Biography of Rem Diggy
Rem Digga is the creative pseudonym of Roman Voronin, a rap artist and beatmaker, ex-member of the Suicide band. The musician, named in the media as a phenomenon of the domestic rap scene, gained fame after the release of his first album “Perimeter”. It was created during a difficult period in the rapper’s life, when he was completely bedridden due to a spinal injury.
Pictured: Rem Digga
Rem Digga: 'I was unfashionable and then I fell'
This young man is a wheelchair rapper. He is a master of harsh words, sensual lyrics and a unique way of rapping. He loves tranquility, he is not attracted to big cities, he feels uncomfortable there. He doesn’t like to listen to his songs, but he believes that if people perceive them, then there is something good and necessary for everyone in them. Despite his physical disability, he is a fantastic workaholic and a strong personality.
VICE: What are you doing in Gukovo? Are they coming specially from Moscow? Tell us how you got involved in music. How did you celebrate your 25th birthday? No way. Well, a lot of people came. Do you love cats? Are you a religious person?
Schokk: “I have repeatedly said that this is a very talented and very strong person. Wu Tang” (hardcore rap group from the USA when watching the video “Going South”): “The fact that he’s in a stroller is just a bomb! The video is good. The effects here are simply amazing! Get up and go! Do you know what I mean? Rem Digga - you're awesome! Salute to you. I liked the track. Rem Digga, we understand you, get up and go! I respect your music.
Rem Digga recorded his first solo album, Perimeter, released in 2009, while he was bedridden as a result of an injury. Apparently, this is why the songs in the album turned out to be angry: “I think it turned out to be heavy. In it, the author combined compositions from battles and new tracks. There's no consistent theme, so it's more of a mixtape than a complete album. Rem Digga said about this work: “You will find a completely different format of my tracks, not typical for my work. Smokey Mo, Basta, and Snake from Casta took part in the recording. For the first time, the song “The Streets Are Silent” will be performed jointly by Rem Diggi and Kazhe Obima. The album “Blueberry and the Cyclops” was released in March 2021. Here Rem Digga got into trouble with Triad, Kazhe Oboima and Vladi. This is not the same Digga who pissed on the Cayenne and threw a dirty bastard at the Kruzak. Rem Digga has known the famous Krasnodar rapper Eisik since 2005. They once made tracks together for Rem's album and have been in contact ever since.
In the 90s, when one boy named Roman Voronin studied at a music school, no one could have thought that he would become a famous and popular rapper. He created the album “Perimeter” precisely at this tragic time for him. This is the darkest rap album, but it is considered the most powerful. Rem Digga becomes recognizable and famous. Rem has already begun touring around the country; in January 2012, together with the American hip-hop group Onyx, he performed concerts in Rostov. This album has a lot of vocals, it is “dark and snotty”, and this album also shows that Russian rap is not always angry and encrypted.
A little later, with Shama, whom he had known since school, he became the creator of the Suicide group. Then he did not yet know that people would be surprised to wonder why Rem Digga is disabled.
Childhood and youth
One of the most popular rappers in Russia was born on February 1, 1987 in the city of Gukovo, Rostov region, with a population of 70 thousand, located on the border with Ukraine.
Rem Digga as a child
At the age of 10, the boy was enrolled in a music school, where for the next 7 years he studied piano and guitar. His further fate was determined by his acquaintance with the American rap group ONYX, whose third studio album (“Shut 'Em Down”) was brought to him by a friend. The creativity of the musicians shocked Roman so much that less than a year had passed before he himself successfully read an emotional recitative at a school concert.
Biography
Roman Voronin was born in 1987 in the city of Gukovo, Rostov region. Studied at secondary school No. 23 named after V. A. Sheboldaev; At the age of 10 he began going to music school, where he studied guitar and piano. It was then that his passion for rap began. As Roman recalls in one of his interviews, a school friend let him listen to the album Shut 'Em Down by Onyx and it made a strong impression on him. At the age of 11, he first rapped at a school matinee. Later, together with the rap artist Shama, whom he had known since school, he created the group “Suicide”.
2005–2009: Suicide, injury, Perimeter
In 2005, as part of the group, the album “Brutal Themes” was recorded at the Sobino studio with Khamil, one of the members of the “Casta” group, at the same time RoEMD met the whole group. The album was released in November 2006, just at that time Roman was called up for military service in the Russian Armed Forces, where he served in the reconnaissance company of the 108th regiment of the 7th Airborne Division. Even while in the army, Digga continued to write music.
Upon his return, Roman got a job, but as a result of an accident (a fall from a fourth-floor balcony), he injured his spine and became disabled. As he himself claims, this happened by accident:
And I didn’t throw myself out of the window because of love, as some people write... <...> I just fell unsuccessfully onto the asphalt. I didn’t understand how it happened - it was probably my own fault. He always climbed houses, loved five-story buildings, balconies without insurance, and fooled around.
The recording of his debut solo album “Perimeter” took place when the performer could not get out of bed. With its release in 2009, the young rap artist received his first fame; his debut was compared to “Kara-Te” - Smokey Mo’s first album.
2011–2012: albums “Depth” and “Blueberry”, Internet battles
Two years later, his second solo album, “Depth,” was released, which was included by the portals Rap.ru and Prorap.ru in the top ten best domestic albums of 2011. Among the invited performers were Vladi (group “Casta”), Nigativ (group “Triada”) and others, and the track “Angels” was recorded with the participation of American rapper Hell Razah from the group Sunz of Man.
In 2011, Digga took part in two hip-hop battles - Indabattle 3 and the Ninth Official Battle of Hip-hop.ru. In the first, Rem lost in the fifth round (out of nine) to Bes (Da Tempo), and in the second he took second place with a winning of 50,000 rubles, losing to RE-pac. In the same year, Rem Digga, together with the Sakhalin group Black Market, released the album “Killed Paragraphs”.
After his health improved, Roman began giving tours around the country. In January 2012, the Russian performer and the American hip-hop group Onyx gave a joint concert in Rostov, which took place at the Tesla club. Roman’s first big performance took place on April 6 in St. Petersburg at the GlavClub club, about 2 thousand people came to the concert. In March, Rem Digga was among the five nominees for the Stadium RUMA 2012 award in the “Breakthrough of the Year” category. In June, he took part in the Hip-Hop All Stars festival, held in St. Petersburg, for which a special promotional video was prepared with Roman.
In July 2012, the compilation album “The Crocodile Speaks” was released, which included battle and completely new tracks. Rem Digga announced the preparation of a new experimental album, which was recorded in parallel with “Depth,” before the release of the latter. He announced its title (“Blueberry”) in advance and planned to release it in the spring of 2012, but due to remixing, the album was released only on October 15. The artist himself warned fans in advance that this album will be “lyrical and snotty, with a lot of vocals, romance and a minimum of feats, and will also be a demonstration that Russian rap does not have to remain angry and encrypted.”
2013–present: albums “Root” and “Cannibal”
On June 4, 2013, a mini-album entitled “Root” was released, which contains both new songs and very early works of Rem Diggy, recorded in adolescence. On January 8, 2014, the joint album “One Loop” with the group the Chemodan was released.
On August 31, 2014, Rem Diggy's fourth studio album, The Cannibal, was released.
On December 29, 2015, the joint album “Grenade” with FD Vadim was released.
On February 10, 2021, Rem Digga released the lyric album “Blueberries and Cyclops.”
On November 30, 2021, Rem Digga released his solo album “42/37.”
At the beginning of 2021, the song and video with Rem Digga and Onyx “Give It Up” will be released.
On December 14, 2021, the seventh album entitled “Tulip” will be released.
First steps in music
Like many aspiring rappers, he began creating his own music with a home Yamaha synthesizer and guitar and recording it to tape. Gradually his readings became better, more assertive and more technical. Realizing that it was time to move on, he created the rap group “Suicide” together with Gukovsky rapper Shama (Alexander Migunov).
Rem Digga in his youth (right)
In 2005, the 18-year-old musician met Khamil from the rap group “Casta” in Rostov-on-Don. The first album, Suicide, was recorded at the Sobino recording studio that he owned. The disc was released at the end of 2006 and was called “Brutal Themes”, which fully corresponded to its content. During the same period, Roman was drafted into the army. Rem Digga in the army
Rap artist
As part of the duet "Suicide"
Among them was his friend from school named Shama. With him, Roman created the project “Suiteside. In 2005, Roman’s biography was marked by his acquaintance in the city of Rostov-on-Don with members of the “Casta” group. Here they record and in November 2006 release the album of the rap duo Suicide “Brutal Theme”. In terms of content, it was the truth of life in the form of underground rap with dark phrases and a heavy sound. One of the members of this group, Khamil (Andrey Pasechny), helped record and mix the album. The work was carried out at his Sobino studio.
Military service
It was during the release of their album in the fall of 2006 that Roman was called up to serve in the army, which he served in the reconnaissance company of the 108th Guards Air Assault Regiment of the 7th Guards Air Assault (Mountain) Division. Being in the army did not interrupt his passion for music, which he continued to compose while there.
There are very few photographs of the story of how Rem Digga (in the photo on the far left, if anyone doesn’t know) was in the army. Rare shot.
Trauma and paralysis
After serving in the reconnaissance company of the 108th Kuban Cossack Regiment of the Seventh Airborne Division, Roman returned home. He got a job, continued to write rap and, unfortunately, did not abandon his passion for parkour: he climbed parapets, roofs of high-rise buildings, and balconies. During one of these ascents, he fell from the 4th floor, broke his spine and became disabled - his legs were paralyzed.
Rem Digga served in the Airborne Forces
Many did not want to believe that the incident was an accident. Thus, quite scandalous versions of the cause of this tragedy have been put forward - from a suicide attempt due to unhappy love to the consequence of excessive addiction to alcohol. But the musician himself emphasized that the fall was accidental.
Music
During the year of the group’s existence, its members managed to record the disc “Brutal Themes”. The work on creating the material took place at the recording studio of one of the musicians of the “Casta” group. Khamil liked the young performers, and he introduced the aspiring rappers to the rest of the Casta members. But a year later, Voronin was forced to postpone his musical career, as he was drafted into the army.
Having served the required time in the Airborne Forces, the young man returns to his homeland and begins work on his first solo album, “Perimeter”. In 2009, as a result of an accident, Roman damaged his spine and became disabled. The habit of climbing balconies without insurance played a bad joke on Voronin: the young man fell from the 4th floor and miraculously survived.
Lying motionless on a hospital bed, newly minted rapper Rem Digga greets the release of “Perimeter”, which includes the tracks “I Believe”, “Let’s Do This”, “Heads Which...”, “Killed Paragraphs”. Rap connoisseurs noted the power and darkness of the sound of the musical compositions of the author’s first collection. Fans are beginning to become interested in Rem Digga’s biography and the causes of his injury.
Rem Digga suffered a spinal injury
In 2011, Rem Digga released a new album, “Depth,” which was no less tough and angry. The disc was included in the top nine best new releases of the season according to the portals Rap.ru and Prorap.ru. In addition to Rem, the lead singer of the group “Casta” (Vladi), a singer from the “Triad” (Nigativ) and a rap artist from the USA (Hell Razah) worked on the music. The song “My dear, brown eyes” is a separate hit.
In the same year, Rem Digga decided to participate in two rap battles - Indabattle 3 and IX Battle from Hip-hop.ru - even health problems were not an obstacle for the singer. In the first competition, the Rostov musician reaches the 5th round, and in another competition he receives second place. Another event of the outgoing 2011 is the joint work on the album “Killed Paragraphs” with colleagues from the Sakhalin Peninsula, the Black Market collective.
In 2012, the rapper’s discography was replenished with another masterpiece - the lyrical collection “Blueberries”, for tracks from which “Secret”, “White Bows”, “Shmarina” and “Mad Evil”, “Kabardinka” Rem Digga created videos. In the same year, a joint concert of the Russian rapper and his idols, the American group Onyx, took place at the Tesla club in Rostov. The first solo performance of the rapper, already known from his studio recordings, gathered 2,000 people in the concert hall of the St. Petersburg GlavClub. At the Stadium RUMA 2012 awards, Rem Digga was nominated for Breakthrough of the Year.
2013 is marked by the release of the collection “Root,” which includes the musician’s fresh songs and his early unknown compositions, and a year later a new work by the author, “The Cannibal,” appears on sale. In 2014, the YouTube channel started showing videos for the tracks “Viy”, “City of Coal”, “Four Axes”.
A year later, a video for the song “To the South” appears on the Internet, which collects 900 thousand views in a month. To date, the phrase “rem digga + to the south download” has been entered into the search bar 11 million times. Following this, the musician shoots videos for the compositions “Atlantic”, “Far”, “The Streets Are Silent”. With the participation of Israeli rap artist iZReal, Rem Digga releases the track “+500”, which is also known from the words from the lyrics “Dance kitty”. In the last days of 2015, Rem Digga and FD Vadim give fans a new album “Grenade”.
Success
The injury did not break the young man; on the contrary, it became a catalyst for starting a new page.
After being discharged from the hospital, he simply lay on the bed for some time, thoughts swirling in his head - sad, angry. The result of this period was the debut solo album “Perimeter”, released in 2009, aggressive, holistic and dark, called by fans of the genre the true standard of street rap. As the rapper himself sadly joked, “I was unfashionable, and then I fell.” The record brought him fame outside of narrow circles. Two years later, he presented his next album, “Depth.” Nigativ, Smokey Mo, Eisika, Dirty Louie, Shama, Panda, Iskra, Vladi and Hell razah took part in its creation.
Rem Digga has been in a wheelchair for many years now.
In 2011, he took part in the Internet competition Indabattle, losing in the fifth of nine rounds to rapper from Pyatigorsk Bes (Da Tempo). In the battle of the Hip-hop.ru project, he took 2nd place, losing only to the Muscovite RE-pac. At the same time, in collaboration with the Black Market team, he released the mini-album “Killed Paragraphs”, where again, according to fans, he demonstrated an “interesting flow” and “read the truth.”
In 2012, the wheelchair-bound rapper began performing on stage. In January, a concert of the legendary rap group ONYX took place in Rostov-on-Don. Rem Digga opened for his old idols. In April, the popular rap artist was already met at one of the main concert venues of the Northern capital (GlavClub), where about 2,000 spectators came to his concert. The following month, he became a nominee for the prestigious Stadium RUMA award in the “Breakthrough of the Year” category, and in June he participated in the annual rap music festival Hip-Hop All Stars, held in the city on the Neva.
Rem Digga admitted in an interview that touring is very difficult for him, because every trip on an airplane with a wheelchair is a huge hassle. Unlike most of his colleagues who moved to Moscow, having barely achieved success, Roman remained in Gukovo: he lived for a year in Rostov and realized that he was not made for megacities.
Rem Digga in Moscow (2012) In July 2012, the disc “Crocodile Speaks” was presented (Crocodile is one of the rapper’s pseudonyms), in October – the third disc “Blueberry”, which presented more sensual lyrics compared to previous works. It included the artist’s joint tracks with other musicians, including Robert Galstyan, Vladi, RTF, Elena Kretova. In support of the album, videos were released for the song “Shmarina” and the composition “The Secret” together with Guf. Rem Digga - Mad Evil In 2013, the tireless rapper pleased fans with the release of the EP “Root”, where he included his early compositions along with new songs. In 2014, the disc “One Loop” was released, which he prepared in partnership with the Chemodan. He called the next album “Ogre”, where you could listen to his joint tracks with Murovei (“4 axes”), Chris Yank (“Ogre”). Rem Digga - To the South 2021 was marked by the release of two rapper releases at once - the lyrical disc "Blueberries and Cyclops", containing strong and convincing songs, and the explosive "42/37" with a tough recitative, followed by melodic digressions, demonstrating the unique skill of the author. Miyagi, Endgame feat. Rem Digga - I Got Love In February 2021, the rapper presented the album “42/37” in Yekaterinburg and Samara, in March in Moscow, in April he performed in Rostov-on-Don, in May in Chelyabinsk. In June 2021, he gave a big concert in Khabarovsk, where he performed together with ST and Nigativ.
Wheelchair rap.
VICE: What are you doing in Gukovo?
Rem Digga: I live here. In general, I don’t want to leave here anywhere - I spent a year in Rostov and realized that big cities are not attractive to me. I feel bad there. I love peace. But even here the fans are overwhelming me, they come from Moscow. Just yesterday some crazy woman came and wanted to talk.
Are they coming specially from Moscow?
Yes, they come and wait. But I don't let anyone in.
Well, how can I speak here... There are only 70 thousand people living here, if you round them up. My fee is decent, no one here will pay. I only had one concert in Rostov, with Onyx. But now it will begin: there will be several concerts in Ukraine, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar. It’s just that all this is hard for me, I have to give up something. It’s hard to ride in a stroller, but flying is such a hassle, it’s tough in general! So I only play the best gigs, the big ones. By the way, I can’t listen to my songs at all; I force myself to sing before the concert in order to learn the words. As it is, I don’t remember a single line. I hate my songs, I almost always consider them mediocre. But I understand that if people listen, then there is probably something good. By the way, why did you come to me?
Tell us how you got involved in music.
How did you celebrate your 25th birthday?
No way. Well, a lot of people came. But I don’t consume anything: I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, I don’t eat many foods. But I’m not a vegetarian, I just made up my mind: what I made up, I don’t eat. I like self-control, depriving myself of something. I don’t eat white bread, almost no meat, I don’t drink mayonnaise, chocolate, or Coca-Cola. I like it, I feel some kind of victory over myself. I don’t watch TV, only sports or programs about animals. And some serious metamorphoses have been happening in me lately.
On your website there is a photo of you with a cat. Do you love cats?
Well, I like it, yes. She's climbing around here somewhere.
I am Orthodox, but I give in to trends. I like Judaism, Buddhism, and some of their positions. I’m collecting skullcaps and rosaries, I want to go to India, to Israel. All sorts of oriental things make me happy. I just look like some kind of non-Russian, but I’m Russian.
Did you like the interview? Read more - Henrik Silvius
Personal life of Rem Diggy
The headliner of Russian hip-hop is not married, but he has a beloved Victoria Nalchikova, a native of Dushanbe. The rapper dedicated his composition “Vika” to her. On the cover of the musician's third solo album, Blueberry, in blueberry tones, her face is depicted.
Rem Digga and his girlfriend Vika Nalchikova
Roman does not smoke, does not drink alcohol or Coca-Cola. He does not consume white bread, chocolate, and almost no meat. According to him, he likes to limit himself to certain foods - this way he feels some kind of victory over himself. He practically doesn’t watch TV, making an exception for sports programs and documentaries about animals. The rapper is an Orthodox Christian, but does not deny some provisions of Buddhism and Judaism. He collects skullcaps and rosaries and plans to travel to India and Israel.
Personal life of Rem Diggi
Roma is not married, but has been dating a girl named Victoria Nachalnikova for several years. It was her face that adorned the artist’s third album, “Blueberry,” and Digga dedicated a separate composition of the same name, “Vika,” to his beloved, which is still considered one of the rapper’s most lyrical and sensual.
Digga is Orthodox and regularly attends the temple, although he does not deny some of the rules of Judaism and Buddhism. According to the rapper, Orthodoxy is a state of mind, and the other two religions are the ability to combine this state with the body and achieve an understanding of life.
Roman collects skullcaps and rosaries, and also plans to travel to Israel, a country of three religions, and India to admire ancient monuments and learn more about the faith of local residents. He repeatedly noted that he felt at the same time outside of religion and the most religious person - his inner faith more than once rescued him in difficult times.
The rapper rarely watches TV, does not smoke or drink alcohol. In his songs and life, he tries to convey to fans that stupidity will not lead to anything good - it is important to treat your life with care and not repeat his mistakes, because it is obvious what this can lead to.
Scandals
In April 2021, Rem Digga was outraged by the behavior of Alexander Gudkov (creator of the YouTube show “League of Bad Jokes”) and the guest of the show, Dzhigan. The concept of the show is as follows: two invited celebrities read prepared jokes about celebrities to each other, trying to make their opponent laugh. Dzhigan voiced the following joke: Roman’s reaction was not long in coming: After that, Gudkov apologized profusely, and Dzhigan stated that the joke was not invented by him, and at first he himself did not want to voice it in front of the cameras, but “Rem Digga is beautiful.”
Rem Digga now
Rem Diggy's latest album was released in 2021. The disc is called “Tulip” and, according to critics, it turned out to be much more lyrical than the previous one. Among the guest stars on the album were Miyagi & Endgame. Fans called the video for the title song of the album, full of metaphors and criticism of the consumer society and drug-addicted youth, a definite strong thing. Rem Digga - Tulip In the summer of 2021, Roman announced an upcoming joint track with Basta. Basta, himself a native of these regions, came to Gukovo, they took pictures together and hinted that their work would be simply “bombastic”.
Childhood and craving for music
It's no secret that talented people are often born into families far from the world of show business. Neither their parents, nor uncles, nor aunts have any idea how to go through castings and record tracks. A person from precisely such an environment is Rem Digga. The biography of the talented performer began on a frosty day on February 1, 1987. He was born in a town called Gukovo, which is located in the southern part of Russia, not far from Rostov-on-Don. Since childhood, music has been the only activity with which Rem Digga was inseparable. The biography of the talented young man contains information about his real name, which is not as exotic as his pseudonym: Roman Voronin.
At the age of ten, the boy began attending music school. The main instrument that Roman studied was the piano. Additionally, he mastered the acoustic guitar. At the same time, an event occurred that changed his whole life: he heard the sounds of rap music for the first time and fell in love with this direction forever. Beats, rhymes, clear and understandable texts talking about real events, the absence of meaningless phrases and complete laconicism - this became the meaning of life for the boy.
