Леонид Агутин
Mari Kraimbrery (real name — Marina Vadimovna Zhadan; born August 21, 1992, in Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk Region, Ukraine) — is a Russian singer, songwriter and music producer of Ukrainian origin. Since 2017, she has worked with the Velvet Music label.
Mari gained widespread recognition through songs such as «Полюби меня пьяную», «Она тебе не идёт», «На тату», «AMORE», «Мне так хорошо», «Пряталась в ванной», «Океан», «Самолёт», «Если устал», «Иначе всё это зря», «Случилась осень» and other releases. She writes a significant part of her own repertoire, taking part not only in lyrics and music but also in the production of her recordings.
Over the years, Kraimbrery has received the «Golden Gramophone», ZHARA Music Awards and MUZ-TV awards. The album «Переобулась» was named Best Album at the 2019 ZHARA Music Awards, while in 2025 Mari won the MUZ-TV award for Best Female Artist.
Childhood in Kryvyi Rih
Marina Zhadan was born and raised in Kryvyi Rih. Music did not immediately become her profession: during her early childhood, dance was her main passion.
From the age of four, she performed with a children's dance group and seriously considered choreography as a future profession. For several years, Marina trained regularly and appeared on stage, but at the age of fifteen she suffered a serious knee injury.
She could no longer continue dancing at the same level. Instead of developing as a performer herself, she began choreographing routines for other artists and groups, while at the same time devoting more and more attention to poetry.
Marina began writing while still at school. In 2007, with help from her older brother Oleg, she published a poetry collection titled «Наедине с небом».
Later, the habit of putting personal experiences directly into words would carry over almost unchanged into her songs. Kraimbrery has repeatedly said that a substantial part of her lyrics is based on her own relationships, breakups, fears and emotional states.
How the Name Mari Kraimbrery Appeared
The unusual stage name appeared while she was still a teenager.
According to the singer herself, she invented the word «Kraimbrery» at around the age of thirteen during a computer science class. It was assembled from letters taken from a phrase she had made up, after which Marina slightly altered the spelling.
The word had no established meaning and was not a surname. For the schoolgirl, it was primarily the name under which she imagined herself performing on stage.
Later, the shortened form of her first name — Mari — was added to it.
The pseudonym became so closely connected with the singer's public life that over time she stopped perceiving «Mari Kraimbrery» as a separate stage persona.
Education and Early Work
After finishing school, Marina enrolled at the Institute of Business Administration in Kryvyi Rih, where she studied finance and credit.
She did not receive a conventional academic music education. Much of her skill as a songwriter and performer developed independently — through working with lyrics, demos and studio musicians.
Before moving to Moscow, she also worked in choreography and created dance routines.
In 2011, Marina moved to Moscow. At first, music was not a stable source of income. She continued working as a choreographer, including at a production center, while trying to record her own songs.
First Songs
Mari's music career developed gradually and began long before she signed with a major label.
In the early 2010s, she independently recorded songs and posted them online. Her early material includes «Любви нет», «Что будет дальше», «Не навсегда», «Дыши», «Никто не узнает» and other tracks.
Some of these first recordings differed noticeably from the pop sound she would later develop. They showed a stronger influence of R&B, recitative and the kind of internet pop common in the early 2010s.
In 2015, a music video was released for the song «Давай навсегда». It became one of Kraimbrery's first songs to gain noticeable attention beyond her original online audience.
A year later, the EP «Всё пошло по весне» was released. In 2016, Mari also recorded the song «Мы останемся в городе одни» with Lx24.
ННКН and «Полюби меня пьяную»
On April 7, 2017, Mari Kraimbrery released her debut studio album «ННКН» — an abbreviation of the phrase «Нет никого круче нас».
The album contained thirteen tracks, including «Он тоже любит дым», «Нравлюсь ли я ему», «Давай навсегда», «Кеды, капюшон», «Меняй меня» and the title track «ННКН».
The album's best-known song became «Полюби меня пьяную».
Mari wrote both the music and lyrics herself. Unlike many dance hits of the period, the song was not built around a club-oriented chorus, but around the inner monologue of a woman who finds it easier to admit her feelings only when her usual self-control weakens.
This approach — telling a story in the first person with almost no distance between the writer and the protagonist — gradually became one of Kraimbrery's defining characteristics.
Velvet Music
In the same year, 2017, Mari began working with Velvet Music.
The song «Правильная девочка» played an important role. A demo written by Kraimbrery was purchased for the group MBAND, and work on this composition drew the label team's attention to the young songwriter.
«Правильная девочка» was released by MBAND, with Mari Kraimbrery officially credited as the writer of both the music and lyrics.
After meeting the Velvet Music team, the singer was offered an artist partnership of her own.
One of her first new releases was «Не в адеквате». It was followed by «Туси сам» and «Она тебе не идёт».
The latter became one of the most prominent tracks of her early Velvet period and helped move Kraimbrery's name beyond the online scene into radio rotation and major concert programs.
On November 28, 2017, she held her first major solo concert in Moscow under the title «Не в адеквате!».
Album «Переобулась»
On March 30, 2018, her second studio album, «Переобулась», was released.
The record included fourteen main tracks: «Не в адеквате», «Бой», «А мы могли быть», «Я хотела твою фамилию», «Том и Джерри», «Палево», «Это, сука, взрыв», «На тату», «Красная луна», «Она тебе не идёт», «Туси сам», «Баю Bye» and others.
While «ННКН» largely documented material from Mari's independent period, «Переобулась» was already created within a full working relationship with Velvet Music.
«На тату» became particularly successful. With this song, Kraimbrery fully established the type of pop writing she would be associated with over the following years: personal lyrics, conversational phrasing, a clear melody and contemporary electronic production without excessive layering.
In 2019, «Переобулась» won the ZHARA Music Award for Best Album.
AMORE, «Золото» and «Мне так хорошо»
After her second album, Mari continued releasing new material primarily as standalone singles.
In September 2018, «AMORE» was released. A separate remix release followed later.
Together with KARTASHOW, Kraimbrery recorded «Золото». In 2019, she released «Я твой клад», the Guf collaboration «31 февраля», «Голая в белой майке», «Мелкая здесь» and other songs.
One of the biggest releases of this period was «Мне так хорошо», released in the summer of 2019.
Mari once again served as the sole writer of both the music and lyrics. The song received extensive radio airplay and became one of her most recognizable tracks alongside «На тату» and «Полюби меня пьяную».
In 2019, Kraimbrery also began developing the concert program «Мелкая здесь». A recording of the show was later released as a live album.
«Пряталась в ванной» and «Океан»
2020 marked the beginning of another significant stage in her career.
On January 31, Mari released «Пряталась в ванной». The title referred to a specific everyday scene, while the song itself explored the experience of a difficult relationship and the attempt to be alone with one's own thoughts.
The song earned the singer the first Golden Gramophone award of her career.
In the summer, «Океан» was released. The lighter, dance-oriented song quickly entered Russian radio charts and later brought Kraimbrery another Golden Gramophone.
Both tracks were later included on her third studio album.
«Нас узнает весь мир, Pt. 1»
On March 19, 2021, Mari released «Нас узнает весь мир, Pt. 1».
The album contained nine songs, including «Пряталась в ванной», «Океан», «Самолёт», «Холостяк», «If You Love Me», «Ты меня не забудешь» and the title track.
Sound producer Alex Davia became an important creative partner during this period. Mari retained creative control over the material and also participated in producing the album herself.
Compared with «Переобулась», the sound became softer and more spacious. Vocals and melody moved to the center, while the R&B elements of her early work gradually gave way to contemporary pop built around electronic and dance-oriented production.
«Самолёт» became another major hit.
Duets and Songwriting
In the early 2020s, collaborations became noticeably more frequent in her discography.
With Zvonkiy, Mari released «Как дела, малыш?», with HammAli she recorded «Медляк», and with Dima Bilan she released «Ты не моя пара».
In 2022, she collaborated with Klava Koka on «Шкура». Both singers took part in writing the song.
At the same time, Kraimbrery continued working as a songwriter outside her own repertoire. In addition to MBAND's earlier «Правильная девочка», her writing credits for other artists include, for example, Natalia Podolskaya's song «Конечно, да!».
For this reason, Mari is more accurately described not simply as a singer, but as a singer-songwriter and producer of her own material.
«Нас узнает весь мир, Pt. 2»
On October 14, 2022, the second part of the project was released — «Нас узнает весь мир, Pt. 2».
The album contained twelve tracks: «Прости, но я не буду петь», «Танцевальный медляк», «Если устал», «Одинокий таксист», «Внатуре», «Под парусом», «Лавандовый раф», «Тапочки», «Давай сохраним», «Успокою», «Не буди меня» and «По городам».
Mari once again wrote most of the lyrics herself.
One of the most notable songs was «Если устал». Unlike her earlier stories about painful relationships, this track focused on emotional exhaustion and the need to allow oneself to stop.
The second part of «Нас узнает весь мир» had a calmer, more mature tone, although dance tracks remained part of the record.
«Иначе всё это зря»
On February 3, 2023, Mari released «Иначе всё это зря».
She wrote both the music and lyrics herself.
The song became one of the biggest radio releases of this period and earned the singer another Golden Gramophone.
During 2023, she also released «Малая, пой», «Мне так повезло» and «Случилась осень».
The music video for «Случилась осень», directed by Serghey Grey, later won the MUZ-TV award for Best Lyrical Video.
«Мари aka Краймбрери» Project
On August 21, 2023, the singer introduced a separate project called «Мари aka Краймбрери» and released the album «Почему у меня нет парня».
It contained ten songs, including «Домовой», «Почему у меня нет парня», «Стало так пох», «Чё такой грубый?», «Ждать 9 месяцев», «Я не понравлюсь твоей маме» and «Есть ли кто-то у тебя?».
The new project name allowed Mari to separate this material slightly from her main discography. The songs contain more irony, everyday language and deliberately simple pop arrangements.
The album did not mean she was abandoning the Mari Kraimbrery name: both projects continued in parallel.
It’s My Life with Dima Bilan
On May 10, 2024, Dima Bilan and Mari Kraimbrery released the collaborative song «It’s My Life».
Kraimbrery co-wrote the song with Daria Kuznetsova.
This was the second major collaboration between Mari and Bilan after «Ты не моя пара», but the new track differed in form: the dialogue between the two characters was built directly into the structure of the song.
In 2024, Mari also released solo tracks including «Кто такая Мэри?», «Нравится жить» and other songs that later appeared on her next album.
«Сегодня мой лучший день»
On September 5, 2025, the album «Сегодня мой лучший день» was released.
The standard edition contained thirteen songs:
- «Сегодня мой лучший день»;
- «Ты так и знал»;
- «Кто такая Мэри?»;
- «И в радости, и в горе»;
- «Всё прошло»;
- «Танцуй, как суперзвезда»;
- «Не спеши»;
- «Баланс»;
- «Случилась осень»;
- «Всё на своих местах»;
- «Мам, я стану мамой»;
- «Нравится жить»;
- «Конфетти».
Mari wrote the lyrics for all of the material and participated in composing the music. Alex Davia again appeared among her regular co-writers and producers.
Unlike the earlier Kraimbrery, who more often wrote about breakups and unstable relationships, this album contains far more songs about calmness, accepting what is happening and experiencing one's own life without a constant need to dramatize it.
MUZ-TV Award 2025
In June 2025, Mari Kraimbrery received the MUZ-TV award in the category Best Female Artist.
It was her first victory at the awards specifically in the main female solo category.
By that time, she had already been nominated for MUZ-TV awards several times, including for songs, music videos, albums and concert programs.
Another award that evening was also connected with her collaboration with Dima Bilan.
2026
After the album «Сегодня мой лучший день», Mari continued releasing new singles.
On April 3, 2026, she released «Давай не ждать».
On June 19, the single «Ты помнишь» followed.
By mid-2026, Kraimbrery had therefore already moved beyond the material of her latest album and begun another cycle of standalone releases.
Songwriting
Songwriting is one of the defining features of Mari Kraimbrery's career.
From the beginning, she never separated herself into a «singer» and someone who simply receives ready-made songs from professional writers. Most of her best-known tracks — from «Полюби меня пьяную» and «Мне так хорошо» to «Океан» and «Иначе всё это зря» — were written entirely by Mari or with her direct participation.
Sometimes a song begins with a lyric or a single phrase, sometimes with a melody. In the studio, she also participates in shaping the arrangement, vocal production and final structure of the track.
Her writing style is easily recognizable through its conversational language. The lyrics contain many everyday details: phone messages, an apartment, a bathroom, clothes, trips, habits and specific lines exchanged between people. As a result, the songs often feel like scenes from personal life rather than abstract pop lyrics.
Musical Style
Mari Kraimbrery's early recordings existed at the intersection of pop and R&B, sometimes incorporating elements of hip-hop and recitative.
After she began working with Velvet Music, the sound gradually became more universal. Dance-pop, electronic pop, house-oriented rhythms, acoustic ballads and more traditional radio formats all became part of her music.
However, the main unifying element is not genre but her songwriting approach.
Kraimbrery often begins a song almost like a conversation. The characters argue, confess their feelings, remember a particular evening or address one another directly. The chorus usually reduces the idea to one simple phrase around which the entire story is built.
For this reason, it is difficult to divide her music into separate «rap» or «pop» periods. Recitative, R&B and electronic production have changed over time, but her songwriting language has remained recognizable.
Autobiographical Nature of the Songs
Mari has repeatedly said that many of her songs are directly connected with her own life.
This does not mean that every lyric is a documentary retelling of a specific relationship. A real situation may be shortened, combined with other memories or altered for the sake of the song.
The emotional foundation, however, usually remains personal. This is why her discography often reveals a change in the protagonist's attitude toward love: from painful dependence and attempts to hold on to another person in the early songs toward greater independence and calm in the later material.
This approach has allowed Kraimbrery to preserve a recognizable songwriting identity even as her music became much more mainstream and radio-oriented.
Main Studio Albums
- 2017 — ННКН;
- 2018 — Переобулась;
- 2021 — Нас узнает весь мир, Pt. 1;
- 2022 — Нас узнает весь мир, Pt. 2;
- 2023 — Почему у меня нет парня — as Мари aka Краймбрери;
- 2025 — Сегодня мой лучший день.
Other Releases
- 2016 — Всё пошло по весне — EP;
- 2018 — AMORE — remix collection;
- 2020 — Мелкая здесь — live album.
Creative Journey
Mari Kraimbrery's career developed without a single instant breakthrough. Before «Полюби меня пьяную», she had already spent several years releasing her own songs, working as a choreographer and gradually building an audience online.
«ННКН» established her as a noticeable independent songwriter, while her partnership with Velvet Music helped translate that popularity into radio, television and major concert venues. «Переобулась» firmly established her place in contemporary pop, while «Мне так хорошо», «Пряталась в ванной» and «Океан» expanded her audience beyond the R&B-oriented scene where she had first emerged.
In the 2020s, Kraimbrery increasingly works as a full-fledged songwriter-producer. The two parts of «Нас узнает весь мир», the alternative project «Мари aka Краймбрери» and the album «Сегодня мой лучший день» differ noticeably in mood, but they preserve the same basic principle: a personal story first becomes a lyric and only then becomes a pop song.
Creative independence remains the most consistent part of her career. The musical framework has changed from R&B and recitative to large-scale radio pop, but most of Mari Kraimbrery's major songs still begin with her own words.
