"For Russian singers, Hamdam Sobirov is a genius." Singer Gafur on the popularity of "Blue Zhiguli" and how he survived on noodles in Moscow

“For Russian singers, Hamdam Sobirov is a genius.” Singer Gafur talked about the popularity of the song “Blue Zhiguli” and how he survived on noodles in Moscow.

Known for his various roles in the films “Novda”, “Song of the River” and “Elparvar”, Gafur (Abdulgofur Isakhonov) has now become a favorite singer of Russian-speaking music lovers. He told about his childhood in Tashkent, studying to become a dentist, going to Russia without knowing Russian, and how he achieved fame.

**“I was a Michael Jackson fan”**

“Music has always been in my heart, but I didn’t know how to sing. When I was three years old, my uncle brought me a Michael Jackson cassette from America. Even though I didn’t know who I was or my name, I knew his songs and moves.

When I was young, I didn’t go out with my friends to hang out. I didn’t study at a music school or in clubs. What I know about music until now is all the knowledge I learned on my own at home. I would go to a brother’s Paynet store in the neighborhood, earn a little money, and in return, I would watch the singers’ songs, how they moan, and try to sing back,” says Gafur, talking about his childhood.

**Didn't want to be a dentist**

Gafur studied dentistry at a medical college for three years at the request of his parents. After graduating, he entered the Uzbek Institute of Arts and Culture. When he was a freshman, he heard from his classmates about the second season of the show "Pesni" being held in Russia, and he wanted to participate in it.

"No, I said, I'll go too, I'll get an answer on the plane. At that time, if you were studying at the university, you couldn't go abroad. Our dean also warned me about this. My father supported me, saying, "Don't think about anything, just go and participate," says Gafur.

**“I failed the competition in Moscow”**

“I knew 20% of Russian. I couldn’t get beyond the sentences “My name is Abdulgafur, hello, goodbye, I’m from Uzbekistan.” So we went to the casting, and somehow I passed the first round. When I entered the second round, dressed in my stage costumes and well-prepared, the judges stopped me after 20 seconds and said, “No.” I didn’t understand anything, because in my mind I had already won. I met the singer Andro on Instagram and we would send each other demo versions of our songs.”

**“Elman called me over”**

Five months after Gafur returned to Tashkent, Jony, seeing Elman and Andro “breaking through” in the Russian pop scene, wrote a letter expressing his happiness for them. Then he received an offer from Elman, who was the record producer, saying, "Now we are three artists. If you write a good song, we will add you to the label as the fourth singer."

"I wrote it, sent it to the guys, they liked the song and said, 'Come to Moscow, we'll live together, we'll create together.'" I told my dad, "Go ahead, son, step on the gas." I moved to Moscow. I didn't leave the house for a year and a half. The studio was in the same house, we did everything at home. I told myself that I wouldn't go to any entertainment venues until I achieved something. The guys would bring sausages and bread, eat them with ketchup and mayonnaise, and I would spread ketchup on the bread itself. We would also eat instant noodles.

A year passed like that. According to the agreement, they were supposed to officially announce me as the fourth singer, but quietly. The guys were giving concerts, and they still hadn't released the song I had written for them. The reason was one song After it came out, a new one had to be released two weeks later. If Jony and Andro liked the songs I was writing, Elman didn't. At the same time, thoughts like, "I don't think anything will come of this, even if I have to work in fast food or make a living on the street, I will make a living. I won't return home without results." Because when I was leaving, my classmates and teachers laughed that you can't do it," Gafur recalls.

**"I created my famous song with my beloved daughter, looking at the moon"**

In December 2019, the singer's new music video "Luna" was released. The success of the composition, which gained popularity in a short time, is due to the fact that it included the singer's personal life. Gafur also talked about the history of the song's creation.

“At that time, I had a girlfriend in Tashkent, we had been talking for 4 years. After I suddenly left for Moscow, I was very homesick. There were thousands of kilometers between us, we would talk on the phone and both look at the moon at the same time. This would relieve the longing, at least for a while. On such days, when I was playing the piano, the phrase “The moon brings us closer to each other every day” would come to my mind, and I wrote my famous song “Luna”. My friends helped me translate the words into Russian, because I still didn’t know the language well. If we didn’t really understand each other with the guys, we would communicate through hand gestures. If I learned a new word or sentence, I would write it down. This is how I learned Russian well,” says Gafur.

**“They announced me as the fourth singer, but…”**

“About a year later, Elman came and said that I would be announced as the fourth artist at a new concert. We wrote new songs, stylists worked on my image. I was so happy. It was my first time going on stage and singing in front of 4-5 thousand fans. I signed a contract when I was accepted into the team, but I didn’t even read the contract because we became so close to them.”

**His dance made my song “Lollipop” famous**

Gafur and Jony’s dance in the video for “Lollipop” became popular among young people. These moves have become a challenge, especially on the TikTok social network.

“Lollipop” was my second track when I was writing my own songs. When I gave it to Jony, he liked it and said let’s sing it together. While composing the song, we also thought of a TikTok dance for it.

Then I told Jony that this track would either become a hit, or they wouldn’t hear it at all, but it wouldn’t get stuck in the middle. So, after we released the song, it didn’t do as well as I had hoped. It was only in the 70th place on the charts. Sitting at home, I thought I hadn’t come up with that dance for nothing, so I recorded my dance for TikTok and released it. The next day I woke up and a Russian blogger and 7,000 other TikTokers had made a video of me doing this, and the next day it was 30,000, the next day it was 150,000, and so on, to 700,000. My song also reached 60, 50, 3, 2, and 1st place in the Top Charts. When we were driving in a taxi and stopped at a traffic light, the cars next to us would play my song. That's how my song became popular," he says.

**"For Russian singers, Hamdam Sobirov is a genius"**