Biography of group #2Masha
Duo #2 Masha is called one of the brightest and most original bands that have ever existed in the space of Russian pop music. The combination of beautiful deep lyrics, soulful vocals and daring female hip-hop does not leave indifferent listeners of all ages and musical preferences.
Russian pop duo #2Masha
History of creation
Duet #2Masha, which so violently shook up the established space of Russian pop music, was created in 2016. Its participants, Masha Sheikh and Masha Zaitseva, knew each other in absentia, but met in Thailand during a vacation on Koh Phangan in 2014.
Members of group #2 Masha: Masha Sheikh (left) and Masha Zaitseva (right)
From rest, two Marias returned as friends. At the end of 2015, Maria Sheikh wrote the text, which she showed to Maria Zaitseva, and she set it to music. The next day, the girls went to the studio and recorded the song “Now there are two of us.”
The song, posted on the social network, gained incredible popularity and became the beginning of their joint work. The sincere reaction of people fascinated by the originality of the girls, their music, built on the contrast of vocal data, prompted Zaitseva and Sheikh to create a group. The girls almost did not think about the name – both parents gave the name Maria, and the first listeners from social networks, posting their song “Now there are two of us”, added the number 2 and a hashtag to the name Masha. Both Marias liked the way “#2 Masha” looks on the letter, and their union acquired the final name.
Each Masha has her own style – bold and unique.
Before the start of cooperation, both girls were successfully involved in music. Masha Zaitseva is a Muscovite, born on January 11, 1983, graduated from the Academy of Justice. In 2003, the girl took part in the People’s Artist project, after which she began to perform as part of the Assorti and NAOMI groups. In 2013, Zaitseva participated in the third season of the Voice show, but did not become a finalist.
Masha Sheikh is also a Muscovite, she was born on April 26, 1990. Like Zaitseva, Sheikh graduated from a law school. The girl was fond of hip-hop culture and gained some fame as a rap artist. In the duo, Masha Sheikh is responsible for writing texts, and also serves as the director of the team.
Zaitseva writes music, arranges compositions and engages in public relations. There are no other members in the group; to record their compositions, the girls rent studios and hire musicians on a session basis. The girls refuse the services of production centers.
Main stages
At the beginning of 2016, the newly minted duet had several songs in its arsenal that were very popular on the Internet. A few months later, the girls managed to achieve a performance in the 16 tons club. Contrary to the wildest expectations, all tickets for the concert were sold out, and the audience sang along to their favorite songs in unison. In May of the same year, Zaitseva and Sheikh presented their first album. The disc “Now there are two of us” includes 10 songs that have taken rating positions in the Russian sector of iTunes.
Group #2Masha was born in 2016
In November 2016, the duet gave a big concert in the capital’s RED club, during which representatives of the Iris Delicia company brought out a huge cake decorated with photographs of girls. Sasha Savelyeva, Alexander Panayotov, Teona Dolnikova, Alexei Goman – the ex-husband of Masha Zaitseva, as well as Svetlana Svetikova, Zara and other Russian pop stars came to rejoice at the success of the young performers and support them. The duo’s next album appeared in 2017, and if some critics called the success of the first record accidental, this one confirmed the unconditional uniqueness of the project. The pretentious title “Now there are many of us” was justified by artistic lyrics, soulful performance and luxurious arrangements based on a combination of voices of the performers. It is also a tribute to the numerous fans of the duet, whom the performers consider almost a second family.
Performance at “Evening Urgant”
The compositions “Barefoot”, “Stars” and “Bitch” found a special response in the hearts of the female audience due to their sincerity and emotional depth. The success of the song “Bitch”, which held out at the top of various charts throughout 2017, was quite predictable, especially after the release of the video, authored by Irina Mironova, a fashionable, and, by the way, very expensive clipmaker.
The fans of the duet are attracted by both the unusual combination of vocal abilities and different styles in which the girls work, as well as their external dissimilarity. Athletic blonde Sheikh sets off the soft and feminine Zaitseva, who looks like Hollywood diva Sean Young.
In October 2018, the artists received their first music award “Golden Gargoyle”, in connection with which they received a huge number of congratulations from their fans.
Scandals
Album covers and provocative photos posted by girls on their pages on social networks, coupled with the androgynous appearance of Maria Sheikh, have become the reason for rumors that the artists are connected by something more than joint work. On her Instagram, the Sheikh sharply answered the question about their love affair, advising the curious to take up their personal lives and get rid of unhealthy fantasies. Maria Zaitseva behaves differently – she ignores tricky questions. According to her, her daughter and creativity are the main things in her life.
Speculation about a love affair in the group # 2 Masha is the fruit of a perverted fantasy
At the end of October 2018, the girls were not allowed to tour Ukraine and were banned from entering the country for three years. Representatives of Ukrainian law enforcement agencies motivated their decision by the fact that Zaitseva and Sheikh violated Ukrainian law and attended concerts in Crimea, which, in their opinion, was illegally annexed to the Russian Federation. The situation was complicated by the fact that, according to the girls, they never performed in the Crimea.
“We are dumbfounded and very upset, music should not suffer because of political differences, as well as because of any others,” Masha commented on the ban #2.
Most Ukrainian fans were upset no less than the artists themselves, they wrote angry remarks on the page of the Vkontakte group, expressing their attitude to the incident. However, there were also those who did not like the apolitical duet.
Discography
- “Now there are two of us” (2016)
- “Now there are many of us” (2017)
#2Masha now
In 2018, duet #2Masha presented the song “Mom, I’m dancing”, which the girls called a hymn to freedom, as well as a video clip for it, filmed in the best traditions of Emir Kusturica’s paintings. The filming of the atmospheric clip took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The girls are successfully touring: in 2018 they visited Sverdlovsk and Novosibirsk, Samara, Krasnodar and Rostov-on-Don, as well as other large cities of Russia.
