Biography of Harry Topor
Harry Topor (Igor Alexandrov) is a simple guy from a residential area of St. Petersburg who managed to become one of the most successful Russian rap artists.
He is the author of a number of acclaimed releases in the style of “angry rap”, including “Echo of War”, “Postulates of Fury”, “Autopsy Will Show”, “Faces of Death”, “Anatomical Theatre”, a multiple winner of Versus Battle and a long-term fan of FC Zenit. . Rapper Harry Topor (Igor Alexandrov)
There is an opinion that he borrowed his creative pseudonym from the hero of the black comedy by British film director Guy Ritchie “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” - card sharper and gangster Harry “Axe” Lonsdale. He himself noted that the first component of the nickname appeared as a derivative of his real name. And the second one is from his childhood, when he introduced himself to someone as Axe.
Biography
Surprisingly, the marketer of a large St. Petersburg company with knowledge of three foreign languages, Igor Alexandrov, and the aggressive rap artist Harry Topor are one and the same person.
Rapper Harry Topor
The musician has already established himself in the rap community. He has repeatedly won battles with already famous rappers, and fans each time look forward to the release of a new recitative.
early years
Igor Alexandrov was born on January 10, 1989 in the Northern capital and became the second child in the family. His family has Serbian and Russian roots. They lived in a rather criminal area of the Dybenko metro station, which subsequently influenced the nature of his work.
Harry Topor as a child
According to the rap artist, at the age of 4 he fell in love with horror films, which attracted him with plot tension - “A Nightmare on Elm Street”, “The Evil Dead”, “The Living Dead”. Little Igor’s games were also unique - he “operated” on soft toys: he cut them with a real scalpel, took out the stuffing and then sewed them up.
Harry Topor had a difficult childhood
When he was in first grade, his father, a military doctor and candidate of medical sciences, gave him the “Dictionary of Murderers,” containing information about maniacs (political, historical, literary), which became his favorite book. A little later, he presented his son with an equally original treatise called “The Horrors of Nature” - about animals that kill people.
Harry Topor wanted to become a surgeon
At school the boy studied well, without C grades. At first he was going to become a surgeon, but, having fallen in love with football, he decided to choose the profession of a sports commentator. For training, he voiced matches of the FIFA football federation championships on the computer, trying to explain the progress of the games and improvise.
The beginning of a creative journey
During his student years, Igor began writing texts, trying to rhyme lines, speeding up the tempo. At the same time, he came up with the creative pseudonym Harry Topor. Later the guy admitted that this was the name of a character from Guy Ritchie’s favorite movie. There is also a legend that the stage name is an echo from childhood. In narrow circles, Alexandrov was represented as Topor, and Harry as one of the variants of the name Igor.
In 2008, the aspiring rapper presented his debut mixtape of 15 tracks, “Postulates of Fury.” Topor's work was distinguished by aggressive reading, depressive texts, and an emotional manner of performance. A year later, Harry presented a fresh collection of 17 compositions called “My Enemy,” which became a ticket to the modern rap party.
At one of the rap battles, the young performer met Tony Routh. From that moment on, eccentric and similar rappers began performing in nightclubs.
A wave of popularity covered Topor in 2010, after the successful release of the album “Echo of War”. The hot mixtape is filled with the rapper's inner experiences, and the name is symbolic. For three years, Harry collected material for a new album, which was released in 2013. The latest collection includes 13 tracks, seven of which were recorded jointly by such rap artists as: Lupercal, Talibal, Altabella, Blank.
Career development
The rap artist recorded his first tracks on a whistling and hissing “tram” microphone during his first year. It was not possible to find information about which educational institution (once a St. Petersburg resident mentioned that he had several professions, without specifying which ones).
Young Harry Ax
In 2008, his debut album “Postulates of Fury” was released, which included 15 powerful and evil tracks with witty and relevant arguments: “Cyborg”, “Soap”, “Grisha Borman”, etc.
A year later, his second mixtape “My Enemy” was released, containing 17 compositions, including feats (collaborations) with rapper Atom and a certain supposedly famous French rap star Hammad Toure. As Igor later admitted, he invented this character when he recorded the chorus of the Exclusive track in French and discovered that his voice had become almost unrecognizable. He named his non-existent partner after the football player Kolo Toure, and had fun creating feats with himself.
In 2010, the rapper presented a new work, “Echo of War,” which made him famous in the domestic rap community. The album contained songs mainly with military themes. And not only about the war as such, but also about the war of the fearless Harry with his personal enemies. A year later, the mixtape was re-released with the addition of several songs. As a result, it included 18 compositions.
In 2012, the rap artist released the release “The Autopsy Will Show,” which combined only two tracks, as well as an instrumental version of the first and an acapella version of the second. Listeners considered it one of the most successful in the musician’s work:
{cite#“My first one now lives somewhere at the station.
She's a VIP in all the hangouts, the boys said."#}
In 2013, the rapper’s next disc entitled “Anatomical Theater” appeared, which showed that in his work he continued to adhere to his signature musical style - aggression, brutality and acutely social themes. At the same time, he released the album “Guatemala Coffee Trip” under the pseudonym Mr. Mackintosh, called in the press "a hellish mixture of hate-filled compositions." The author's indignation concerned the situation in the country and in rap culture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J29OpIKiFG8
That same year, he had a rap duel in Versus Battle with Billy Milligan (also known as St1m), which ended with Ax winning. His opponent attributed the failure to lack of time to prepare. According to battle rap experts, Harry was especially good at fast flow. He also won an unconditional victory in competitions with Czar and Noize MC.
Versus: Harry Ax VS Billy Milligan
In 2014, together with Tony Routh, he released the album “Country of Wasps”, having previously completed a tour in support of it. A whole army of his fans was eagerly awaiting this record, and not in vain. All 14 tracks (“Quantum Leap”, “One Way Ticket”, “Vampire Ball”, etc.) were interesting, original and of high quality. The audience was especially attracted by the entertaining dialogue with the “heavenly commander” in the composition “Interlocutor”.
Harry Topor's height is 185 cm
At the same time, hip-hop fans were able to watch Harry’s victorious duel in Versus Battle with Krivoy Rog performer Tipsy Tip, admiring his cool performance technique and aggressive attacks towards his opponent. But in the battle with ST (Alexander Stepanov) he suffered his first defeat.
In the same year, the website of Zenit, Topor’s favorite football team, published his interview for ProSport. The rapper was immensely flattered by this circumstance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPrWdtJgz31
In 2015, he released the track “Bells,” where the assertive text was offset by a melodic, soul-catching chorus, as well as the composition “Curb,” dedicated to the memory of Sergei Bodrov, and a heartfelt story called “Tell Me.”
He also demonstrated a high level of skill in joint concerts with his friend Tony Routh in St. Petersburg, Minsk, and other Russian cities, and each time, according to those present, the stage was blown away by their powerful energy.
Harry Topor and Tony Routh
In 2016, Harry Topor’s solo album “Faces of Death” was released, full of “afterlife tonality”. It included 13 tracks, including those created together with colleagues Nigativ, Tony Routh, Stevie Insane. By the way, over the years of creativity, Topor collaborated a lot not only with rappers from neighboring countries, but also from far away - from Belgium, Germany, Turkey, and recorded his tracks at the Berlin Records studio.
At the beginning of 2020, he presented the composition “Strange World”, written by him together with NZT prod, and in the summer - a video for the track “Lieutenant Rzhevsky”.
Music
While studying in his first year at the institute, Igor Alexandrov began to compose texts and rhyme lines. It was then that he came up with the pseudonym Harry Topor. According to one version, the rapper named himself this way in honor of the character in the Guy Ritchie film, according to another, Harry is an interpretation of the name Igor, and he somehow introduced himself with the word “axe” as a child.
Rapper Harry Topor
In 2008, Topor’s first mixtape “Postulates of Fury” was released. It contains 15 compositions. The performance of the tracks is distinguished by a certain aggression, emotionality and a special way of reading. A year later, a collection of 17 recitatives, “My Enemy,” was published. The tracks gain popularity, and Harry reaches out to listeners and begins performing in clubs. He is accompanied by his friend and colleague Tony Routh.
Ax does not stop there and in 2010 releases the mixtape “Echo of War,” which instantly became popular. The tracks are dedicated not only to the war as an event, but also to the struggle with Harry's inner demons. Later, in 2013, a new collection “Anatomical Theater” was published. 6 compositions were presented by Topor solo, and 7 were recorded in collaboration with other rappers. Among them are Talibal, Lupercal, Altabella and Blank.
Tony Routh and Harry Topor
In 2013, Harry took part in the prestigious Versus battle for the first time in the rap community. His opponent was Billy Milligan (ST1M). The ax won a landslide victory in the verbal competition.
A month later, in October of the same year, Harry participates in the second rap battle. This time his opponent is Czar. And again the victory went to Topor. Moreover, the opponent even wanted to give up ahead of time, but the jury was asked to bring the competition to the end. The third victory was won by Harry Topor at the end of 2013 in a rap battle with Noize Mc.
Harry Topor - "I'm not welcome here"
In 2014, Harry was again announced as a participant in the battle. The rapper ST rhymed against him. But this time the jury awarded the victory to ST, not Topor. After this, Harry decided to temporarily not participate in the Versus battle. But together with friend Tony Routh, the rapper is releasing a new album, “OS Country.” The friends also took part in the recording of Oksimiron’s recitative, which was later released as a video.
The musician dedicated another video clip for the song “Curb” to two idols of his youth, director Alexei Balabanov and Sergei Bodrov, the leading actor in the cult film “Brother.” Harry dedicated the song itself to his hometown. And in 2020, another collection of tracks called “Faces of Death” will be released.
Harry Topor - "Curb"
Also, 2020 was marked for the performer by participation in the entertainment show “Evening Urgant”. This is how even more listeners recognized the rapper, since Channel One’s audience numbers millions of television viewers. In 2020, Ax decides to return to Versus battle and enters into a rap battle with Obe 1 Kanobe.
Harry Topor - "The Pearl of Vismoria"
Luck is once again on the side of the energetic Harry Topor. At the same time, videos for the musical compositions “Land of Sannikov” and “Pearl of Vismoria” were released.
Personal life of Harry Topor
In the summer of 2020, the most famous rapper Dybenko got married. His chosen one, a brown-haired beauty, is called Natalya. She is his old love - they met three years earlier, then she could be seen in their shared photos on the Internet, they appeared together at Harry’s concerts. The rapper intrigued his subscribers by saying that their wedding celebration was organized on the territory of Vladimir Putin's Black Sea dacha. Some fans even decided that he married one of the president's daughters.
Harry Topor and his wife Natalya
The Petersburger admitted that he does not like opportunists and flatterers (in his words, “ass-lickers”), he is irritated by people with low intelligence and drunk women.
Harry Topor's wedding
He loves his hometown very much: he got a tattoo of 78 (region number) in the area of his heart, and considers the use of alcohol, drugs, and the tradition of taking autographs unacceptable. He himself would not ask for an autograph even from one of the most charismatic and cool, in his opinion, football players of our time - the player of the French club Nice, Mario Balotelli.
Childhood and youth
Harry is a native of the Leningrad outskirts. He was born in the Northern capital in the middle of winter, January 10, 1989. His childhood was spent on Dybenko Street. In the 90s, local drug addicts and drunkards often met there. These memories will be imprinted in Igor’s memory, which he will mention in his compositions.
Igor was the second child in the family; he has an older brother. As a child, the boy loved to watch horror films and dreamed of working as a surgeon. And the future rapper practiced on soft toys. I cut the fabric with a knife or scalpel, pulled out the “stuffing” of plush hares and bears, and then sewed up the cut. The passion for “surgery” could have been inherited by Igor - his father was a military doctor.
When the boy entered first grade, his father gave him a book, but not an encyclopedia or an atlas of the Earth, but “The Dictionary of Murderers,” a collection of stories about maniacs. Later, the schoolboy’s library was replenished with the volume “Horrors of Nature” - a book about animals that can kill a person.
At school, Igor was not an inveterate hooligan and studied well; C marks on his report card appeared extremely rarely. Towards graduation, the young man abandoned his “hobby for dissection” and became seriously interested in football. But not as a sport - he was interested in commenting on what was happening on the field.
Despite such original hobbies of his youth, Igor chose a serious specialty - “International Marketing”. During his studies, student Alexandrov mastered two foreign languages: English and French. In addition, he also knew Serbian, because... his family roots are not only from Russia, but also from Serbia.
Having received a diploma of higher education, Igor, who by that time had already become known as rapper Harry Topor, began working in his specialty in one of the large companies in St. Petersburg.
Harry Ax now
In September 2020, a battle between Harry Topor and Obe 1Kanobe took place, which ended in victory for the former and became a good promotion for his upcoming album “The Man in the Iron Gauntlet.” It included 12 songs, including those performed together with PLC, T.Wild, R-Tem, Altabella. The first single of the album was “Sannikov Land”, familiar to fans from the video of the same name released in February.
In November, he pleased his fans with a joint composition with the alternative group Stigmata called “East”, which was included in their studio album Mainstream.
School years
Studying was easy for Igor, and he wanted to gain knowledge. Therefore, his efforts yielded results - he graduated from school well, without C grades.
At school he developed a new hobby - football. Igor seriously decides to become a sports commentator. He was good at commentating on FIFA matches during training sessions, which he conducted regularly.
Personal life
Harry (aka Igor) is not only a successful marketer and a popular “angry rapper” (as he calls himself), but also a loving husband. At the height of the summer of 2020, the performer tied the knot with a pretty brown-haired woman named Natalya. The girl’s maiden name is unknown to the public, but after marriage she took her husband’s last name.
Harry Topor's wedding
Before marriage, the couple maintained a relationship for three years. The wedding took place on the Black Sea coast, according to Harry, on the territory of Putin’s dacha. But fans, knowing about the rapper’s sense of humor, appreciated their idol’s joke. In the comments to the photos of the newlyweds, there were wishes for family happiness and the speedy appearance of children.
Despite his secrecy in matters of his personal life, Harry Topor arranged the only video chat for fans, which was attended by his future wife at that time. The rapper mostly answered questions from fans with jokes. He talked about meeting Natalya, which allegedly took place in prison, and that the girl was actually 40 years old.
Harry Topor with his wife Natalya
In ordinary life, Igor is also a big fan of football and has been a fan of the St. Petersburg team Zenit for many years. The musician does not forget to devote time to sports. With a height of 185 cm, his weight is 82 kg. Ax speaks patriotically about his hometown and even got a tattoo on his body with the region number - “78”.
A - Aggression
Yes, I write an angry rap. Yes, I'm aggressive and hot-tempered. For example, if a drunk guy sits next to me and starts yelling at everyone, then I will either tell him to get out or tell everyone at once. But the fact that rage awakens in me instantly does not make me inadequate. If at someone’s birthday I see, say, a Kosovo Albanian, then of course I won’t jump across the table and poke him with a fork - it’s enough just not to talk to him and not spoil anyone’s holiday. Aggressive does not mean redneck. I communicate normally with all reasonable people. And with close people I am very kind.
B - Battle
I have such bad luck with my opponents that it seems like I have voodoo and pierce their dolls with knitting needles before the battle. I can’t announce my next opponents yet. By the way, I don't have a bad attitude towards any of them.
I was shocked by the situation with Noise. It's a shame that this happened. I honestly prepared for the battle and counted on decent resistance. I will say one thing - I would like him to come prepared.
There is an opinion in Vanya’s group that Noise’s behavior was a kind of protest against non-freestyle battles. If this is so, then it is not clear to me.
B - Beginning
In my first year, I recorded my first tracks on a “tram” microphone. I still don’t know what a “tram” microphone is and how it differs from a “non-tram” microphone, but, apparently, it is what is used in transport. I didn’t have an instrumental, my friend played something like “Metallica” on the guitar, and I read the lyrics. I didn’t understand the recording process at the time, but I saw that some dudes were reading quietly (imitating a low, hoarse voice), so I just muttered something into the microphone. In the end, my older brother said that he didn’t understand a word, and I was very upset.
I took up hip-hop “seriously” about four years ago.
Z - Envy
Lyokha Alexandrov once said a wise thing: “Envy is the engine of progress.” For example, I have a healthy envy of performers who gather 1000 people at a concert - this pushes me to record more tracks and shoot more quality videos. At the same time, this does not at all negate the fact that I am sincerely happy for them.
Z - Angry rap
I labeled my music as “angry rap.” Some people listen to him because of the thirst for aggression in their ears during training, others because they see acute social problems in him, etc. Every creative person who does something lives in his own reality. Welcome to my little world - the quintessence of violence and sexual aggression.
I'll tell you a case. One of my former colleagues was always pointing out to me that my rapping was complete nonsense. After the release of “Dancing with the Dead,” he himself came up and told me: “I haven’t told anyone about this yet, but a couple of years ago, one friend predicted to me that I would meet a man who would tell everyone about dancing with the dead, but they wouldn’t listen to him.” and will continue to die." Since then, we have never touched the topic of my music.
Z - Angry rap - 2
I actually have a fat producer. When he says something, only his shiny cheeks are visible. He's the one who forces me to make angry raps, even though I beg him to let me write about chicks, cars and heroin. Unfortunately, he doesn't think it's fashionable. However, I believe that one day he will die from obesity, and when his body cools down, I will finally write a track about how I drive a Lamborghini, drinking in it while driving (pause)... What do they drink there? Lamborghini? At least a beer. After all, when you drive such a car, you don’t care what you drink.
The funny thing is that now many will think that I really have a fat producer.
L - People
Unerudite people annoy me. For example, when you tell a person that he looks like a rhinoceros, and he doesn’t even know what a rhinoceros is, then this is already beyond the bounds. Knowing the meaning of the word “rhinoceros” is the basis; this is what children need to be taught even before the alphabet. I also don’t like butt-licking and so-called. “glors”, that is, those who support the performer only while he is at his peak. For example, Steam fans command my respect because, both before and after the battle, they continue to bombard me with messages about what a bastard I am. They do not turn away from him even in difficult times. Another thing is that they are idiots in the sense that they generally write to me something like that, but let’s ignore this point. But many of the Tsar’s fans turned away from him after his defeat.
Drunk chicks make me sick. I’m by no means a moral fag, but girls don’t need to push themselves to the point of “your soul goes to heaven and your feet go to the police,” climb onto the bar counter, vomit on the crowd and simultaneously jerk off to a random acquaintance through your fly. I also want to give pregnant women who smoke a slap on the head.
M - Opinions of others
Of course, outside opinions are important to me. And I wouldn’t at all want someone to start cutting people in the bathroom after my tracks. It's just music after all. For example, horror film directors are not crazy - they simply film something that awakens certain emotions in people. So the characters in my tracks are just characters. At the same time, I do everything sincerely and do not deceive my listeners by talking about what does not exist in life.
N - Nationalism
I am proud of my Russian and Serbian roots and advocate the unification of the Slavic peoples. In fact, I would not like to touch on the topic of nationalism.
NG - New generation
Give a first-grader an iPad and he’ll figure it out right away. Give me an iPad – I’ll only have to think for half an hour how to turn it on. I'm so old that until recently I didn't know how to switch to the Russian layout in a MacBook. At the same time, most schoolchildren are not aware of absolutely basic things. Once at a battle I said: “I am Harry Ax and my goal is money. I am Rodion Raskolnikov." Not everyone understood that I was talking about the ax as a tool, about grandmothers as money-lenders, associating myself with a literary character. Some people just thought my name was Rodion.
P - Dad
My favorite book since childhood is “The Dictionary of Murderers,” which my dad gave me in first grade. By the way, this is still my only reference book. It contains all the maniacs, literary, political and historical murderers. Around the same time, my dad gave me “The Horrors of Nature,” a book about animals that kill people.
In general, from the age of four I fell in love with horror films. Unfortunately, now almost all horror films are filmed according to the principle: pumping music - calm - someone suddenly jumps out. Nothing. Personally, I like “The Evil Dead”, “A Nightmare on Elm Street” with young Johnny Depp, “Death Alive” - such films were frightening with plot tension.
My father was one of the best chemists in St. Petersburg. In high school, he made bombs, with which he used to scare, among other things, his friends, placing small amounts of explosives under their rugs in front of their apartment. Afterwards he stopped doing this, all that was left were firecrackers for the New Year.
I look up to my father. He is the height. Military medic and candidate of science, who has written many books. When I become a father myself, I will follow his approach to parenting.
P - Popularity
It seems to me that taking autographs is very stupid. I would never ask for Mario Balotelli's signature, even though I consider him one of the most charismatic football players of our time. He's a dude like everyone else, he just achieved certain heights. Unless, maybe, I would just take a photo with him. You see, a journalist can write articles for seven years and suddenly publish an interview with Harry Topor, who the next day was hit by a car. Of course, the author of the view will be discussed. So is the case with me. I’ve been doing rap for seven years, but some kind of fame came to me only after Versus. Oh miracle! What about my released albums?
It can be funny when a juicy girl with juicy tits and a great ass comes up to you asking for an autograph. I don’t understand this - it’s more likely that I should ask her for an autograph, shouldn’t I?
R - Work
In principle, I have enough time for both work and hip-hop. By the way, I have to travel around cities not only because of performances, but also because of my professional duties. I won’t say what I do, but I’m certainly not a butcher or a pathologist.
By the way, I speak English, French and Serbian. I want to learn Spanish.
C - Self-analysis
I'm more of an honest person. Another thing is, if a stranger asks me how a hat fits on him, which I frankly don’t like, then I will say something like: “Listen, it’s fine.” It would be stupid to cut down the truth and tell him: “You’re like a cretin in it, old man.”
What don't I like about myself? I noticed that my nose is very strangely shaped.
T - Texts
In general, writing texts is my least favorite and hardest activity. But when you record a finished track, it’s like you’re getting rid of a burden.
F - FIFA
In general, as a child, I dreamed of becoming a football commentator and voiced FIFA matches on the computer. I also wanted to become a surgeon: at the age of four I was dissecting toys with a scalpel (yes, yes, I played with a scalpel at that age), taking out the stuffing and sewing them up with thread. This is how I treated them.
Harry's successes in recent years
As for Topor’s work, in 2014 a joint album by two friends Harry Topor and Tony Routh, “Wasp Country,” was released. After this album, the rappers began to do even more collaborations, and in 2015 they began giving joint concerts not only in St. Petersburg, but throughout Russia.
At the beginning of 2020, Topor releases the album “Faces of Death”, which includes 13 tracks, one of them is a collaboration with Nigativ from the Triad. It is worth noting that in June 2020, Harry Topor took part in the Evening Urgant program on Channel One. This is certainly a major success for Harry, because before him there were not many rappers in Urgant: the Center group, Noize MC, Re-Pac, Basta and Timati. In the fall of 2017, Harry Topor returned to Versus and won a battle over Obe 1 Kanobe. A few days later, Topor presents a new release, “The Man in the Iron Gauntlets.”
1. Harry has several joint tracks with rappers from Belgium, Germany, and Serbia. These tracks were recorded back in 2008-2010. You can no longer find them on the Internet. 2. Topor knows the Serbian language very well. 3. Harry is a fan of the Zenit football club. He tries to attend all home matches of the St. Petersburg team and, if possible, attend away matches.
Together with this artist, we look through biographies:
“It all somehow came from childhood: he introduced himself to someone as Axe, and away we go...”
Harry Topor (Igor Alexandrov)
is a rap artist and battle MC distinguished by his dark, compelling underground rap.
Real name:
Igor Alexandrov
Date of birth:
January 10, 1989
Zodiac sign:
Capricorn
City:
St. Petersburg, Russia
Nationality:
Russian / Serbian
Height:
185 cm
Weight:
85 kg
The latest battle between Harry the Ax and Obe 1 Kanobe:
Harry Topor began his musical career at the end of the 2000s and in just a few years became one of the most popular rappers in St. Petersburg
.
His tracks are distinguished by their unusual reading, emotionality and clear diction. The Ax’s delivery is unusual and unique - it emanates incredible strength of aggression and psychic energy. Harry Topor seems to us to be a man who is unable to restrain his emotions and splashes them out in his tracks. He himself calls his rap evil, and his character, Harry Topor, “an evil rapper with a good sense of humor.”
Harry Topor has five releases and 5 battles
(
four wins
- Obe 1 Kanobe, Billy Milligan, CZAR and Noize MC,
one loss - ST
), but more on that later!
