Mota's childhood and school years
The future rapper Mot was born on March 2, 1990 in the small town of Krymsk. In 1995, Matvey Melnikov moved to Krasnodar, where he lived for 10 years. From an early age, his parents instilled in him not only a desire for knowledge, but also a love of creativity. Matvey, being from a small town, wanted to stand out since childhood. Music went hand in hand with him from early childhood.At the age of 5, Matvey began to study ballroom, then folk dances. At the age of 10, he became a member of Alla Dukhova’s Krasnodar studio “Todes”, which at that time seemed to his parents a considerable achievement.
Despite this, Matvey was not an exemplary and diligent child. As a child, he often disappeared from home for several days. Loved spending time with friends. He devoted a lot of time to sports.
At the age of 15, Matvey Melnikov moved to Moscow, where his passion for hip-hop began. During dance classes, Matvey felt an irresistible desire not only to move to the rhythm of the music, but also to put his own recitative on top of this music. This is how his career as a rap artist began.
Mota's student years
Thanks to his thirst for knowledge, in 2007 Matvey Melnikov graduated high school with a gold medal, as a result of which he easily entered the Faculty of Economics at Moscow State University. In 2012, he successfully defended his diploma and entered graduate school, continuing to pursue his career persistently. 
At first, Mot wrote lyrics solely for his own pleasure. Over time, the talented guy had a desire to record something more serious, not on a tape recorder, but in a professional studio. This happened in 2006. The collaboration with the GLSS recording studio ended with Mot becoming its official artist.
Mota's career
At the age of 19, Matvey took part in the “Battle for Respect” competition for the first time. As a result of a successful demonstration of his talent, he got into the TOP 40 out of several thousand participants. At this time, on the advice of Legalize, Matvey Melnikov changed his old nickname (BthaMoT2bdabot) to the current one - Mot. 
2 years later, he performed brilliantly at the First International Hip-Hop Summit. The event, held at Luzhniki, was attended by celebrities such as Raekwon and Onyx.
At the same time, his first album in the relaxation style was recorded, produced by lvsngh and Mikkey Vall. The album “Remote” consisted of 12 tracks, for one of which the video “Millions of Stars” was soon shot. He took part in the recording of one of the songs on the album (“Cats and Mouse”) famous musician Ilya Kireev.
The tracks of the album “Remote” were as harmonious and calm as possible. Mot sought to “hook” his fans with light, soulful lyrics. After the release of the album, the rap artist gained many fans.
Mot and Bianca - Absolutely Everything (Track premiere)
At the beginning of 2012, the artist recorded his second album under the original title “Repair”. It consisted of 11 tracks, in the creation of which Ilya Kireev, L’One, Katya Nova, LIYA took part.
The video for one of the album's songs (“To the Shores”) was filmed in hometown Matvey Melnikov. After the presentation on October 5, 2012, the clip took one of the leading positions among Russian clips of this year, according to a survey conducted on one of the popular sites. The track “To the Shores” can be heard in documentary film"Fair Game: Hitchhiking."
Mota's personal life
Being an avid fan of the Spice Girls, Matvey dreamed of marrying one of the lead singers of the group since childhood. His idol was the unrivaled Emma Bunton. Matvey’s personal life is developing quite calmly and measuredly. Since 2014, he dated a girl named Maria Gural. On August 5, 2016, the lovers were married. 
Now Mot has a huge number of fans. Some even watch the guy at the entrance, which Matvey tries to treat with maximum understanding. The guy believes that a crowd of fans is just a cost of the profession.
Mot today
Regularly attending Soul Kitchen parties, Mot met many of the performers from Black Star Inc. Therefore, the invitation to their office in 2013 did not come as a surprise to him. As a result of their collaboration, the unforgettable single “#MotSteletChoseli” was born in the same year. Later, an equally spectacular video was shot for this track. Half a year later, another album was recorded - “Dash”.The couple met around three years ago, when the girl studied in Kyiv, and later moved to Moscow and became the main inspiration for Mota’s work. The registration of the marriage of the young couple took place back in August 2016, and April 23 was set as the day of the ceremonial part of the event. The organization and concept of the wedding celebration was entrusted to the wedding agency Svadberry, headed by Anna Gorodzha.
Sophisticated and luxurious wedding dress Maria, which the girl wore in the first part of the celebration, was an outfit from the designers of the Humariff brand. Later, in the restaurant, she changed it to a Rava Avis dress, which is honorably the only one in the whole world and unique, because it was created in honor of Maria’s wedding according to her own design.
Matvey and Maria, by mutual desire, decided to get married, and approached it with serious responsibility. The location for the ceremony was the Moscow Elokhovsky Cathedral.
In honor of the wedding, the lovers decided to organize a grand celebration, to which about 100 guests were invited: close relatives, friends and show business colleagues - Yegor Creed, Christina Si, Timati, Dmitry Tarasov and others.
The couple's initial choice of wedding venue was Greece. The organizers began to responsibly prepare the celebration on the island of Santorini, but later it turned out that the busy schedule of celebrity friends invited to the wedding may simply not coincide with the opportunity to attend it, and together with the organizers it was decided to hold the celebration in Moscow.
The decor of the site was entrusted Yulia Shakirov oh , which literally turned the restaurant into a fairy garden. The huge hall was decorated in shades of green and white. Transparent tables for guests were decorated with large bouquets of snow-white roses, and crystal shining chandeliers around the hall created an atmosphere of comfort and solemnity. An element of decor that instantly surprised all the guests who entered the hall was the lush decoration of flowers on the ceiling of the hall, which amazed with its scale and beauty.
The presenters were responsible for the smiles and mood of all those present. Maxim Markevich and Evgeny Denisov, so the whole holiday became incredibly emotional: fun, dancing and a lot of music. Special attention It is worth paying attention to the latter - a big surprise was the song performed by Matvey “Welcome to our wedding”, which he presented to the public for the first time and at the same time presented it as a musical gift for his beloved. The newlyweds' first dance during this song became a very touching moment of celebration.
Big surprise entertainment program there was an unusual fire show on the water, after which a professional flyboarding group in neon suits with flamethrowers appeared on the pond near the restaurant. Loud sounds, incredible stunts and mesmerizing shades of the show - the performance was met with wild delight and thunderous applause from all the guests!
Towards the end of the magical celebration, a real masterpiece of confectionery art appeared in the hall - a multi-tiered snow-white cake with the initials of Maria and Matvey. The happy lovers sincerely thanked all the guests for being with them on this special day, especially noting the team of organizers and professionals who made their dream of the most important day come true!
Maria tells HELLO.RU.
Immediately after the celebration, which, according to all the rules of show business, was celebrated for a long time, loudly and almost until the morning, Mot and Masha went on a trip. The next day after the wedding, the couple went to Greece, where... no, not quite a full-fledged honeymoon, but definitely a few days of complete relaxation.
We stayed at the beautiful Miraggio Thermal Spa Resort. Due to dense tour schedule Matvey could only afford 4 days, but I’m sure they will be enough to reboot. And in August we will continue our journey. We haven’t decided where to go yet, but it will definitely be a calm place. Rest, rest and more rest. Relaxing as much as possible, eating up, getting enough sleep - this is what we now dream of more than anything else.
Click on the photo to view the gallery Immediately after the wedding and wedding celebration, Mot and Maria went on a trip to Greece
Maria and Mot 
Mot and Maria (dress, Yanina Couture)
Mot and Maria in Greece
The journey of Matthew and Maria
In Greece, Maria proved that it is not for nothing that she is the face of IMEDEEN in Russia: Maria knows very well how to look flawless on vacation with the help of the brand's product - "Tan Optimizer"
Click on the photo to view the gallery
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Every rapper should have a muse. The artist of the Black Star label Mot, aka Matvey Melnikov, has already found his muse, and at the same time the love of his life. He found him three years ago and did everything so that their love story not only formed the basis of his songs, but also became the leitmotif of his life. Last weekend, April 23, Matvey and his beloved Maria Melnikova (before marriage - Gural) got married and had a magnificent wedding in Moscow, after which they flew off on a short honeymoon to Greece. Details are in the HELLO.RU report.
When Mot first arrived in Moscow from Krasnodar, he had one goal - to conquer the capital. He had to move sharply and rapidly, and the lyrics of his first songs sounded just as impetuously. The ice has broken, the goal has succumbed: a contract with the Black Star label, duets with famous artists, tours and thousands of fans... And in 2016, the rapper released a new, unexpected-sounding album, as he calls it - chamber, about love. “That’s all I could think about then,” the musician admitted, and then presented the very one that occupied his thoughts. The artist’s beloved Maria Gural starred in the “Trap” video.
In the first two days alone, the video collected a million views, and now there are more than fifty million. A year has passed, but the plot of the song has not lost its relevance. On the contrary, it acquired new meanings. On the eve of the release of the video, in January 2016, Mot proposed to Masha, in August they signed at the registry office - wearing sneakers and jeans, and in April 2017, on the anniversary of their acquaintance, they decided to get married, organizing a big celebration.
The history of their relationship did not develop rapidly, but naturally. How it all began, Maria told HELLO.RU:
We met on Instagram, I was then living in Kyiv, where I had moved from Lvov to study. Matvey followed me, “liked” my photos along, across, horizontally and sideways (laughs), then we began to correspond. We decided to see each other for the first time when I arrived in Moscow to visit my friend. I was scared to go on a date - after all, alone, in a strange city. I took my girlfriend with me. Everything happened quickly, and now we are already building a long-distance relationship. After I graduated from the university, Matvey moved me to Moscow. And then - to the Old New Year- made an offer. It was in Thailand, during an excursion to Tachai Island. We walked for a long time, swam, and when we had to leave, my beloved suddenly asked me to dive. I obeyed, and when I surfaced, I saw a worried Matvey holding a ring in his hand. Click on the photo to view the gallery Mot and Maria's wedding guests - Dmitry Tarasov with his girlfriend Anastasia Kostenko, T-Killah with his girlfriend Maria Lichtenfeld
Artem Kacharyan (participant in the show "The Voice")At first, Mot and Maria wanted to get married in Greece, on the island of Santorini. They had already carefully planned everything, but as they themselves note, they did not take into account “some points”, and the celebration had to be reformatted - moved to Russia. Here, in Moscow's Yelokhovsky Cathedral, the couple decided to get married.
The desire to get married came to us mutually, we understood the seriousness of this sacrament and prepared for it with all responsibility,” Maria tells HELLO.RU.
It was on the occasion of the wedding that the lovers decided to organize a big celebration, to which they invited their relatives, friends and Mota’s colleagues in show business - Yegor Creed, Kristina Si, Misha Marvin, T-Killah and others. Preparations were carried out on all fronts: the elaboration of the concept was entrusted to the organizer of the celebrations, Anna Gorodzhaya, the decor and design - to Yulia Shakirova, and the spouses themselves, leaving the logistics and calculations to the professionals, indulged in creative thoughts: what song to perform the first dance to, what outfits to appear in front of the guests.
They resolved these pleasant issues during a romantic weekend in the Maldives - in a relaxed atmosphere, to the sound of the ocean.
While on vacation in the Maldives, I scrolled through what seemed like a million pictures looking for inspiration for my next outfit. My thoughts were swirling, there were a lot of options, but in the end I decided to come up with my own design, which was brought to life by the craftsmen from the Minsk salon "Courage". And the second dress that I wore for the wedding was created by the Dubai brand Humariff. Matvey's tuxedo was made in the classic tailoring workshop Master Suit. There, in the Maldives, Matvey and I chose a song - we decided to perform a dance to Anthony Hamilton called Dear Life. I took charge of staging the number,
“We have about 100 guests at our wedding.”
– Masha, this year the audience again saw you on stage with your husband when he performed famous hit"Trap". It was a stunningly beautiful number, you were all in white, it was so symbolic, because soon you and Matvey are celebrating your wedding!
Glad to hear you liked the room a large number people. We tried very hard and prepared to make it all as sincere and honest as possible. White associated with sincere feelings, and, of course, it coincided that we also have a wedding coming up. And on the day of the concert, April 8, it was exactly three years since we were together. So there are a lot of pleasant coincidences. For the second time I have the honor to take part in concert program her husband. We perceive the song “Trap” especially, it was written about us. Therefore, when Matvey has big solo concerts, no options come to mind other than our common appearance on stage. I must admit that this is always a great honor and responsibility for me.
– Preparations must be in full swing?
It’s really full, there are only a few days left, and although Anna Gorodzhaya, her husband Dmitry and Irina Mitroshkina from Prive7, help us in preparation, I don’t miss the opportunity to control absolutely everything! Not because I don’t trust the organizers, but because a wedding is so important event in the life of every girl, and I want everything to be perfect and correspond to the pictures that I have drawn in my head since childhood.
– Last year you got married, but decided to celebrate the wedding only now. What is this connected with?
Many people ask this question. I have a simple explanation: in this way they planned to ease the hassle of preparation. We divided everything into two parts: official and solemn. They got married in Moscow, and a year later they wanted to celebrate in Greece. In the end, they all played it out anyway and decided that the holiday would be in Moscow.
– Are you planning a wedding too or a little later?
We will have a wedding, but I wouldn’t like to talk much about it. Because I think that this is a special sacrament, a special holy procedure between people who have decided on this, who are ready. I can say that for Matvey and me this is a very important and responsible step and we are approaching this with full awareness.
Photo: personal archive of Maria Melnikova
The date has two meanings for us. Three years ago in April, Matvey and I started dating. The number 23 was also chosen for a reason. As you know, Matvey is from the Krasnodar region, and 23 is the region number. And in general, this number has been haunting my husband for many years, and now it is haunting me too, so we decided to stop there. We were also pleasantly surprised that April 23rd is Krasnaya Gorka. Despite the cold weather, we really hope that by the end of the month it will warm up and some of it will turn green.
– Does Matvey help with the organization?
It always seemed to me that men try to protect themselves as much as possible from wedding hassles, but this is not the case with Matvey. He still helps me a lot, he is always available and ready to come at any moment, despite his tight schedule. You know, I realized how valuable it is when your man shows genuine interest in one of the most important events in your life.
– Tell me about the wedding dress. Surely there will be several outfits?
The wedding dress is a different story. In my head I planned that there would be two, you guessed it. When I flew to the Maldives on vacation, I was sure that in two weeks I would decide what they would look like. Upon arrival in Moscow, I knew what only one would look like, but the picture of the second did not add up. My good friend Nadya Smirnova helped me make my choice; in a matter of hours, she found two wedding salons at once, which were destined to make all my dreams come true. The first is called “Courage” and is located in Minsk, and the second is “Humariff”.
The main dress turned out absolutely incredible. I believe it represents me completely. The second one is for a wedding, and it looks simply fabulous, completely opposite to my festive dress. It is full, like a princess, and has a very long train. I am sure that the “Wow!” effect it will definitely be!
– Where will the celebration take place?
After the idea of having a wedding in Santorini fell away, they began to look for where they could comfortably stay in Moscow. We considered the Four Seasons, The Ritz-Carlton, but then decided that this whole story should be brought to fresh air, to nature. We found a great place in the Moscow region, in my opinion, all our ideas and guests will be harmoniously accommodated. Very soon you will be able to see everything for yourself with the help of photographs and videos.
– It feels like a grandiose holiday is planned! How many guests do you plan to invite?
We planned to take only 20-30 people with us to Greece, but now the list has increased significantly, but we are glad that we have the opportunity to invite more friends. We are now expecting approximately 100 guests at our wedding.
– Tell us about the design details. Will there be a dress code for guests?
It will be real spring fairy tale, everything will be done in white and green tones and decorated with flowers. I can’t point out any special design details. When Yulia Shakirova gets down to business, absolutely everything becomes a highlight! But, probably, we are still putting a lot of emphasis on the veranda, which we will decorate and present especially beautifully. There is also a presidium where the bride and groom will sit. Well, in my opinion, there’s no way without a dress code. Since we want everything to be perfect, we also thought through this point. We ask guests to choose outfits in powdery shades, preferably green. I really hope that all our guests will be imbued with an atmosphere of tenderness and warmth. Spring is always the birth of something new, the anticipation of happiness...
Of course, as at any wedding, the guests will be entertained by artists, and in general our program itself is very rich, full of surprises. They didn’t even miss the fact that Real Madrid would play against Barcelona that day, because my husband is an ardent fan of this team, and I’m sure that the most highlights There will be football! We plan to bring the match to the main screens. Therefore, no one will forget this wedding!
– After the wedding, of course, the honeymoon! Where will you go?
Our honeymoon will only last four days, since Matvey, thank God, has a tight schedule, so we will enjoy a short weekend in Greece, and a full-fledged vacation awaits us in August.
Photo: personal archive of Maria Melnikova
– You and Matvey create the impression of a very happy couple. However, the path to happiness was not easy. When you started building a long-distance relationship, was it difficult?
We are actually very happy. And you are right again, the path was not easy, but it seems to me that any relationship must overcome difficulties. At a distance you especially learn to trust, at a distance you especially appreciate and understand how important it is for you.
- Let's remember how he proposed. Were you very worried?
Matvey proposed in Thailand, we went to an island that local residents called Thailand's Maldives. This is a place of extreme beauty, but Matvey probably knew about it, so he took us on a tour. The time had come to set sail, almost everyone had changed clothes and were settling into the boat, when Matvey decided to take another dip. I didn’t understand why he wanted to return to the hotel wet, but I didn’t argue, I did as the man said. I dived, and when I emerged, I saw very worried eyes and heard the cherished words, I was overwhelmed with emotions. You know, I wanted to say so much, but I couldn’t say a word. It was indescribable, fabulous, and, of course, I will remember this for the rest of my life.
Everyone probably knows the story of how we met! We actually met in social network, he found me as a friend of our mutual friend, liked me vertically, horizontally and sideways and wrote me a personal message. We talked, and when I came to visit best friend, who lived in Moscow at that time, met. From that moment on, everything somehow began to spin quickly, and now we are husband and wife.
Photo: personal archive of Maria Melnikova
– Are you jealous of Matvey’s fans?
Maybe this happened in some early period of our communication. But I don’t remember any obvious conflict situations. Now I can say with confidence that I respect each of his fans, since these people share the love for my husband’s work, moreover, I am Matvey’s most ardent fan, I am always completely delighted with everything he does and understand, of course well, everyone else.
– Do you live in Moscow or outside the city? Are you a city person or do you want peace and quiet?
We live in Moscow. Until recently, I would have answered you unequivocally that I am a city person and country life has always passed me by, but recently for Matvey’s birthday I gave him a surprise. We went out of town and stayed there for two days. I wanted to take a break from everything, to be in peace and quiet, and that trip sank into my soul so much that now it seems to me city life I rate the country one equally.