Anastasia Oleksandrivna Kochetova (; born 13 April 1989), known by her stage name MamaRika and previously Erika, is a Ukrainian singer and actress.

Early life

Kochetova was born on 13 April 1989 in

Chervonohrad Sheptytskyi (, ), formerly Chervonohrad (, ), historically Krystynopol, is a historical mining town and the administrative center of Sheptytskyi Raion, Lviv Oblast of western Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Sheptytskyi urban hromada, o ...

. She graduated from the Faculty of Foreign Languages of the

University of Lviv The Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (named after Ivan Franko, ) is a state-sponsored university in Lviv, Ukraine. Since 1940 the university is named after Ukrainian poet Ivan Franko. The university is the oldest institution of highe ...

, where she specialized in translating to English. She worked as an office manager and vocal teacher.

Career

Early career

At the age of 14, Kochetova won the

Chervona Ruta Chervona ruta (''Monarda'') () may refer to a mythological or actual species of flowering plants in the rue genus of the citrus family, Rutaceae, or the rhododendron genus of the heath family, Ericaceae. Biology * Rue () is a name for the plant ...

competition. At the age of 17, she participated in the talent show American Chance, led by producer David Junk, who had previously achieved success in the United States with the Russian groups

t.A.T.u. t.A.T.u. (, ) were a Russian pop duo consisting of Lena Katina and Julia Volkova. The two started out as part of the children's musical group Neposedy before being managed by producer and director Ivan Shapovalov and signing with Russian reco ...

and

Smash!! Smash!! (in Russian: СМЭШ!!) was a Russian pop duo formed in 2001 which consisted of members Sergey Lazarev and Vlad Topalov. They sang mainly in English, and were most popular among teenagers in Russia and Southeast Asia. The duo were the fi ...

She was one of five girls who were grouped as Glam. However, the project was halted due the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

and a low amount of interest in the project from the American music industry. Glam released one promotional song, "Thirsty", which was never released commercially.

2009–2015: Erika

At the age of 19, Kochetova, under the pseudonym "Erica", became a finalist in the talent show " Fabryka Zirok 3" under the direction of

Konstantin Meladze Konstantin Shotayevich Meladze (; ka, კონსტანტინე მელაძე; born 11 May 1963) is a Georgian-born Ukrainian-Russian composer and producer. He is the older brother of singer Valery Meladze and co-founder and co-pro ...

. She returned as a host of live broadcasts of Fabryka Zirok 4 and took part in

Fabrika Zvyozd ''Fabrika Zvyozd'' (, literally "Factory of stars"), sometimes known internationally as ''Star Factory'', is a popular Russian television talent show that aired on Channel One Russia, Channel One from 2002 until 2007. It was the Russian version ...

: Russia-Ukraine. From 2010 to 2015, Erika was a singer at the UMMG Production Center under producer Serhiy Kuzin. On 7 April 2011, the premiere of the animated film

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Fl ...

took place, in which Erica voiced Jewel in the Ukrainian dub. Erica's conference has repeatedly accompanied local and large-scale events, including concerts in

Maidan Nezalezhnosti Maidan Nezalezhnosti (, ) or Independence Square is the central town square of Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine. One of the city's main squares, it is located on Khreshchatyk Street in the Shevchenko Raion. The square contains the iconic Ind ...

. In 2012 she starred in the musical "Happy New Year, Peace!" in Kazakhstan. In 2013, Erica collaborated with American opera singer

George Komsky George Komsky is a Ukrainian-born American tenor. He is best known for his live performances as a solo vocalist, touring internationally with Chris Botti, in the North American tour of the Irish theatrical show ''Riverdance'', and at non-profit c ...

, as well as with

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

-winning producers Bobby Campbell and Andrew Kapner of AngelHouseStudios in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. In November 2015, it became known that Erika stopped working with Serhiy Kuzin and changed her pseudonym to "MamaRika". According to the Ukrainian music publication Muzvar, the case of the artist and her manager was included in the TOP-5 most famous cases of break-ups in the music industry of Ukraine.

2016–present: MamaRika

In early April 2016, Kochetova had stopped working with Kuzin and changed her stage name to "MamaRika". The same month saw the premiere of the comedy TV series Once Upon a Time in Odesa, in which she played the role of Yulia. In 2017, she performed at the first MRPL City festival in

Mariupol Mariupol is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius, Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the coun ...

In December of the same year in one of

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

's clubs she presented a concert program and a second studio album "KACH".

Personal life

Kochetova is married to Serhiy Sereda. Kochetova met Sereda in 2015 when they were invited to a show for a music channel. They got engaged in January 2018. They married in Thailand in March 2020. On 2 August 2021, she gave birth to a son.

Discography

Studio albums

* 2012 — ''Папарацци'' (Paparazzi) * 2017 — ''КАЧ'' (Quality)

Singles

* 2013 — ''Душа'' (Soul, featuring Motor'rolla) * 2011 — ''Смайлик'' (Smiley) * 2013 — ''Папарацци'' (Paparazzi) * 2016 — ''МамаРіка'' (MamaRika) * 2016 — ''Ніч у барі'' (Night at the Bar) * 2017 — ''We are one''

Awards and honors

In August 2011, Kochetova won the Crystal Microphone show business award in the Singer of the Year category. In 2017, she was nominated for a YUNA award in the "Discovery of the Year" category. In 2018, she won a RAP.UA award in the "Best music video" category for her music video ''ХХДД''. She was first place in the "Radio Discovery of the Year" category for the 2019

TopHit TopHit.com is a worldwide-oriented music chart website that includes internet platform for music distribution and airplay monitoring with generation of charts. As of 2024, TopHit has over 9,000 artists, songwriters, DJs, record labels, and music ...

radio chart. In 2021, her song "Mavka" was nominated for a YUNA award in the "Best Hip-Hop Hit" category.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mamarika 1989 births Living people People from Sheptytskyi 21st-century Ukrainian women singers Ukrainian pop singers Ukrainian rock singers Ukrainian jazz singers Ukrainian women jazz singers Ukrainian women pop singers Ukrainian women rock singers Ukrainian sopranos Ukrainian film actresses Ukrainian television actresses Ukrainian voice actresses Ukrainian music educators Ukrainian women music educators