=8 May 2022 |title=Певица Монеточка объяснила отъезд из России |url=https://ekburg.tv/novosti/razvlechenija/2017-01-27/liza_monetochka_spelas_s_poehtessoj_sashej_aksenovoj |access-date=21 November 2022 |website=RBC |language=ru-RU}}

In January 2023, the Russian Ministry of Justice included Gyrdymova in the list of "foreign agents".{{cite web |author= |date=January 20, 2023 |title=Singer Monetochka among new additions to the list of 'foreign agents' |url=https://meduza.io/en/news/2023/01/20/singer-monetochka-among-new-additions-to-the-list-of-foreign-agents |accessdate=January 29, 2023 |publisher=meduza.io |language=}}{{cite web |author= |date=January 20, 2023 |title=Russia's Justice Ministry adds singer Monetochka and founder of Gulagu.net Vladimir Osechkin to 'foreign agents' list |url=https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2023/01/20/russias-justice-ministry-adds-singer-monetochka-and-founder-of-gulagu-net-vladimir-osechkin-to-foreign-agents-list-en-news |accessdate=January 29, 2023 |publisher=novayagazeta.eu |language=}} In September 2024 a criminal case was opened against her for “evading the duties of a foreign agent”.{{cite web |author= |date=September 6, 2024 |title=Против певицы Монеточки возбудили уголовное дело о неисполнении обязанностей «иноагента» |url=https://meduza.io/news/2024/09/06/protiv-pevitsy-monetochki-vozbudili-ugolovnoe-delo-o-neispolnenii-obyazannostey-inoagenta |accessdate=September 6, 2024 |publisher=meduza.io |language=Russian}}

• 2016 — Psychedelic Cloud Rap ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Психоделический клауд рэп»}})
• 2018 — {{ill|Coloring for Adults|ru|Раскраски для взрослых}} ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Раскраски для взрослых»|translit=Raskraski dlâ vzroslyh}})
• 2020 — {{ill|Arts and Crafts (Monetochka album)|ru|Декоративно-прикладное искусство (альбом)|lt=Arts and Crafts}} ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Декоративно-прикладное искусство»|translit=Dekorativno-prikladnoe iskusstvo}})
• 2024 — {{ill|Prayers. Jokes. Toasts|ru|Молитвы. Анекдоты. Тосты}} ({{langx|ru|link=no|Молитвы. Анекдоты. Тосты|translit=Molitvy. Anekdoty. Tosty}})

• 2017 — I'm Liza ({{Langx|ru|Я Лиза|lit=I'm Liza}})

• 2016 — "Gosha Rubchinskiy" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Гоша Рубчинский»}})
• 2016 — "Capital" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Капитал»}})
• 2016 — "Trump Ace" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Козырный туз»}})
• 2016 — "Left for a Realist" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Ушла к реалисту»}}){{Cite web|date=1 January 2016|title=Альбом "Ушла к реалисту – Single" (Монеточка)|website=iTunes|url=https://music.apple.com/ru/album/%D1%83%D1%88%D0%BB%D0%B0-%D0%BA-%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82%D1%83-single/1199623722|access-date=5 September 2018|language=ru}}
• 2016 — "Factory" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Завод»}})
• 2016 — "Hello, Angelina" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Здравствуйте, Анджелина»}})
• 2017 — "Daddy, forgive me" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Папочка, прости»}})
• 2017 — "Risa-chan" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Риса-чан»}})
• 2017 — "The Last Disco Party" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Последняя дискотека»}})
• 2018 — "There's Nothing I Want to Know Anymore" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Не хочу ничего знать»}})
• 2018 — "At Dawn" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«На заре»}}) (Alyans cover)
• 2019 — "Fall into the Mud" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Падать в грязь»}})
• 2019 — "Burn Burn Burn" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Гори гори гори»}})

• 2016 — Noize MC — "Childfree" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Чайлдфри»}})
• 2016 — Khan Zamai & Slava KPSS — Hype Train («Гоша Рубчинский» feat. СД, Zoo in Space, Букер Д. Фред, Овсянкин, «Покемоны» feat. Овсянкин)
• 2017 — Satana Pechet Bliny ({{Langx|ru|link=no|Сатана Печёт Блины}}) — "Selfie" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Селфи»}})
• 2018 — Satana Pechet Bliny — "Son Studentki" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Сон Студентки»}})
• 2018 — Noize MC, Swanky Tunes — "People with Machine Guns" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Люди с автоматами»}})
• 2018 — Kurtki Cobaina ({{Langx|ru|link=no|Куртки Кобейна}}) — "DNA Threads" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Нити ДНК»}}) (Bi-2 and Monetochka)

• 2017 — "Left for a Realist" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Ушла к реалисту»}}){{Cite web|date=2 January 2017|title="Я волнуюсь, стесняюсь и боюсь": Монеточка представляет клип "Ушла к реалистам"|url=https://daily.afisha.ru/music/4281-ya-volnuyus-stesnyayus-i-boyus-monetochka-predstavlyaet-klip-ushla-k-realistam|website=Афиша Daily|language=ru}}
• 2017 — "Childfree" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Чайлдфри»}}) (feat. Noize MC)
• 2017 — "Goodbye, my Yekaterinburg!" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Прощай, мой Екатеринбург!»}})
• 2017 — "The Last Disco Dance" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Последняя дискотека»}})
• 2018 — "Zaporozhets" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Запорожец»}})
• 2018 — "90"
• 2018 — "DNA Threads" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Нити ДНК»}}) (feat. Bi-2)
• 2019 — "Nimphomaniac" ({{Langx|ru|«Нимфоманка»|lit=Nymphomaniac}})
• 2019 — "Fall into the Mud" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Падать в грязь»}})
• 2019 — "No Money" ({{Langx|ru|link=no|«Нет монет»}})

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Category:Musicians from Yekaterinburg

Category:21st-century Russian women singers

Category:Russian women singer-songwriters

Category:Russian singer-songwriters

Category:Living people

Category:1998 births

Category:People listed in Russia as foreign agents

Category:Indie pop musicians

Category:Russian podcasters

Category:Russian activists against the Russian invasion of Ukraine