Tommy Cash Estonia real name. Tommy Cash - biography, photos of the rapper, songs, personal life, girl, videos, height

On November 27, Kazan hosted a concert by the Estonian Tommy Cash, a wild man imitating the image of the king of the Russian ghetto with the help of tracksuits, trips to McDonald's on horses and a non-existent accent. We tried to interrogate the musician, at the same time capturing the Kazan concert.

TOMMY CASH

What does this centaur tattoo mean?

Well, I had “centaur” on my album, and I’ve been riding horses for over a year. We have two horses, I ride one, my friend rides the other, we have such a mixed breed, one is called Size, the other is Respect.

You said that you grew up in a Russian ghetto in Tallinn - what kind of place is that? Why ghetto? How is it different from any provincial Russian city?

The Estonian ghetto cannot be compared with other ghettos; before it was dangerous to leave the entrance, but now everything is calmer and calmer there. Everything we have there is in panel houses, there are Stalinist two-story wooden buildings. This place is different from any provincial Russian city in that I grew up there.

Do you consider yourself a product of Russian culture, Estonian or more American?

I had a lot of Russian at home, at school I received portions of Estonian culture, and the rest all came from America - old Eminem albums, for example. My parents were constantly buying something new, and for that I am grateful to them. I was about 11-12 years old, and I listened to “The Slim Shady EP”, there, you know, on the cover there is a mummy, stabbed with syringes, around a pill, well, in general, it’s complete horror.

By the way, how are you generally received in Europe - in which countries have you already performed?

Yes, East Europe, I haven’t been to London, Barcelona and Paris yet, there are plans for a tour, everything has already been worked out there.

Who would you like to record a collaboration with?

With M.I.A., Massive Attack, with Gorillaz. I'd like to go with Yung Lean, he's ******** [very impressive]. By the way, he recently released a grime track - “Hoover”, which doesn’t sound like him at all, different sounds, not cloud rap, in general.

How would you generally describe your music? What is this - Tumblr rap, parody?

This is not a parody, I’m just not serious in all the songs, irony is a theme for me, I can always be serious, maybe in a year, in two, in five, but not now, that’s for sure.

Have you thought about recording a serious track yet?

I have a new job, a lot of things will change, there will be such a level-up in both music and video. It would be interesting in the future to make different albums on gabber, techno, I love all of it.

Have you often been criticized for your obvious resemblance to Die Antwoord? Tracksuits, mustaches, talk - they did all this first?

I was inspired by their freedom, cool dudes. In theory, they are the most famous performers who use accent as one of their main trump cards. And there are no other artists like this. It's like, you know, like if you have pigtails, you do it like Ace Rocky.

You construct your image from such a synthetic idea of ​​Russia - sultry ladies against the backdrop of carpets, adidas Originals tracksuits, such gypsy chic. Do you really associate the country with this?

No, well, in my country too ** *** [a lot] of this, many wear sportswear, especially when I was little, all this imprinted on me. Well, of course, I associate Russia not only with this, Russia is a completely different world, there is a lot of things here, why you can love it and why you can hate it.

In general, in your opinion, why is this image of Russia and Eastern Europe in general so popular in the West - bonfires on the street, trailers, complete chaos, guys who all look like semi-bandits from the outskirts?

East is the new West, it’s just that at one point everyone ****** [will get tired of] the American style, American thrash, American beat and the way they see things, and therefore people will look (and are already looking) for exoticism from here, from Russia and its outskirts, Asia. Culturally, Europe is becoming more and more similar to America, even if we take, for example, Estonia - McDonald's and so on. People are starting to forget where they come from.

Can you imagine the moment when all this stops working? What will you do then - will you turn to another image?

And *** [the devil] knows. Yes, there are a lot of different things, where you can move - nature is there. In general, I don’t set limits for myself.

25-year-old Estonian Thomas Tammemets is a demonic charisma, broken English and post-Soviet grotesque aesthetics, which, in fairness, he adopted long before the boring fashion for the Cyrillic alphabet and everything that goes with it.

This week he performs on stage at the largest Sonar festival in Barcelona. In a couple more days - at the legendary Glastonbury. If Eastern European rap has a dad now, he has a neat mustache and his name is Tommy Cash.

While Thomas took a smoke break, I met the beautiful Anna, who, as it turned out, is both his girlfriend and manager. Unlike the artist, she speaks almost no Russian, but happily shares stories from the tour (“We spend 65% of our time on the road”) and stories about Europe. “I see the interview is already in full swing!” - Thomas jokes, returning to us. Now definitely yes.

I heard that you are quite familiar with Kirkorov’s repertoire. How so?

All thanks to my family, they listened to pop music at home. Channel One was constantly on TV. My mother is Ukrainian, and my father is Russian. I may not get Kirkorov drunk now, but I remember some motives. Old Russian pop music is cool. I really adore the Tatu group.

Tell us about the place where you grew up.

Kopli microdistrict, Tallinn. This is a ghetto that was a popular place for heroin addicts and other drug addicts. When I was 9 years old, I could tell from afar what a person was wearing. I learned them while riding trams. This area is the terminus of the tram route. There are a lot of abandoned two-story wooden houses there. They stank terribly and were rotten. Such a small Detroit. And on the outskirts there are 20-30 houses like this - this is Kopli. Such was life. And in contrast - beautiful nature and the sea literally under the window.

Explain, how did a young man who grew up in such areas become interested in art?

You know, it was an emotion that allowed me to leave this place. Leave this area and this city where nothing is happening. This was my antidote, because this place seemed unbearably boring and too normal to me. Through creativity I created my own world.

Do you communicate with childhood friends?

Yes. A couple of them are in prison, but when they get out in the summer, they're all cool.

Who gave you the first rap?

My first dance teacher. He was very fashionable, wore Bape brand clothes, and at that time, 11-12 years ago, this was the cutting edge of street fashion. He loved "adik". I traveled around the world and accumulated large art books of styles from different countries. I think his attitude towards style rubbed off on me.

We recently spoke on the phone. His name is John and he lives in Barcelona. He watches and rejoices at my successes. He really became a guru for me. He's still, you know, bald, and on the back of his head is a small braid, like a Shaolin monk. The first rap tape for me was "Eminem Show". I typed texts from it at home on an antediluvian typewriter. Listening to the album on a huge “pioneer” player, I did not understand all the words. And when I didn’t understand, I tried to select according to consonance. It turned out something similar to poorly typed text from the Genius website. I think my songs are somehow inserted there. Someone heard the word “hat” instead of “cat” - and let’s decode it.

Before becoming a rapper, you were a backup dancer for local Estonian artists.

When you are a dancer, you look for any way to make money from your business. For some time I actually danced with other artists; now I don’t even remember their names. Local singers. You can imagine how difficult these productions were. But this was not my main source of income. I was consumed by freestyle and dance battles.

It’s very interesting to hear about your horses. Will you tell me?

It’s all thanks to this girl (points to Anna sitting next to her). She was the producer of the video "Euroz Dollaz Yeniz". She has been riding professionally for a long time. About 2 years ago, she took me on a ride for the first time - and I fell in love. We have 2 horses. Names Size and Zodiac.

How long did it take you to learn to stay in the saddle?

As soon as he sat down for the first time, he immediately broke into a gallop. I learned it instantly. It's so cool! I just wasn't afraid from the beginning, so everything happened quickly. Don't think, my love for horses is not a promotional joke. Not to sit on a horse and pose for the cameras. This is for real.

Where are they kept?

In the stable. 15 minutes drive out of town - and you are there.

You characterize your music with the tag “post-Soviet rap.” Why is this “post-Soviet” and Eastern European vibe so attractive to you?

They don't attract me at all. Growing up, I hated them. At first, of course, I didn’t understand what it was and what was causing it. This is the same grayness that you want to escape from. And then one day I realized that this was me. What shaped me. I grew up here. I saw it. I'm not black. I've never been in a Cadillac. I'm not thrilling. But filming cliches that are alien to us is not an option. Now post-Soviet aesthetics have already become ubiquitous, but when I started working with it, in 2013, there was no such trend. We got ahead of her.

Why has the trend of understanding the Soviet past suddenly become so popular?

It’s just that everyone is already... [tired] of the West. Everyone knows from the movies what New York looks like. And no one there knows what Kyiv looks like. Everyone is constantly looking for something new. Now the time has come when, in search of this new thing, they got to the bottom of us.

You show this aesthetic as sinister and creepy.

That's it for now. I don't want to focus on her. In creativity you need to display all the colors of the rainbow.

Have there been any complaints about how grotesque you portray these post-Soviet realities?

No. Why might this offend anyone?

Let's say, seeing you wearing a pioneer tie in the "Surf" video, activists' asses might catch fire.

Just that much? No, this has never happened before.

Have you heard Gribov?

We chatted with them! I try to be a good host for the artists who come to us. It coincided that when the Gribovs arrived, we were just in Tallinn. I just wrote in direct: “Guys, if you need anything, you can ask me.” They are very nice guys, they thanked me right away. Then we met in person at their concert and performed brilliantly. I realized that they still had few songs in their repertoire, they repeated some - but the public liked it. And today I’m sitting at the Kiev airport - and they write: “Hey, dude, are you in Kyiv today?” Great guys. I thought about it, it would be cool to make a track with them. They didn't have feats yet. And in terms of visual aesthetics, we overlap a little, again.

Which Russian music do you like?

Scriptonite. I haven’t listened to the new album yet, but I really liked the sound of the last one. Who else? I'm a fan of the singer Luna. I played her “Bottle” on the European set, I specifically asked the DJ to add it to the mix.

Your quote: “In a couple of years, I’ll be sitting around a campfire with Kanye West, Kim, their kids, and telling wild stories that happened to me on tour in Russia.” Of course, I’m not Kanye or Kim, but tell me something wild.

This seems to have happened in Kazan. We go outside after the concert to smoke. Fans immediately surround us. At first there were 10 people. Then 20. 30. 50. And next to the club the security guards were standing, well, very angry - you can see from their facial expressions. I also thought that they were probably former boxers. And they start ordering these people to move away from the club. There was a guy in the crowd, he just wanted a photo with me. He came up to me. Good guy, absolutely sane. The security didn't like something - and he started beating the guy. They moved aside and began to fight. And now the moment: a taxi is already waiting for us, my whole team is loading into the car, they are calling me. Out of the corner of my eye I notice that this dude has fallen, and the security continues to kick him. I see him lift his leg over him like he's in the movie American History X. They take me away, the crowd continues to pursue us. That guy was lying between the cars, already out of my field of vision. But I remember a puddle of blood spreading from under the car. Just a red puddle! What happened was such a shock for me! When I arrived at the hotel, I actually cried. I have never seen such atrocity. I asked to find out if the person was still alive. They said he was fine. But he just wanted to take a photo, you know? Just!

This is a terrible example. And the fun stuff is emotions, smiles, people. A reaction like “You still came to our Nowhere.” My tour of Russia covered 9 cities.

After the success of “Winaloto”, how many offers did you receive from labels?

Quite a bit of. Everyone wanted to listen to my next tracks. There are many different bookers. Most of the offers, of course, came from Europe. But they also wrote from the States. For example, the man who once helped sign Lil Wayne to the label. So old, you know. He says, well, I made Cash Money, I stood at the origins in 1994. He still writes to us.

Why are you refusing?

We have not yet received an offer that would interest us.

What should the offer be like for you to pay attention?

I can not even imagine. I’m definitely not going to give away the rights to songs for a couple of thousand euros.

For a couple of tens of thousands?

Let’s just say that I don’t remember exactly how much they offered us. But they didn't offer enough.

Is it important for you to maintain independence?

Undoubtedly. But if we are talking about working with competent people who can strengthen your brand and not dilute it, this makes sense.

As far as I know, you have recently taken over European management.

After "Winaloto" we were contacted by people from Primary, the largest booking agency that deals with Daft Punk, Lana Del Rey, Stormzy. Now we are on this roster.

What's the weirdest business offer you've ever received?

They offered to become the face of Lay’s chips. Imagine, you buy a pack - and there is my face.

There is an opinion that it is difficult for rappers and singing artists in general to break into the West due to the language barrier. They won't be understood there. Are there other reasons why this is not easy to do?

It seems to me that language is not the main problem. It so happens that our artists often copy other people's work. Here they are more likely to adapt a foreign product to the local public than to invent something original of their own. Why would anyone abroad need a copy? Previously, this was generally a general misfortune of the scene, but now the first progress is already being observed. There is more originality. Rubchinsky showed that you can set a trend by being yourself and where you come from. In other words, you don't have to sound black to be cool.

Quote from your song: “I don’t know English, my mind feels caged.” That is, you write in English incompletely?

Something like that. This is not my native language - and this constrains me. But even my broken English brings me money. I believe that a good artist is a person without a nation. He must speak a universal language. You may not know the origins of the world's biggest stars, but you know their names and their music.

Now I already know that your manager and your girlfriend are one person. In what ways is this cool and, conversely, in what ways is it uncool?

Anna: (laughs)

T: It’s cool that you can handle important matters in your underpants. And it’s uncool, of course, that all this work with your other half interferes with your relationship.

Weren't you afraid to make Anna your manager as well?

There was no other possibility! I had no one, but she believed in me from the very beginning.

I heard you spoke at a reception with the President of Estonia.

Yes, in the presidential castle!

"In the castle"! Let's go in order. How did they contact you?

Anna: Last July. Phone call: “An American millionaire, known in Estonia for sponsoring a large number of local startups, is planning a visit to the president. We want Thomas to speak at the reception at the palace.”

T: And before that they wrote us a letter, which we didn’t even notice right away! This happened a couple of weeks after the release of the video for "Winaloto". Morning. I'm home. In shorts. I open messenger on Facebook. I see new letters. I open the last one, and there’s just one sentence: “Would you like to perform at the President’s castle?” I immediately called her: “Anna, is this for real or a prank?”

A: And so I communicate with these people. I ask them the question that I always think should be asked: “Are you sure that Tommy is the performer you need?” Tommy Cash is a different type of artist. They tell me: “Yes, of course, we are sure.” Tommy's performance was planned as a big surprise for the guest. This was the wish of the President of Estonia. We built a small stage in one of the rooms of the castle. There were only 20 people there, but he was received very warmly. They clapped and danced.

T: The entire family of the president was present. I saw him during the performance, he stood literally 5 meters from me. It was such a strange experience! Reading some harsh lines from his songs, I couldn’t get rid of the feeling that this was not really happening. But that's not the main thing. The press and photographers were invited to the reception. And then the president comes up to me and says: “Tommy, do you mind sitting down on the courts with me?” (laughs) He suggested it! And our photo with him became a hit.

A: He was a very cool president. There was - because now the leading position in the country is occupied by a woman, I don’t even remember her name. Few people take her seriously. The reception to which Tommy was invited was shortly before the end of his presidency. I suspect he did it because he didn't have to worry about the consequences. He remained in office for two terms and earned a reputation as an active promoter of the cultural sphere. He also said that he really likes Tommy Cash videos.

I roughly understand what kind of reaction is formed in people who have seen your videos. That’s why the question is: people often ask if you’re crazy?

Very much (laughs). So what. I portray this or that scene on the screen not for shock value, but only for the reason that I want to see it, but no one else is doing it. I wanted to show on screen that I have giant balls. Such that they made it difficult to move. That's how I feel. I did it. Visionaries like Alejandro Jodorowsky and David Lynch are my big idols.

Have you seen the new Twin Peaks?

The first episode killed me so much. Oh my god! It's so cool. A level inaccessible to others.

Is the face instead of a vagina in "Winaloto" your idea?

Certainly. But Anna wanted to dissuade me. She is my filter. All my ideas... [I voice] to her right away, she just says: “Damn, Tommy, shut your mouth!” I tell her everything and always listen carefully to her arguments. In addition to the moment with a face instead of a vagina, they also suggested cutting out a couple of scenes, but I defended them. So he said: “Go... [to hell], all this will happen!”

What would you never be able to show on screen?

Decorated household items. Wouldn't show injustice. I like to move in the abstract direction, I don’t like realism. It's boring to look at things as they are, but fantasizing about what they could be is for me. I hate drama. I like, say, "Breaking Bad" or "Better Call Saul" - because they still keep the viewer engaged with humor. But I hate films like "Melancholia" because of the boredom of watching what happens on the screen. For me, cinema is a thing where a person tries to escape from his boredom. Otherwise, it looks like you're taking antidepressants to be depressed. This is stupid! Cinema is a world that saves us from everyday life. And I also don’t like it when someone cries on the screen for a long time.

How do you come up with such wild clips? Do you get together with the team, bring photo references, something like that?

Usually it’s like this: I sit, sit, sit. I think: “Fuck, this is shit.” A little later: “Well, that’s definitely crap. It won’t work.” And everyone was like, "Tommy, where's the script?" I told them: “It will be soon, soon.” I go to the studio, pick up some detail (holds a glass of coffee to eye level). I look at this object and think: “Okay, there’s something wrong with it.” And I start Googling the stupidest things. I delve into one detail and can think about it for a very long time. Anna is already starting to tug at me, demanding a script, but while I have the space to sort out this one detail in my head, I’m developing it as much as possible. Then it rings in my head: “Eureka!” You suddenly realize that you have invented the world and figured out what laws it lives by and what its inhabitants do. After that everything happens very quickly.

I know that after filming a joint video with Little Big, you, Tatarka, Ilyich and Alina Pyazok got identical tattoos.

Stamped with a small currency sign of the ruble. On the foot. What could be more Russian? This is their initiative. They actually became my first friends from Russia. Well, when your name is “Cash”, there should be icons of all the currencies of the world on your body.

What's up with the album?

Now is the mastering stage. Coming soon. I can say that it is not at all similar to my debut "Euroz Dollaz Yeniz".

If I ask about the big artists with whom you have worked on the upcoming album, you will shave me off and won’t give up their names. Then the question is: who surprised you the most when you met?

We are very Had a great chat with Charli XCX. Mikky Blanco is a good person. We also met the guys from Awful Music. In particular, with Abra. I can’t name the rest yet, it’s a top secret.

And the most important question: is a mustache really a pass into panties?

Pure truth! I've seen many cases where this has worked. They tell me that new sensations arise because of the antennae. But if you don’t have them, it doesn’t mean you won’t get a pass.

Childhood and adolescence Greetings to guests and regular readers of the site website. So, Tommy Cash- Estonian alternative rap artist. A special feature of his work is the performance of songs in English, but with a strong accent.

Thomas Tammemets (his real name) was born on November 18, 1991 in the capital of Estonia - Tallinn. I grew up in an area called "Kopli" - this is one of the poorest places in Tallinn, where mainly Russian speakers live. It was this area, which absorbed the spirit of the nineties, that influenced the worldview and further work of the young man. The boy lived with his parents in an ordinary one-room apartment in a five-story building.

Tommy at an early age

Music career

AMERICAN RUSSIANS - Jealousy - 2015

Personal life

: vk.com/tommycashworld (Official community in VK)
: instagram.com/tommycashworld (Official Instagram page)
: youtube.com, still images
: facebook.com/cashmoneytommy (Official Facebook page)
Stills from TOMMY CASH music videos from YouTube
Personal archive of Thomas Tammemets

If you use any information from this biography of Tommy Cash, please be sure to provide a link to it. Also check out. Hope for your understanding.

The article was prepared by the resource "How Celebrities Changed"

Taking refuge from the Moscow summer that never came in the lobby of a hotel in the south of the city, Tommy Cash tells me in excellent Russian about his plans to become Kanye East. What does this mean to him? “Innovator, visionary. A dude who breaks boundaries and brings something new to the game. After all, to be honest, no one before us had used east, post-soviet styles. Nobody,” smiling Tommy in a vest that resembles a Kevlar bulletproof vest suddenly becomes serious, and the tips of his mustache droop for the first time during our conversation. The day before he played a packed Yotaspace, and a week later he will be sharing the stage with Spanish avant-garde artist Arca at the important Sónar festival in Barcelona. Searches for “Tommy Cash” on Google have long yielded not the work of the brother of the legendary country musician, but wild clips of the Estonian, made in the style of web punk, a literal fetishization of post-Soviet aesthetics, or even body horror.

Cash grew up on the outskirts of Tallinn, which made him a native bearer of the post-Soviet style. “There was no dacha - I was in the area all the time,” recalls Tommy. Even then, unaware of his future rap career, he was inspired by Eminem and especially Kanye West. I started reading rap at the age of 17–18: “The dudes and I were jamming, joking: let me, I think I’ll rap something... it was all in jest. But I immediately fell in love with this topic - and away we go. My girl told me: “Dude, you’re doing some kind of... thing.” But that didn’t stop me, I kept going.” Tommy Cash’s first single was released in 2013: on the track “Guez Whoz Back,” the Estonian rapper, with an accent that can most logically be compared to Die Antwoord in an Eastern European style, tells the listener about his origins: “came from some kind of chemical waste and cum,” "[I'm] a science project, escaped from Kazakhstan." In the clip, which takes place in a Tallinn car dump, Tommy sits on the fork of a forklift and hugs a bulldog - a very similar picture can be seen in the clips of recent years, where Western musicians are beginning to take an active interest in everything fashionable and post-Soviet: for example, filmed in Troeshchina in Kiev.

Since then, Tommy has been actively developing the image of the king of the panel-strewn area: he did not part with three stripes, hung a carpet on the cover of his albums, was carried away by the rave heritage of the 1990s, rapping to gabber and drum and bass. As a result, Western publications began to pay attention to this, falling in love with the European East and Gosha Rubchinsky. “I write post-Soviet rap - this is what made me, surrounded me since childhood. Something that I really hated, but at one point I realized: I have to show this to people,” says Tommy. - It is important for me not to wear brands that I have never worn, just to look like a black man from America, or, for example, to drive a Cadillac. Don't get me wrong, I really like American cars, but I gave up on it when I realized: let's do it the way it is. [In my image] I didn’t change anything.” In Russia, where you won’t surprise anyone with a tracksuit and a booming P, Tommy rather rests on the laurels of the king of web-punk and Tumblr: he is called to play at “Witchout”, and at his first Moscow concerts the opening act was Pharaoh, who had not yet become so viral.

Like any self-respecting rapper, Tommy continues to emphasize that the main thing for him is to remain real: “I like that XXXTENACTION (an American newcomer who recently got out of prison. - Note ed.) wants to kill all fake rappers. Nowadays, a lot of people get caught doing this kind of thing - it turns out that this guy’s plane is actually a rented one. Fake this, fake that. It seems to me that we are moving towards realism, what Kendrick Lamar preaches. Although, I think he won’t do this anymore, because he will soon be swallowed up by the mainstream. But some other dude will take his place.” Cash is also attracted to sincerity in Russian rappers: “Yesterday I literally saw Husky, the clip “Ai.” I haven’t listened to it yet, but I really like it, reminded Ol’ Dirty Bastard. I like his approach, he’s real.”

"Leave Me Alone"

To my expected question about the fashion for everything post-Soviet in the West and how this affects his creativity and popularity, Tommy replies: “It certainly helps. At the same time, you think: […] maybe we should kind of [quit]? That’s why we made “Winaloto” - and there were already so many videos with post-Soviet aesthetics. I wanted to delve into another world that doesn’t exist, that isn’t so easy to create.” A trip to the Louvre helped inspire him to abandon post-Soviet aesthetics - there Tommy decided that he wanted to make a video “based on the theme of skin.” Trying to counter, I give the example of the musician’s most recent video, “Surf.” “Yes, I understand what you mean... but we still tried to take a topic that, after all, there is not much around - pioneers, for example. I tried not to do Gosha,” the musician replies. He is about to release a new album, but he avoids questions about the upcoming release, squinting slyly: “I think there will be something that people really like.”

At the Moscow concert, Tommy Cash performed completely alone. The only visible accompaniment was a huge screen, loaded with footage from Russian crime series of the 90s and video games like Need for Speed, web punk and other Tumblr aesthetics. The motley video sequence moved to the beat of the music, even when Tommy accelerated to his usual 160 beats per minute. “We recently realized that I need to be alone. This is so banal - six rappers with a DJ have been jumping on stage for 25 years. “I want to do it differently,” explains the rapper. - I really like Marina Abramovich, and looking at her, I think how can I reach a new level on stage: here I am left alone on stage, how can I develop this further? I want to be the Andy Warhol of the rap world. Now is a different time, we need to expand the scope of what is included in the concept of “artist”.

Remembering life in Estonia, the rapper begins to smile again: a spacious apartment awaits him there (“with lighting and concrete floors - in the style of the movie “Tron”), as well as his favorite horses - Size and Respect. “I ride a couple times a week,” Cash says about his favorite hobby. - My horses live in a stable near Tallinn. You go there and disappear from the world for a couple of hours: everything is so calm, you forget about your phone. Horses have this theme, they really make you calmer. When I return from the stables, I feel as if I had smoked. Or maybe I went for a massage.”