Vlad and Rita have been together for three years. Open, positive, sincere - they are pleasant people in every sense.
Photo: Jaroslav Kloos
Their relationship is ideally characterized by such a slightly outdated concept as “comradeship”, when between people there is not only love, not only attraction and passion, but also friendship and partnership. and not just a couple, they are a family. And very soon there will be a new addition to this family!
It’s early morning, it’s raining outside, but it doesn’t seem to concern you - your mood is high!
Rita: What are you talking about, we overslept! Yesterday we worked until four in the morning! We'll order breakfast now and start chatting right away, okay?
(Rita orders porridge, Vlad orders an omelette.)
R.: And I knew that this is exactly what you would choose.
How long ago did you start talking like that?
Vlad: It has always been like this.
R.: Yes, from the very beginning, this is not an acquired experience.
V.: We were constantly surprised by this, laughed, and then we just got used to it. We call this phenomenon a united biofield.
You've known each other for ten years, right?
Before the interview I studied your Instagram. You talk so openly about your relationships, about love, and easily and openly demonstrate your emotions to the world.
Q: Is that bad?
This is very good! It’s just that now only the lazy don’t say in interviews that happiness loves silence.
R.: Rather, envy loves silence. And silence destroys happiness. No matter how many great songs would happen if everyone thought that they should keep quiet about happiness! If Stevie Wonder, when his daughter was born, had not written the stunningly beautiful song Isn’t She Lovely...
Q: Bob Marley probably wouldn’t have written ninety-nine percent of his songs if he didn’t want to share his feelings with the world.
R.: And in general, if you listen to the public, followers on Instagram, you can go crazy, you can get bipolar disorder. At first they wrote to us: “Why are you hiding the fact that you are in a relationship? Are you ashamed?" When we announced that we were a couple, it began: “Why do you tell everyone about love, it’s secret!”
Do you often ban subscribers?
V.: Yes, often!
R.: Almost every day there are twenty people.
V.: It’s clear that among our one and a half million subscribers there are people with completely different opinions. There are people who tremble over their relationships - they are afraid of jinxing them. But it's very dangerous game, In my opinion.
R.: The evil eye is a completely separate topic. I recently read a joke under a photo of a mother with two children. To the older girl about five years old, the second child is a newborn. And the baby's face is covered with a smiley face. The comment was very funny: “That’s right, the eldest is already an adult, let her fight off the evil eye herself!”
Now you are talking about how you will soon become parents. Surely you will have something to say about this.
R.: Yes, you can imagine! All the same people who wrote “When is the baby coming? It’s time!”, they will start saying: “Why are you so early, we should take a walk again!” ( Laughs.)
Didn't you think it was too early? Did you plan for this development of events?
R.: We wanted children, but I don’t like the phrase “planned child”, it’s terrible. When two people have been married for two years, it is strange to consider a child unexpected. This may not be a surprise; this is a normal development in the relationship of any healthy couple.
Not all couples are ready for such a turn in life.
V.: Yes, there are some among our friends who openly say that they are child-free. This is their choice, their position. But when we had just started living together, we immediately discussed the “children’s” issue. I honestly said that I didn’t see the point in just dating - going to the cinema or drinking coffee in a cafe.
Why does a guy need a relationship at all if he wants to remain free? If you can hang out and change girls, why bother? And if you're ready for Serious relationships, if you are making plans for the future, thinking about a wedding, then you should be fully prepared for the appearance of children.
Judging by your accounts, you travel a lot - constantly on the move, always on the wave. But every time it’s not just a vacation - you shoot videos in different parts of the world, combining business with pleasure?
V.: Yes, that’s how it works. And since last year we have been working almost without rest. I released an album, then a single in September, Rita launched her solo project in the fall - the premiere of the “Half-Man” video, which blew up the Internet and music charts. We toured throughout December, planned to shoot my video in January, filmed it in Bali in February and released it. In March, we shot two videos for Rita in New York at once, when we found out that we were expecting a baby: one, so to speak, for future use, and another video for the song “I'm afraid so,” which is now breaking all viewing records. And recently we shot another video - for my new single “Come to Me,” which I dedicated to Rita. That's why we went on vacation in May. We just returned from the Maldives, where we didn’t work for a single minute. ( Laughs.) We did nothing - sunbathed, ate, enjoyed each other, read books...
R.: Exactly half of my suitcase was filled with books!
V.: The second half is swimsuits. ( Laughs.)
That is, are you able to press pause and turn off your inner motor?
R: We call it grounding. We have the nth period in time great rest when at first we do nothing at all. For example, when we were in Bali, it took us a week to ground ourselves. During this time we could not even go to the beach or leave the house, we just “sealed”, woke up at what time we wanted, did what we wanted...
V.: They came to their senses. If you imagine a tired person as a ball, then we seemed to be unwinding ourselves. You unwind yourself, unwind yourself, don’t look at the time, don’t think that you need to go somewhere, drive, hurry... And after about a week you are so renewed, fresh, relaxed...
R.: And you think: “Okay, let’s go!”
And again shooting videos and recording songs?
V.: Not only. Here I am learning, let’s say, a new profession for myself. Over the past six months I have starred in two films. Unfortunately, we can’t talk about one project yet, but it’s very popular series on a very popular channel. I play the role of a young correspondent there. And the second film is a historical film for the Rossiya channel about the noblewoman Saltykova, played by Yulia Snigir. And I have one of the key roles there. It so happened that this is my first big dramatic story.
Did you decide to audition yourself, or were you called?
All Last year I auditioned for a very various projects. In some places they didn’t take it, in others they took it, and due to the crisis situation, many projects were curtailed. But the ice broke, and everything went on and on.
Aren't you afraid that they will say: “Another singer has decided to become an actor”?
I don’t really care what they say. I listen only to those whom I consider authoritative on a particular issue. Everyone else can keep their opinions to themselves. In this sense, we both have developed a very good indifference...
R.: In the sense that we have no illusions, we try to remain honest and adequate. We don’t have such a thing that we want to be on time everywhere. Vlad is a real artist. I can’t call my husband just a musician, he is an artist. But I am a pure musician. Before my first solo work, “Half a Man,” thundered, suddenly breaking all records for downloads and reposts and giving me a kind of kick in the ass to continue singing, I sat in my closet for almost seven years and wrote hits for top artists, known throughout the country. The country knows and loves the songs of Loboda, Yolka, Ani Lorak, Anita Tsoi, but no one knew that their author was Rita Dakota. I really can’t call myself an artist, and when, for example, from the same company where Vlad went to audition, they call and offer me to come too, I refuse. I'm not an actress...
V.: You’re just skeptical about this...
R.: No, I’m not skeptical about this, I deeply respect the acting craft, I just can’t do it, and I don’t do what I can’t do. I don’t fry meat, for example. I can't do it as cool as you...
V.: But you didn’t even try to fry it!
R.: I tried a thousand times, but it doesn’t work.
V.: You just didn’t try to fry it with me! You put a cool piece on the frying pan - and three and a half minutes on one side, three and a half minutes on the other, cut it, looked - that's it, medium, let's move on. ( Laughs.) In fact, I myself didn’t believe in this acting story for a long time. There were so many different proposals, they say, you try it, these were filmed and those were filmed. But this is not my profession. I am a ballet dancer, singer, composer, sound producer - anyone, but not an actor, I couldn’t dare call myself that.
R.: Here he is, my favorite type of people - when talented person doesn't know he's talented. Adore you!
V.: Plus, what did they offer? Play yourself, of course. But I didn’t want to play myself, it’s terrible at all! Sorry, of course, I don’t want to offend anyone, but I think that if you play yourself in a film, then it’s complete garbage, you can’t watch it without tears, it’s just some kind of failure... But then there was a project on Channel One “Theater Variety", where I agreed to take part. I became interested because there are many genres, many different images, and that's very cool. I won there audience voting, and Stas Kostyushkin, with a small margin, - by jury vote. And somehow I had a blast there. ( Smiles.) I got an agent, we went through auditions for a year, at first it didn’t work out, but at some point, hop and click. It’s not clear how, maybe because at first I didn’t take it seriously, but, in general, it worked.
Vlad, you said that you only listen to the opinions of people who are authoritative for you. Did you mean your parents?
V.: I meant respected people - rare professionals in my field in my circle, as well as parents, family and closest friends.
Do you think parents should tell their children the truth, just as it is? Or should they still pat him on the head?
R.: You know, it’s difficult for us to give any examples based on our family. Our case with my parents is generally unique... We have a family chat where Vlad’s parents, mine, we and, in general, the whole family. We discuss everything there. That's just everything that happens in life. Frankly, without embellishment. They will praise us there, and they may send us away too, if there is something for it. It seems to me that if anyone had read this chat, our parents could have been deprived of their parental rights for certain passages. ( Laughs.) It’s just that our relationship with our parents cannot be called an ordinary example of a “fathers and sons” relationship. Of course, we love and respect them, we listen to their opinions and ask for advice. But they are more our friends, our company. Maybe this is how a family should be?
V.: Yes, we were told a long time ago, even at an early stage of the relationship, that “guys, no matter how things turn out for you, we are now one family.” Our parents go on trips together, both with us and without us. And mothers can go shopping via Skype - one in Moscow, the other in Minsk.
R.: Yes, our mothers have already divided our children, they say, when “these” go on tour, I will sit, but in December they already have concerts, which means I’ll take me to Minsk for a month... I say : “We haven’t even given birth to anyone yet!” ( Laughs.) And I think that's wonderful. There is an opinion that a child needs a mother 24/7, like it’s wrong when the mother works as someone else besides the mother, it’s bad and wrong if grandmothers sometimes take care of the child. Vlad and I somehow decided to discuss this dogma and unanimously came to the conclusion that, on the contrary, it is very cool when a newborn baby already has a really awesome big family - with grandparents, uncles, aunts who are waiting for him, love him and want to take part in his life as much as possible.
V.: A child, of course, must have an understanding that there are two main people in his life - dad and mom. But how can you deprive him of the rest of his love?
R.: I can judge by the way we were raised. I remember my childhood quite well, but I can tell about my husband because I see him in society, I see him in the family, in his relation to me, in his relation to people. And for me, Vlad is an example of what a person should be.
IN.: ( Ironic.) Oh, you just don’t know me well yet...
R.: It’s like that joke: “Husband, we don’t know each other so well yet that I should weigh myself in front of you!” ( Laughs.) So, I can say that Vlad is a free person in every sense of the word “freedom”. I know very well how he was raised, how his parents took him on tour with the X-Mission group (Vlad’s father Andrei Sokolovsky was the leader of the group. - Note OK!): a suitcase in one hand, little Vlad in the other. And I think that's cool. So I was very domestic, I was my mother’s child. I didn’t go to nursery, didn’t go to kindergarten, so I had a painful attachment to my mother.
V.: Was it?! ( Laughs.)
R.: It still exists, yes. Maybe it’s only now that I’m starting to learn to exist without her. I remember when my mother was late at work for twenty minutes, I would run out into the street to look for her, shaking, wondering if something terrible had happened. If I’m flying to another country now, and Vlad and I haven’t turned on roaming yet and I can’t write an SMS that everything is fine, then I start to panic and go crazy. Sometimes I take such good care of my mother that I bother her. I sit on the shore and closely watch how she swims, so that she doesn’t start to drown. God forbid. ( Laughs.) Mom sometimes says: “I’m fifty years old, you can leave me alone, I’m an adult. I want to go to the store alone, leave me alone!” ( Laughs.) In short, I understand that this hysterical overprotection of my mother, which sometimes annoys not only her, but also myself, is an excellent example of how I should not treat future children. I will try to control myself in relation to the child, I will raise him to be socially adapted. I’m already preparing myself for the fact that I gave birth, sat with him for a couple of weeks, then calmly gave it to my mother, if I need to go on business for a couple of hours, and it’s okay, I don’t have to call every five minutes...
V.: We'll wait and see.
R.: Yes, yes. Sometimes you are sure that you know everything about yourself, but life shows that you know nothing about yourself at all.
What are you talking about now?
It happened when I was offered to head the “Creativity” direction in Federal agency in youth affairs, where I had to manage a large team. At first I was a little afraid. I thought that a tattooed singer would not be perceived as a leader and specialist. In the end, I unexpectedly turned out to be a monster! That is, with Vlad at home I’m like “mi-mi-mi”, just a girl-girl: “If Vlad said that it should be like this, then fine, so be it, it’s a man who said it.” And then she just turned into a tyrant! ( Laughs.) My boss even called me and asked me to be gentler with people, like they were crying, saying that you are very demanding, you won’t let me sit down for two seconds. I never expected this from myself; I thought I would be a creative slob.
So, of the two of you, Rita will be the “evil cop”? Vigilant, caring, but how terribly strict?
R.: Well, no.
It seems to me that you just need to love a child very much. Many people think that a child is such a responsibility, it hard labour and almost heroism. In fact, I think it's all too exaggerated. If there is love, everything else will follow.
Sometimes, when I call my mother in tears and say, “Ma, what kind of mother am I, I can never be like you!”, She tells me: “Rita, at first I didn’t know what to do with you either, when you screamed at night. She rocked you in her arms, and thought to herself: “Please, my love, shut up already, shut up, shut up!” ( Laughs.) But it came somehow, it’s okay, and it will come to you.”
V.: She never shut up... ( Laughs.)
R.: There is such a thing. Therefore, nothing definite can be said yet... It would be good if I were like my mother. She was perfect in every way. She is still perfect in every sense. Vlad loves it when she comes: “Mother-in-law is coming, hurray, it will be delicious, fun, clean, cool!”
V.: That’s it, mamsik will read this material and then every time he will come and clean our hut. ( They laugh.) Mom, relax, we have people who get money for this!
R.: By the way, I wanted to add one more thing to the conversation about subscribers. Now some people are writing us angry comments that our colorful life will end with the birth of a child. Like, enjoy, enjoy while the kids are away. They simply project their complexes and their fears onto others. But I think you shouldn’t pay attention to those who present motherhood as heroism, who say: “Forget about yourself for now.” whole year, because first hormones, then colic, then teeth...” I like Vlad’s position: “It will be like ours.”
V.: There is a wonderful phrase that our whole family loves. She is very funny, but she has a lot of morality and depth: “Everything is as you want.”
Guys, judging by your mobility, you will fly somewhere to the islands or to the States to give birth...
V.: No, we will do it in Russia. Our entire active phase of pregnancy is summer...
R.: Fruits, cherries...
V.: That is, we can go out of town, to visit our parents. If pregnancy had happened during the cold, gray time of the year, we would never have given birth here.
R.: We had two options: to go to give birth in Bali and not to go to give birth to Bali. ( Laughs.) After weighing some temporary delays regarding movements and so on, we decided that we would probably give birth to our first child at home. My friends recommended to me a wonderful doctor from the perinatal medical center “Mother and Child” in Sevastopolsky, Tatyana Olegovna Normantovich (she is the chief doctor there), and I fell madly in love with her from the very first meeting. It’s funny, at some point at the center they told me not to worry, that they have a separate entrance and a comfortable suite for public couples, but for me, honestly, in general, it doesn’t matter, with Tatyana Olegovna I’m ready to give birth even in the field! This is very important - a doctor who guides you during pregnancy. It would be nice to have the same worldview as an ordinary doctor, but here is such a responsible task! I called her the other day: “Tatyana Olegovna, I want coffee so bad, I’ll just die right now as I want!” And she replies: “Well, have a drink.” I say: “You can’t have coffee, they say that caffeine has a bad effect on the fetus, that the child will be small and thin...” And she told me: “Rita, please don’t read the Internet, only romance novels!” Order yourself a latte, if you want a double portion from me. Bye". Or I also had questions: “Tatyana Olegovna, all pregnant girls take vitamins, there are millions of vitamins for pregnant women, which ones should I buy?” And she says: “You don’t need any vitamins, breathe out, please, your tests are perfect. If you suddenly need anything, I’ll tell you what vitamins to take.” And everything like that. That is, I’m not a crazy “pregnant woman” at all, I’m super relaxed and calm. And my doctor is the same.
After giving birth, you will probably still fly to Bali for the winter?
R.: Yes, we are giving birth, hanging out outside the city for two months with our parents, with our crazy family...
V.: ...And with her we go to Bali for two whole months.
R.: I already anticipate the comments of particularly sensitive subscribers: “He’s small, how will he fly? There are malaria mosquitoes, tarantulas there, stray dogs everywhere!”
V.: And here are the exhaust gases...
R.: By the way, the baby will need to make a card in order to accumulate miles. So that by the age of twenty he will have saved up for a trip around the world...
V.: ...And an account with a million subscribers.
R.: Yes, by the way, we don’t want to cover the child’s face in photographs on the Internet. Because, firstly, we think that this is very natural and very cool, and secondly, we hope that we will convince someone not to be afraid to get married and have children. We also recently decided that we will create our own blog - a family channel on YouTube. We will show there that life after childbirth exists. ( They laugh.)
V.: We are already planning a huge number of trips, work, we are buying an apartment. This will, in fact, be a blog designed for a very different audience - from mothers with recommendations on what to choose for their child, to those who now need advice on choosing building materials.
Well, I wish you every success!
R: Is that all? And you don’t want to listen to the story of how it all happened, where?
V.: Rita... ( Smiles.)
R: What? This also happened in Bali... Exactly in the same place where Vlad proposed to me two and a half years ago, just think! Right in the same place!
V.: Yes, in our first Bali I proposed, in the second Bali we were already husband and wife, in the third we had a baby, and in next year, it turns out that we will be with a sling...
R.: Bali is our magical place! Just a couple of days before conception, I quit smoking! I was such an avid smoker, everyone knew about it. “Dakota promotes smoking in the “Gloves” video. True, I had several attempts to quit, but something always stopped me. And then in Bali I received several signs in a row, and ones that were simply amazing! The last one finally finished me off. I broke the pack, stuffed it under a rock and told the Universe: “That’s it, I understand everything!” And then, three weeks later, I found out that I was pregnant. Can you imagine? ( Laughs.)
Text: Evgenia Beletskaya. Photo: Yaroslav Kloos
Style: Alesya Matyashchuk. Makeup and hairstyles: Yulia Yakovleva
She is not only an excellent vocalist, but also a very talented composer and the author of the texts. Today her songs are performed by: famous artists, like Ani Lorak, Anita Tsoi, Dominic Joker and others.
Childhood
Her date of birth is March 9, 1990. She was born in the capital of Belarus, the city of Minsk. As a child, Rita was not particularly interested in typical games for girls: Barbie dolls and coloring books with princesses were lying under the bed. And at that time she herself was racing in the yard and playing war games and Cossack robbers with the boys.
But performing abilities began to manifest themselves even then. In the evenings, along with other people her age, Rita entertained local grandmothers with yard concerts. The boys sang songs by Andrei Gubin and the group " Ladybug", and the girls sang the compositions of Tanya Ovsienko and Kristina Orbakaite.
School of Music
Even in childhood, my mother noticed her daughter’s musical gift. She heard how Rita hummed songs purely from the point of view of intonation, read the poems that she wrote; heard the melodies she composed. The family decided to send the girl to study at music school. Then, as a seven-year-old child, having come with her mother to enroll in the piano department, she conquered the main vocal teacher with her singing. As a result, it was decided, in addition to studying to be a pianist, to also sing in a choir. Later, thanks to teachers and Rita’s natural gift, she became one of the best members of this vocal group. Singer Dakota and her band went on tour in almost all European countries. It should be noted that the members of this choir different time there were singer Bianca, pianist Vlasyuk and other famous personalities.
Difficult choice
After graduating from music school, fourteen-year-old Rita decided to enroll in School of Music them. Glinka to the Faculty of Composition. All documents were collected, but last moment, literally before the doors of the school she changed her mind. As singer Dakota herself admitted, she unexpectedly came to the conclusion that if a person studies hard, he can eventually understand how to write the right music. But learn to write good music only possible if you have talent. Deciding then that composition would be her hobby, she set out to improve her vocal abilities by entering the studio pop vocals"Forte".
Star Factory
Having failed to pass the casting to participate in the Belarusian musical show project "Star Stagecoach", singer Dakota (see photo below), was accused by members of the jury of "lack of patriotism" for performing a song on English language, for some time gave up the desire to build a solo career.
At that time, she was much more interested in writing her own compositions. Therefore, when Rita learned from her friend Armen (a famous singer in Belarus) about the beginning of the casting of the seventh “Star Factory”, she decided to definitely go there to show Konstantin Meladze her original works. To do this, she made a demo of her songs, determined to prove to the producer that she would make a good composer.
But things didn't work out as Dakota planned. The singer, whose biography proves the versatility of her talent, was accepted into the TV project “Star Factory-7” as a participant.
During the project, Rita wrote several new songs, met big amount creative people. The teachers appreciated her vocal abilities, recognizing her voice as one of the best in the history of the Star Factory. Margarita became a finalist of the project. She recorded such popular original songs as “Matches”, “I Knew Everything”, “Alone” and “To My Best Friend”.
Meet Dominic Joker
At the end of the project, numerous tours of the “factories” followed, in one of which the singer Dakota met Dominic Joker, also a graduate of one of the previous “Factory”. At that time he was a successful singer, composer and producer. Subsequently these two creative person became close friends. But friendship was not the only thing that connected them. Dominic and Rita recorded several songs together. Their most famous work is the soundtrack to the TV series “Mom Moscow”.
On the edge of poverty
At the end of the tour, Dakota, still bound by her contract, found herself unclaimed. But her obligations did not allow her to leave for her native Belarus. Without work, there was virtually no means of subsistence. She lived in a room outside the Moscow Ring Road, practically starved, but did not lose her fortitude. The desire to create music has not disappeared either.
Not far from Rita’s then home there was a school. The girl asked the watchman to let her into the assembly hall at night so that she could compose new songs on the old piano. There, covered with a blanket, she recorded the fruits of her creativity on a voice recorder, once a gift from Konstantin Meladze. At some point, the realization came that her songs might be interesting to other artists. Dakota offered them to several aspiring performers to perform. When she realized that her creations were in demand, she began to collaborate with “stars” of higher rank.
When all the difficulties are behind
Now that the difficult period in Margarita’s life is over, she is a sought-after composer and lyricist. It is enough to mention a few songs that are now heard on the waves of all radio stations. The song “I will remember”, performed by Alexander Marshal and T-killah, “Sky” performed by Elka, “Not needed”, performed by Svetlana Loboda.
Dakota is also currently taking part in the project “ Main stage", where he mainly performs songs of his own composition.
Singer Dakota and Vlad Sokolovsky: a love story
They met back in 2007, being participants in the “Star Factory-7”. It’s interesting, but then they became very good friends and talked a lot, jokingly calling each other “brother and sister.” After the end of the project, we did not communicate for a long time. Dakota is a singer whose personal life has never been publicly known. But there were many rumors about Sokolovsky’s stormy adventures. Among his girls were models, singers, and dancers... She created an independent rock band, and then for some time she was on the verge of poverty.
Later, when success came to Rita and her songs became in great demand, they met at one of the parties. By that time, Vlad had replaced his shoulder-length wavy hair with a fashionable haircut, and his youthful “outfit” with a suit and tie. He matured and became a man. She was no longer an ardent rebel in sneakers, obsessed with rock music. Probably, these circumstances allowed them to look at each other in a new way. After this meeting, they never parted again, but they hid their relationship from the general public for quite a long time. And after some time they began to appear in the press joint photos from various events. It was then that fans suspected that there was something more than a friendly relationship between them. And indeed, the couple soon admitted that they were in love and happy. And after a year and a half of relationship, Vlad and Dakota finally got married.
The singer and Vlad Sokolovsky, whose wedding took place on June 8, 2015, are now enjoying family life, do things together creative activity(Rita writes songs, and Vlad performs them). It is also known that the guys decided to go into business and opened several mobile fast food outlets.
I want to believe that this a beautiful couple will live happily ever after. And Dakota will write and sing a lot more beautiful songs, which will delight her loyal fans.
Rita Dakota (real name - Margarita Gerasimovich) was born on March 9, 1990 in Minsk. The family lived in a poor area of the city, but the girl’s parents tried to ensure that their daughter did not lack anything. As a child, the girl spent a long time walking with the guys from the yard, preferring to play Cossack robbers and other “boyish” games.
Young Dakota dreamed of creating music since childhood. She sang songs for the neighboring grandmothers, and secretly dreamed of becoming famous composer. The girl wrote her first poem at the age of five. It was dedicated to toys and was called "Steady Little Soldier."
Rita Dakota on stage
The future singer’s mother noticed her daughter’s talent, and when she was seven years old, she sent her to a music school. At the entrance exams, Rita performed the song “Moscow Nights.” After some thought, the girl was enrolled in piano lessons, and she studied vocals as a free listener, joining the school choir. Musical education was easy, together with other children Rita performed at international festivals and competitions.
At the age of eleven, Dakota became the author of her first song. She wrote her first serious composition, being impressed by the French film “Leon” and the composition “Shape of my heart” by the British musician Sting. She sang this song with her school friend at graduation party in fourth grade.
Already at the age of fourteen, Dakota was actively writing songs for her punk band and selling musical sketches to radio stations. In order for the girl and her business proposal to be taken seriously, she had to take one of the adults with her.
After school, Rita planned to enter the music school named after, and learned about the outstanding vocal teacher Gulnara Robertovna. The teacher helped record demos of Dakota's songs in order to maintain copyright on them. At the same time, Rita became interested in graffiti and learned to draw. Then graffiti artists from Portugal were visiting Minsk; they saw the singer’s drawings and described them as “dakotat”. The girl liked this word so much that she made it her pseudonym.
The first steps in her creative biography was participation in the Belarusian talent competition “Star Stagecoach” in 2005. However, the project did not bring victory to the girl, since the competition jury accused the singer of lack of patriotism due to singing the song in English.
Such an event almost became an obstacle for Rita to achieve her goal, but the girl continued to fight. She firmly decided to realize herself on stage.
A fateful moment for her will be participation in the large-scale Russian reality show “Star Factory”. It is television music project“Star Factory” opens up new opportunities for Rita.
"Star Factory"
In 2007, her active professional growth began. A 17-year-old girl came from Minsk to the Moscow casting of the next season of “Star Factory” simply because she wanted to present CDs with her music to famous Russian producers. Belarusian girl She didn’t at all dream of becoming one of the “manufacturers,” but in the end she was accepted for the project - she even became its finalist.
When the start of casting for the Star Factory-7 project was announced, the singer’s friends suggested that she sell or even donate several of her songs to the competition participants for the sake of advertising. If not for the support of friends, Dakota would have abandoned such an idea. The judges reacted favorably to the singer, she passed all the rounds and ended up in the television version of the project.
On the show, Dakota performed exclusively her own songs, and also wrote compositions for other participants. Her hit “Matches” was downloaded from the Internet more than a million times. Bright image, strong vocal abilities and interesting songs made Dakota one of the most memorable on the show.
After "Factory" Dakota lacked money and support from friends, she was disappointed in Russian show business. Then the girl decided to end her career as a pop musician and focus exclusively on composing songs.
Creation
Dakota gradually disappears from the screens and creates an independent rock band, Monroe. She does not hide her reason for leaving show business, declaring some injustice:
“When I realized that this is a cruel, dishonest, “show-off” world, in which there is no place for music, and there is only continuous gossip and deception, I decided to leave the stage as an artist.”
Subsequently, the rock band Monroe became a regular participant in the Kubana and Nashestvie festivals. Together with the group, the girl toured the country, collecting full houses in different regions countries.
The singer chose an image to match the music - quite bold and aggressive. Dreadlocks, bright makeup, tattoos - Dakota was even called Russian.
“The main thing is not our shell and musical preferences, but what is inside us. Inside, we are absolutely identical,” Rita admits in an interview.
In 2015, Rita Dakota became a participant in the “Main Stage” musical project on the “Russia-1” TV channel. Her mentor on the project was famous producer, who was in charge of the “pop” and “pop-rock” directions at the show. The singer performed exclusively her songs, which helped her reach the semi-finals of the competition.
What brings the performer the greatest popularity is not her participation in various competitions, but the track “Half a Man,” which was released in 2016. Immediately after the release of this composition, her fans were delighted with the new creation. It was this song that pushed Rita to work on new albums, audio recordings and videos.
In February 2017, information appeared in the media that Rita was seriously considering the possibility of leaving Russia. It can change the cold and cloudy weather to the warmer ocean climate on the island of Bali. Holidays at a popular resort famous singer I really liked it. Online Instagram the girl has repeatedly published photos in a swimsuit on the beach of a beautiful island.
Rita Dakota realized that Bali had become practically her homeland: there she not only enjoyed her vacation, but lived a full life.
Personal life
On the TV project “Star Factory-7” Rita Dakota met young musician, who in the future will become her husband. The love story of Rita and Sokolovsky deserves special attention. The couple met in 2007 at the Star Factory. Initially they were good friends and even called each other “brother” and “sister”.
At the seventh “Factory”, Vlad Sokolovsky creates the duet “BiS”, which becomes quite popular. New team won first place in the charts of radio stations and famous music channels. Blue-eyed and blond-haired Vlad became recognizable in Russian show business and gained a huge army of loving fans. At that time, Rita and Vlad had nothing in common at all, since they did not take part in projects together, and only occasionally crossed paths at large social parties.
A few years later, the young people met at a mutual friend’s birthday party. Years passed, Rita and Vlad changed noticeably, matured and looked at each other differently. The romance between them developed rapidly, and soon they completely amazed their fans with the news of their upcoming wedding.
In 2015, a man proposed to his beloved while vacationing on the island of Bali. Rita, after not very long deliberation, agreed to become his wife, and her first photo appeared on Instagram wedding dress. On June 3, 2015, the couple got married in one of the capital’s churches, and five days later the lovers had a luxurious wedding.
In April 2017, friends of the couple said that Rita was pregnant. On October 23, 2017, Rita Dakota and Vlad Sokolovsky became parents. in a Moscow maternity hospital, a girl named Mia. Young parents spoke about their emotions on their YouTube channel.
Rita Dakota now
Rita and Vlad continued to maintain their blog in 2018, in which they shared details personal life and creativity. The young family showed footage of rehearsals, friendly gatherings, travel, and shared happy events(whether it's paying off the mortgage or Mia's first successes). The Sokolovskys gave the impression of a successful and ideal family.
In August 2018, fans were shocked. Rita Dakota announced on her Instagram that she was divorcing Vlad because of his numerous infidelities during the period from the wedding to last days.
The girl expressed resentment due to the fact that a lot of mutual friends and relatives knew about her husband’s infidelities. At the same time, many of them, including Sokolovsky’s father, covered up Vlad’s infidelities.
IN this moment The couple have already divorced. The divorce process could hardly be called simple; the division of property lay ahead of them, since Vlad refused to voluntarily leave everything to his wife and daughter. Represented Dakota's interests in court. According to Ekaterina, until this moment she was fulfilling the task of solving the problem behind the scenes. But the plans to “agree behind the scenes and peacefully” did not come true. Gordon placed responsibility for this on Sokolovsky, noting that it was difficult to trust “someone who lied so much.” As a result, the recently acquired apartment of the ex-spouses was transferred to Mia, and Rita no longer has anything to do with the once family business(chain of grill bars "Zharovnya").
The loudest divorces in Russian show business
- Guys, why did you suddenly have the desire to live outside the city, and even with your parents?
Rita: We moved here when I was nine months pregnant. Vlad and I are classic city dwellers, but for the sake of the child we went to the extent of limiting ourselves to some amenities and habits. Let’s just say that we have infringed on our freedom a little: now we don’t go to Moscow often, we’ve almost forgotten about going to our favorite restaurants. But everything is for the better. It turned out that living outside the city is very cool! Look how beautiful it is outside the window: the forest, Fresh air, quiet, there is somewhere to walk with a stroller. We decided that we would gradually accustom our daughter to the realities harsh life. First a country house, then the ocean and picturesque nature - after the New Year we will fly to Asia for the winter and return in the Moscow spring.
Parents, of course, played an important role. We didn’t want to hire a nanny for the first six months, but at the same time we hoped to somehow combine work and the baby. And we definitely couldn’t have done it without the help of our grandparents. In a word, we decided to live in a commune. We are sure that all our lives we will remember with nostalgia this period of life when the little one appeared and we were all reunited.
- Have you fluttered out of your parents’ nest long ago?
Rita: This happened to me ten years ago. I moved to Moscow at the age of 17. And for Vlad this happened even earlier - he separated from his parents at 13.
Vlad: Yes, it turns out that from the age of 13, when my parents moved to Vacation home, I was left alone. Our apartment was on Oktyabrsky Pole, I went to school, studied at Todes and could not possibly live in the Moscow region. And my parents first visited the country for visits, and then decided to move completely - they liked it here so much. So from the age of 13 I became independent. Apparently, Rita and I are now making up for what we lost in our youth. The forgotten feelings have returned to us, that the house is always full, that you are always welcome here. To be honest, we lacked this for many years.
Rita: There are very touching moments. For example, Vlad and I are calming the baby half the night because she has colic, or gas, or something else - a normal story for any baby. And in the morning my mother or Vlad’s mother comes and says: “Has Mia eaten? Then I’ll take her, and you can sleep.” They take the child away from us, they have fun with her, rattles, stuffed animals, a cradle, swings, cats, and Vlad and I can sleep until 11 o’clock. It seems to me that our example should become a life hack for any young families who have parents.
-Who is the best “soothe” for Mia?
Rita: All children, without exception, read their parents’ emotions. Vlad laughs and Mia smiles; she generally repeats everything after him, like a parrot. Let's say he sticks out his tongue and she sticks out her tongue. Vlad tells her: “Va-va-va.” And she: “Wa!” Despite the fact that the child is only two months old, at that age children still don’t speak at all and don’t even react. Vlad shows his daughter, for example, a hare named Mallow and says: “Miya, this is Mallow.” Mia says, “Meh.” Our whole family is touched by the way Mia communicates with us.
Rita: I learned to meet my other half halfway, and so did Vlad. It seems to me that some worldly wisdom has come to us
She laughs with me too. Sometimes I try to feed her, but the child simply cannot eat and smile at the same time. I convince: “Mia, stop laughing, eat, and then we’ll laugh together.” She sees me and immediately smiles.
- Did you do any special preparation for the birth of your baby?
Rita: Of course, I read everyone - from Komarovsky to Petranovskaya, I studied a bunch different methods. I even worked with a psychologist. And Vlad also read a lot, we discussed whether we would rock our daughter to sleep, give her vaccinations or not, and so on. We chose, as it seemed to us, the most convenient form of communication with the child, and so far everything is going smoothly. I don’t take into account the physiological aspect now, when she has gas, for example. So I didn’t listen to the lactation consultant and ate a fresh apple. And the child does not sleep because his tummy hurts. I just checked the box that I don’t eat fresh apples anymore. To me at all breast-feeding It was hard - I went through lactostasis and other delights, unfortunately. And many people, including doctors, advised transferring the child to artificial nutrition. But I’m fighting, I want Mia to be on breast milk for at least six months.
Otherwise, it is very important to maintain a calm atmosphere in the family. You should not raise your voice in front of a child. Now she perceives everything a thousand times more sensitively - the bright light, the volume, some kind of negative energy. The baby is very vulnerable, so we try to restrain ourselves in front of her. If we need to argue, we go out into the yard.
Vlad: Mia may not understand specific words, but feels the intonation and energy. After all, a child does not start crying out of the blue - he reacts to what is happening around him. And when you communicate warmly with him, you put beautiful music, on the contrary, he calms down. The most difficult moment associated with a baby is when you have not yet understood why he is hysterical. Do you think it's colic, or she wants to eat, or she's hot, or needs a diaper changed? But gradually you begin to understand: he stretches his legs - this is colic, he grabs his arms - he wants to eat. And it becomes much easier - you can immediately give what the child wants: feed her or put a heating pad on her stomach, give her a massage or rock her to sleep.
- Rita, what does Vlad do best?
Rita: Yes all! He is ideal for cleaning his nose with turundas. I'm afraid to stick this cotton thing into my tiny nostril. We are still deciding with rock-paper-scissors which of us will cut our daughter’s nails. And it's scary to swim. But what to do - the eyes are afraid, the hands are doing. Mia loves to swim.
-Who came up with this magical name?
Vlad: There were no arguments; Rita and I have similar tastes in many things. We liked several male names, and female ones too. Mia is one name on the list. In general, we should have had Max. At the first two ultrasounds we were told it would be a boy. And then on the third they suddenly announced that it was still a girl. We already talked to Max and decided not to change the first letter. wanted short name and precisely with the letter “M”. So Mia came out.
- Were you upset when you found out that it would be Mia and not Max? Were you expecting a son?
Vlad: Rita leaned towards the boy. And for some reason I lived all my life with the feeling that I would be the first to have a son. But at that moment, when I found out that I would become a father, I absolutely did not care who was born.
Rita: I always seemed strict and tough to myself and thought that it would be easier for me with a boy. This is an attitude from childhood: the first should be the boy - the protector, then the little girl. As in the photo in the magazine: a family is sitting by the fireplace - mom, dad in a sweater, a big dog, an older son, a younger daughter... (Laughs.) When I was happy about the boy, Vlad said the phrase: “You don’t understand anything, a girl is such tenderness. She will come to your bed, take your face with her hands and say: “Daddy...”
Vlad: Just in case, back in the ninth month, I asked: “You should definitely look, because we are already going to buy things, maybe we should buy blue ones, not pink ones.” (Laughs.)
- You coincide so perfectly on all issues. What can you argue about?
Rita: Because of TV series, for example. Vlad likes Game of Thrones, but I don’t take TV series seriously. But the union of two people is also big job, and if at some points we did not coincide four years ago, now everything is fine. I reconsidered my views on some things, learned to meet my husband halfway, and so did Vlad. It seems to me that some worldly wisdom has come to us.
- Rita, what was it about Vlad that won you over in the first place?
Rita: Vlad is very bright, he is a positive person. I’m sure that even if an apocalypse happens outside, Vlad will find something to be happy about. I really missed this in my life. For the first time, there was a person nearby who would find a way out of the most terrible situation. Next to him, whole life is like a fun adventure. I have forgotten how to be sad. Anyone who has heard my songs knows that I love to cry in silence, on the bathroom floor, mentally cut my wrists and write a couple of lines about it. I let all kinds of emotions, including negative ones, pass through me, savoring each one. And now sometimes I’m even faced with the fact that I have nothing to write a song about... It’s much more difficult to write about happiness, any author will tell you that. I even had creative microcrises: damn, everything is so great in general, everything is so positive, what should I write about?!
Vlad: Probably, we were attracted to each other by something that we did not get in our past relationships. We are together because we managed to take a large number of steps towards each other. It’s not me who takes a step back, but you who take a step towards me, namely towards each other. Rita is like herself; she senses the personal space of another person quite subtly. Because only when people give this space to each other can they relax together, work, and travel. Rita gives me exactly as much space as I need, without bending or squeezing, so I am very comfortable.
Rita: There is a saying: love is like mercury - it can only be held in an open palm, but not in a clenched fist.
-Have you changed around Rita?
Vlad: Only a year before we started dating, I came out of my past, very painful relationship, and then I did not have stability, any boundaries, I was different. I often pressed it, and this caused problems at first. But in the end we tuned in to each other, I also began to give her more freedom, more air. And Rita muted her drama. Because I am a positive person, and it is not normal for me when a person is sad for no reason.
- Who has the final say in disputes?
Rita: Vlad is in charge for sure. In general, in any healthy family, the man should be in charge. Otherwise, it's anything but family. I say this as someone who has tried for a long time to be the stronger half in my past relationships and knows what this leads to. I was great at this role, I made money, I was all so cool, independent, and powerful. I was very proud of myself and believed that a man should admire these qualities of mine.
And everything changed dramatically when I found myself next to Vlad. I realized that I am actually a woman.
Rita: Vlad is a very bright, positive person. I'm sure if an apocalypse happens outside his window, he will find something to be happy about
Vlad: I constantly told Rita: “Listen, relax, the two of us cannot perform the same function in the family. If you behave this way and cannot do otherwise, then let’s say goodbye.” We had several frank conversations, in which I said that in my understanding this family model does not fit. There must be a clear understanding of who makes the main decisions in the house.
Rita: Vlad is responsible for the family. For example, if tomorrow he says that it is better for the family to move to Samara, I will silently pack my bags and go to Samara. I trust him
unconditionally, this is the man behind whose back I can stand and not think about anything. Vlad can do everything. Just a professional “husband for an hour.” If the music ever ends, you can earn extra money. Everything you see in this room was put together by his hands, including the rocking chair.
-Who is in charge in your kitchen?
Rita: I love to cook, but I don't do it often. For me, this is a kind of creativity that cannot be commonplace. But Vlad is much cooler here too, I don’t even compete with him. It happens that I cook something that’s really cool, and Vlad says: “Let’s upgrade it a little.” He takes out, for example, canned pineapples, crumbles them in, and that’s it - the dish becomes perfect. It's the same in restaurants. For example, we come to a restaurant where a Michelin-starred chef cooks, and everyone admires the cuisine. We order something, then Vlad says: “Please bring garlic butter, capers, a little fried bacon and cream.” They bring it to him, he adds, says: “Try it.” I try it and realize that now this dish is perfect.
- Vlad, it was a great surprise to see you in one of the main roles in the series “Univer”. How did a musician suddenly become an actor?
Vlad: I used to be skeptical about offers to try my hand at cinema. And I still think that this is a separate craft that needs to be fully practiced. But sometimes people have a predisposition to something. Friends and acquaintances constantly told me: “You need to act in films!”, but I didn’t think about it.
Periodically, offers came to play myself in an episode, but I don’t like these stories. And then I got into the Channel One project “Variety Theater”. There we performed in various genres, for almost every act I had to completely transform myself - with wigs, lenses... And it so happened that two people won in this project - me and Stas Kostyushkin. Stas - according to the jury, and I - according to the audience. After that, Gennady Khazanov took me to his office and asked: “Why don’t I see you in the movies?” I explained my point of view that you need to have an education to act in films and so on. To which Gennady Viktorovich replied that I was talking nonsense.
Vlad: For many years, Rita and I missed the feeling that the house was full. I’m sure we’ll look back on this time with nostalgia.
And I began to think about this topic. And in 2017, I starred in three projects: the series “Univer” on TNT, the historical film “Bloody Lady”, which is about to be released on the Russia channel, I have a big dramatic role there - Uncle Tyutchev. And one more film - “Stranger in the Mirror”, four episodes for the Russia channel. So for now I'm happy and moving on.
- What was the most difficult thing for you in the acting profession?
Vlad: The fact that you need to master a large amount of text. I'm used to learning songs, but it's much more difficult to learn three or four sheets of lyrics in a day. The first times I just died, but now I’m used to it, I can handle it.
In general, this year turned out to be powerful and interesting. The main thing, of course, is the birth of a daughter. And there was a leap in creativity. We launched Ritin's musical project, her songs hit the top of the charts. We started a blog on YouTube, which gained popularity in the shortest possible time. We received some awards, we were chosen “Couple of the Year” - this is, of course, very pleasant. Our audience is becoming larger and larger, and it sees how we approach life, that we do not pretend to be anything. In a word, we somehow go with the flow and try to be as honest as possible with ourselves.
Photo: Arsena Memetova
Rita Dakota
Real name: Margarita Gerasimovich
Born: March 9, 1990 in Minsk
Education: graduated from music school
Career: singer, songwriter (her works are performed by many show business stars - Zara, Yolka, LOBODA, etc.), participant in the projects “Star Factory-7” and “Main Stage”. Former creator and lead singer of the rock band Monroe
Vlad Sokolovsky
The presentName: Vsevolod Sokolovsky
Was born: September 24, 1991 in Moscow
Family: wife - Rita Dakota, daughter - Mia (2 months)
Education: art school, studio "Todes"
Career: singer, musician, actor, former ballet dancer “Todes”, member of “Star Factory-7”, soloist of the duet “BiS”. He first appeared on stage at the age of 3, performing a song with Philip Kirkorov
Spouses Rita Dakota and Vlad Sokolovsky exclusively told the site how their lives changed with the birth of Mia.
Photo: Jaroslav Kloos Vlad Sokolovsky and Rita Dakota
Musicians became parents. The baby, whom the happy parents named Mia, completely changed their lives. And, as the artists themselves admit, for the better. Rita and Vlad exclusively told the site how their life was going in their new status and introduced their baby to the public. Meet Mia! In this photo the girl is only two weeks old.
The artists did not lie: they, like all parents, experience difficulties, but for them all the troubles are pleasant moments that they will remember with a smile.
Rita: We try to somehow treat lack of sleep and some difficulties with humor. And we understand that this fate - colic, teeth and everything else - awaits everyone.
Celebrity parents say that they are creating new difficulties for themselves. For example, they flew to Bali for several months with their newborn child. And now they have become real professionals in the field of “family holidays”. In their YouTube vlogs, the couple by example prove that even after becoming parents, you can remain mobile and productive.
Vlad: I can immediately say that traveling with a baby is not very convenient. When you fly with a two or three month old baby, you take with you food, diapers, a stroller, all sorts of sun loungers, toys... A huge number of things! We took the minimum for ourselves and the maximum for her.
We flew away with a child who is two and a half months old, and will return when she is four and a half. That's three different sizes clothes! Mia has a lot more stuff than we do
Since Vlad and Rita, not only their lifestyle has changed, but also their internal perception of the world. They have become more reverent, sensitive and responsible.
Vlad: You worry constantly... Sometimes stupid thoughts creep into your head. Here you are holding a child in your arms, everything is fine, your feet are on the ground and everything is fine, but some thought appears in your head: “What if you’re about to slip.” And then you start to beat yourself up, even though everything is fine.
Rita: Increased vigilance mode is activated. Even on such rare evenings when Vlad and I can go somewhere in the evening to hang out, like on the island of Bali (you can see it in one of our vlogs). Once we were at a Leningrad concert and drank wine. Everyone was drunk, but we were not. We drank several glasses, but we didn’t have any in either eye, because the vigilance mode turned on.
Despite their immense love for their child, Rita and Vlad continue to engage in their projects, household chores and creativity. In part, Mia helped her parents learn how to properly plan their day.
Rita: We have become more organized in terms of time management. Previously, we could spread out all our work for the whole day, come home between tasks to eat or do something else. Now we are trying to draw up a schedule for the day so that we can get everything done in the first half of the day. maximum amount affairs, and spend the second with the child completely. But, of course, grandmothers save. God bless them.
Now the artists have already gained experience and can share it with other young parents. Vlad, for example, now knows everything about strollers. However, this was not always the case. Some moments really surprised the couple as they prepared for their new status.
Rita: There are some little things that you never think about. For me, for example, it was a great discovery that a newborn baby does not need a pillow. It seemed to me that I needed something softer and more comfortable, but it turned out that the pillow for a newborn is dangerous.
Or, for example, the most difficult moment for us in everyday child care is cutting nails. In the family, we use rock-paper-scissors to decide who will do it, because everyone is afraid of taking some wrong step.
Rita and Vlad can undoubtedly be called parents of the year. A warm atmosphere reigns in their family, and they share this warmth with fans in their vlogs on the YouTube channel “Sokolovsky & Dakota” and on Instagram every day. They are honest about what is really going on in their lives. Like all people, sometimes they break down. A tearful Rita picks up a camera and talks about failures... But this, as the artists themselves say, is real life, without embellishment.
Rita: We are learning to re-adapt to our freedom, because it looks a little different now. But it's actually cool! This is growth, definitely. We have become better, we have become stronger. This is a very cool stage, and we are grateful to the Universe for it.
