# JONY (singer)

Jahid Afrail oglu Huseynli (Azerbaijani: Cahid Əfrail oğlu Hüseynli; Russian: Джахид Афраил оглы Гусейнли; born 29 February 1996), known professionally as JONY, is an Azerbaijani rapper and songwriter. He is the winner of the second season of the Russian reality singing show The Masked Singer (2021) on NTV.
Winner of the Golden Gramophone Award, Zhara Music Awards, Muz-TV and New Radio Awards. Winner of the 2023 30 Under 30 rating in the Music category.
In 2024, he became a coach on the eleventh season of The Voice Kids.

## Early life and education

Jahid was born on February 29, 1996, in Baku to Azerbaijani parents. At the age of 4, he moved with his family to Moscow. At the age of 6, he went to the 1925th gymnasium in Novokosino. In the first grade, he began to sing in the school choir and impressed his teachers with his vocals. In ninth grade, he realized that he wanted to seriously pursue music.
However, JONY's father did not support his decision, as he wanted him to follow in his footsteps and become a businessman. After graduating from school, JONY entered State University of Management at the Faculty of International Business without much enthusiasm.
After completing his Master's degree, JONY realized that he wanted to play music professionally and asked his father to give him a chance to try his hand at it.
   "I was 22 years old when I asked my father to give me a chance to try my hand at something I love. Working for my father, who is the director of the company, is the easiest way, but he did not suit me and did not satisfy my ambitions.
   I only added at the same time that if something doesn’t work out for me, I will return and admit that I am a fool. But in the depths of my soul I knew that I could not come to my father with my head bowed and admit my defeat - what kind of man am I after that?".

## Career

While studying at university, JONY began recording various cover versions of popular songs and publishing them on his Instagram profile. Soon he met Ioann Zhani Kuznetsov (Andro), and then Elman Zeynalov (El'man). In 2018, together they created the music label RAAVA Music.
Later JONY began working on his own songs and released five singles: "Empty Glass", "Friend Zone", "Star", "Alley" and "I'm Not Me Without You" (together with HammAli & Navai). The video filmed for the song "Alley" received more than 100 million views on YouTube.
In September 2019, JONY released the song "Comet", which soon topped the Apple Music chart and became the singer's signature song.
In 2020, the album "Heavenly Roses" was released.
In 2021, he left RAAVA Music and decided to pursue a solo career.
In 2022, JONY released several hit singles, including "World of Green" (featuring Leonid Agutin) and "Moon Night" (featuring Emin). His song "How to Understand Your Love?" (together with Anna Asti) became one of the top-charting tracks of the year.

### Artist nickname

As a child, Jahid liked the cartoon Johnny Bravo, so his mother jokingly began to call him JONY. Later, the singer began to introduce himself this way at school, when classmates could not remember his name.
   "I got used to the name "JONY", even my mother calls me that since I was three years old. Only my grandparents in Azerbaijan call me by my first name. But parents and friends - almost never. Most often "JONY", "Jo"."

### The Masked Singer

In 2021, JONY took part in the second season of the Russian reality singing show The Masked Singer, which aired on the NTV channel from February 14 to May 2. He was hiding under the image of "Crocodile" and won.
Throughout the show's season, he sang 13 songs:
* Lou Bega «Mambo No. 5»
* Luciano Pavarotti «Caruso»
* Monatik «Kruzhit»
* Vladimir Presnyakov «Strannik»
* Jamiroquai «Virtual Insanity»
* Nerves «Kofe moi drug»
* Leonid Agutin «Hop Hey Lala-Lei»
* James Brown «It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World»
* Adam Lambert «Whataya Want from Me»
* Muslim Magomaev «Blue Eternity»
* Hozier «Take Me to Church»
* Maxim Fadeev and Nargiz «Vdvoem»
* Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars «Uptown Funk»
The jury members (Valeria, Philip Kirkorov, Regina Todorenko, Timur Rodriguez, Alexander Revva) highly praised his performance and could not determine which performer was hiding under the mask until the very end. Philipp Kirkorov noted that he had not experienced such creative ecstasy for 30 years and said that he could now retire peacefully. JONY, in turn, said that he had dreamed of becoming a participant in the show since the first season in order to demonstrate the facets of talent that he could not express in his traditional work.

### Show "Voice. Children"

In 2024, he became a mentor of the 11th season of The Voice Kids TV project.

## Discography
### Solo tracks

| Year | Date | Title | Min | Album |
| 2018 | 20 Nov. | Empty Glass | 3:14 | “List of Your Thoughts” |
| 2018 | 12 Dec. | Friendzone | 2:57 | “List of Your Thoughts” |
| 2019 | 29 Jan. | Star | 2:41 | “List of Your Thoughts” |
| 2019 | 20 Mar. | Alley | 2:26 | “List of Your Thoughts” |
| 2019 | 19 Apr. | Without You I'm Not Myself (feat. HammAli & Navai) | 3:21 | “List of Your Thoughts” |
| 2019 | 21 Jun. | You Enchanted Me | 3:12 | “List of Your Thoughts” |
| 2019 | 21 Jun. | Love Your Voice | 2:31 | “List of Your Thoughts” |
| 2019 | 21 Jun. | Lali | 2:29 | “List of Your Thoughts” |
| 2019 | 21 Jun. | Give Me Your Hand | 2:27 | “List of Your Thoughts” |
| 2019 | 18 Sep. | Comet | 2:40 | Non-Album Singles |
| 2020 | 28 Feb. | Madam (feat. Andro) | 2:52 | Non-Album Singles |
| 2020 | 15 May | You Are Merciless | 4:04 | “Heavenly Roses” |
| 2020 | 21 Aug. | You Soar | 3:53 | “Heavenly Roses” |
| 2020 | 21 Aug. | And Outside, It's Raining | 2:15 | “Heavenly Roses” |
| 2020 | 21 Aug. | The World Has Gone Crazy | 3:41 | “Heavenly Roses” |
| 2020 | 21 Aug. | Heavenly Roses | 3:02 | “Heavenly Roses” |
| 2020 | 27 Nov. | Emptiness | 2:42 | Non-Album Singles |
| 2021 | 19 Feb. | Falling—Catch Me | 2:04 | Non-Album Singles |
| 2021 | 3 May | Landslide | 2:31 | Non-Album Singles |
| 2021 | 2 Jul. | Blue Eyes | 2:31 | Non-Album Singles |
| 2021 | 24 Sep. | Boss (feat. The Limba) | 2:59 | Non-Album Singles |
| 2021 | 28 Oct. | Maybe You Don't Remember Me (feat. HammAli) | 3:12 | “Don't Search Genres in Me” |
| 2022 | 22 Apr. | Credits | 3:22 | “Don't Search Genres in Me” |
| 2022 | 24 Jun. | Let’s Go With ‘You’ | 2:16 | Non-Album Single |
| 2022 | 9 Sep. | Not at All | 3:00 | “Don't Search Genres in Me” |
| 2022 | 17 Nov. | How to Understand Your Love? (feat. Anna Asti) | 4:05 | “Don't Search Genres in Me” |
| 2022 | 2 Dec. | My Heaven | 2:00 | “Don't Search Genres in Me” |
| 2022 | 2 Dec. | When You Understand Everything (feat. Navai) | 3:33 | “Don't Search Genres in Me” |
| 2022 | 2 Dec. | Needles | 3:21 | “Don't Search Genres in Me” |
| 2022 | 2 Dec. | No Sense | 3:29 | “Don't Search Genres in Me” |
| 2022 | 2 Dec. | Warm Me Up | 3:13 | “Don't Search Genres in Me” |
| 2022 | 2 Dec. | Silhouette (feat. Erika Lundmoen) | 3:13 | “Don't Search Genres in Me” |
| 2022 | 2 Dec. | Regression | 2:04 | “Don't Search Genres in Me” |
| 2022 | 2 Dec. | Diamond | 2:23 | “Don't Search Genres in Me” |
| 2022 | 2 Dec. | Wind | 2:10 | “Don't Search Genres in Me” |
| 2022 | 2 Dec. | Polygon | 2:24 | “Don't Search Genres in Me” |
| 2022 | 2 Dec. | East (feat. TLK) | 2:27 | “Don't Search Genres in Me” |
| 2023 | 7 Apr. | Bewitched | 1:52 | Non-Album Single |
| 2023 | 21 Jul. | omg | 3:05 | “Summer and Period” |
| 2023 | 21 Jul. | Airy Sundress | 3:03 | “Summer and Period” |
| 2023 | 25 Aug. | Can't Forget | 3:20 | Non-Album Singles |
| 2023 | 31 Oct. | Photofilm | 1:51 | Non-Album Singles |
| 2023 | 10 Nov. | Freed | 3:14 | Non-Album Singles |
| 2024 | 12 Apr. | It Doesn't Hurt | 3:08 | “Epic” |
| 2024 | 17 May | Rivers Lead | 2:30 | Non-Album Single |
| 2024 | 24 May | Fire | 3:12 | “Epic” |
| 2024 | 31 May | I Need More | 2:39 | “Epic” |
| 2024 | 31 May | Without Excess Words (feat. Daniel’) | 2:30 | “Epic” |
| 2024 | 31 May | Rivers Lead (feat. Nikruz) | 2:57 | “Epic” |

### Featured Tracks

| Year | Date | Title | Min | Performer | Album |
| 2019 | 11 Mar. | Sneakers | 2:22 | El’man | Non-Album Single |
| 2020 | 27 Mar. | Fireplace | 3:05 | Emin | “44” |
| 2020 | 10 Apr. | Are You Really Mine? | 3:23 | Bahh Tee | “10 Years Later” |
| 2020 | 10 Jun. | Lollipop | 2:29 | Gafur | “Kaleidoscope” |
| 2021 | 15 Jan. | Balcony | 3:18 | El’man | “Muse” |
| 2021 | 12 Mar. | Lilies | 3:18 | Mot | Non-Album Single |
| 2021 | 11 Nov. | Believe | 3:18 | Dima Bilan | “13 Friends of Bilan” |
| 2021 | 26 Nov. | Cheremushka | 2:18 | Andro | “Jani Gipsy” |
| 2021 | 10 Dec. | You Will Leave | 2:46 | Rakhim | Non-Album Single |
| 2022 | 15 Jul. | Moonlit Night | 3:23 | Emin | “44” |
| 2022 | 11 Nov. | World of Green Color | 3:52 | Leonid Agutin | Non-Album Single |
| 2022 | 23 Dec. | New Year's Song | 3:46 | Vlad A4, Egor Kreed | Non-Album Single |
| 2023 | 8 Sep. | I'll Be Here | 3:43 | MIIDAS | “Neo-Romance” |
| 2024 | 19 Jan. | Disappear Beautifully | 2:24 | Roman Bestseller | “Science Fiction” |
| 2024 | 1 Mar. | Fire (T'es ma cherie) | 3:15 | Roman Bestseller | “Science Fiction” |
| 2024 | 3 May. | Smoke | 2:53 | Egor Kreed | Non-Album Single |
| 2024 | 5 Jul. | On the Streets of Baku | 3:17 | Natia Rigvava | Non-Album Single |

### Other Tracks

| Year | Date | Title | Min |
| 2019 | 18 Oct. | Comet (Remix) | 3:40 |
| 2021 | 23 Dec. | On the Purple Moon (Cover) | 2:08 |
| 2022 | 12 Jul. | Subtitles (Remix) | 3:24 |

### Music Videos

| Year | Date | Title | Director | Producer | YouTube | VK Video |
| 2019 | Mar 20 | Alley | Not specified | Elman Zeynalov | 160 million | 1 million |
| 2019 | Jun 21 | You captivated me | Maria Kovalenko | Elman Zeynalov | 65 million | 0.3 million |
| 2020 | 25 Feb. | Comet | Zhandos Tungyshbaev Maria Roshchina | Erkebulan Kurishbaev | 30 million | — |
| 2020 | 13 Apr. | Kamin | Alexander Romanov | Svetlana Vezucha | 54 million | 1 million |
| 2021 | 12 Feb | Emptiness | Sasha Bunch | Sasha Bunch | 15 million | 0.3 million |
| 2021 | 13 May | Lilies | Alexey Zhukov | Turan Kurbanov | 53 million | 0.1 million |
| 2021 | Nov 18 | Boss | Rustam Romanov | Ekaterina Galanina | 28 million | 0.2 million |
| 2021 | Dec 14 | Probably you don't remember me (feat. HammAli) | Eugene | Angela Zhgutova | 33 million | 0.2 million |
| 2022 | Aug 31 | Moonlit Night | Samir Bagirov | Orhan Guseinov | 55 million | 0.5 million |
| 2022 | Sep 9 | No way | Genrikh Meder | Svetlana Vezucha | 30 million | 1 million |
| 2022 | Nov 25 | How to understand your love? | Alexey Khoroshy | Darra Dmitrieva | 60 million | 1 million |
| 2022 | Dec 24 | New Year's song | Enendroen | Erkebulan Baiguzhin | 35 million | — |
| 2023 | Jul 29 | omg | Dimash Maimakov | Sergey Karimov | 1 million | 1 million |
| 2023 | Aug 4 | Aerial Sundress | Anton Menshikov | Svetlana Vezuchaya | 11 million | 2 million |
| 2023 | 10 Nov. | Volen | Heinrich Meder | Svetlana Vezuchaya | 3 million | 2.4 million |
| 2024 | Apr 17 | It doesn't hurt me | Elvin Fomin | Svetlana Vezuchaya | | |
| 2024 | May 3. | Smoke | Elvin Fomin | Svetlana Vezuchaya | | |

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
| 2021 | My Little Pony: A New Generation | Sprout Cloverleaf | Russian Vocal | |

## Audiobooks

* 2023 — “Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf” — audiobook performer

## Reviews, Certifications and Awards

«List of your thoughts» :
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| InterMedia | |
«Heavenly Roses» :
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| InterMedia | |

### Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Result |
| 2020 | Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards | Favorite music artist of Russian viewers | Nominated |
| 2020 | Zhara Music Awards | Breakthrough of the Year | Won |
| 2020 | Zhara Music Awards | Show of the Year | Nominated |
| 2020 | OK! Awards | New Faces. Music | Won |
| 2021 | New Radio Awards | Best Artist | Won |
| 2021 | Zhara Music Awards | Singer of the Year | Won |
| 2021 | Muz-TV Awards | Song of the year | Won |
| 2021 | Pesnya goda | For the song "You are merciless" | Won |
| 2022 | OK! Awards | The main character. Music | Won |
| 2022 | New Radio Awards | Best Collaboration (JONY and Mot for the track "Lilies") | Won |
| 2022 | Zhara Music Awards | Singer of the Year | Nominated |
| 2022 | Zhara Music Awards | Video of the Year | Nominated |
| 2022 | Zhara Music Awards | Collaboration of the Year | Won |
| 2022 | New Song of the Year | For the song "Nikak" | Won |
| 2022 | Pesnya goda | For the song "Titry" | Won |
| 2022 | Golden Gramophone | For the song "Titles" | Won |
| 2023 | New Radio Awards | Best Artist | Nominated |
| 2023 | New Radio Awards | Best Single | Nominated |
| 2023 | Zhara Music Awards | Singer of the Year | Won |
| 2023 | Zhara Music Awards | VK Music's Choice | Won |
| 2023 | Zhara Music Awards | Collaboration of the year | Nominated |
| 2023 | Zhara Music Awards | Song of the year | Nominated |
| 2023 | Zhara Music Awards | Album of the year | Nominated |
| 2023 | Zhara Music Awards | Video of the year | Nominated |
| 2023 | Zhara Music Awards | Trendsetter of the year | Nominated |
| 2023 | Zhara Music Awards | Lyric artist | Nominated |
| 2023 | RU.TV Award 2023 | Best singer | Won |
| 2023 | VK Clip Awards | Musician of the Year | Won |

## Chart positions
### Albums

| Year | Work | Chart | Chart |
| Year | Work | Apple Music Top 10 Albums | Vkontakte Top 10 Albums |
| 2019 | List of your thoughts | 1 | 2 |
| 2020 | Heavenly Roses | 1 | |
| 2022 | Don't look for genres in me | | |

### Local charts

| Year | Work | Chart | Chart | Chart | Chart | Chart |
| Year | Work | iTunes Top 100 Russia | Apple Music Weekly TOP-10 | Top Radio & YouTube Hits Russia Top-50 | Top Radio Hits Russia Top-50 | Top YouTube Hits Russia Top-50 |
| 2019 | Alley | 11 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| 2019 | Без тебя я не я | 3 | 8 | — | — | — |
| 2019 | Love Your Voice | 13 | — | — | — | 35 |
| 2019 | Lali | 4 | 3 | — | — | 12 |
| 2019 | Comet | 1 | 1 | 18 | 19 | 18 |
| 2020 | Madam | 1 | 2 | — | — | 34 |
| 2020 | Fireplace | 1 | — | 37 | — | 16 |
| 2020 | You are merciless | 1 | 1 | 23 | 32 | 20 |
| Track | Top chart positions | Top chart positions | Top chart positions | Top chart positions | Top chart positions | Top chart positions | Top chart positions | Top chart positions | Top chart positions |
| Track | Russia VK Music | Russia Apple Music | Russia Yandex Music | Kazakhstan Apple Music | Ukraine Apple Music | Kazakhstan VK Music | Russia Spotify | CIS Top Radio & YouTube Hits | Russia Top Radio & YouTube Hits |
| Empty glass | 43 | 74 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Friendzone | 26 | 78 | — | — | — | — | — | 333 | |
| Star | 22 | — | — | — | 14 | — | — | — | |
| Sneakers | 58 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Alley | 2 | 4 | 33 | — | — | — | — | 4 | 3 |
| Without you I'm not me | 1 | 8 | 17 | — | — | — | — | 258 | |
| You captivated me | 11 | 29 | — | — | — | — | — | 91 | |
| Love Your Voice | 12 | 17 | 92 | — | — | — | — | 397 | |
| Lali | 1 | 2 | 17 | — | — | 43 | — | 128 | |
| Give me your hand | 78 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Comet | 1 | 1 | 2 | 97 | — | 7 | — | 39 | 18 |
| Madam | 1 | 1 | 7 | — | — | — | — | 96 | |
| Fireplace | 1 | 4 | 6 | — | — | 93 | — | 66 | |
| Are you really mine? | 36 | 88 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| You are merciless | 1 | 1 | 4 | — | — | 70 | — | 48 | 23 |
| Lollipop | 2 | 2 | 8 | — | — | — | 59 | | — |
| You are a bet | 3 | 3 | 55 | — | — | 92 | — | 22 | |
| And it's raining outside | 18 | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | 251 | |
| The world has gone mad | 8 | 5 | 46 | | | 71 | — | 113 | |
| Heavenly Roses | 16 | 22 | 19 | — | — | 7 | — | 233 |
| Emptiness | 3 | 2 | 6 | — | — | 32 | 50 | 117 | |
| Balcony | 4 | 3 | 63 | 30 | — | 35 | — | 94 | |
| Catch me when I fall | 5 | 4 | — | — | — | — | 47 | 150 | |
| Lilies | 4 | 2 | 36 | — | 12 | — | — | 25 | |
| Rockfall | 9 | 2 | 2 | — | — | — | 39 | 353 | |
| BLUE EYES | 32 | 11 | 13 | — | — | 18 | — | — | |
| Boss | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 148 | |
| You probably don't remember me | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 35 | 65 | |
| Believe | — | — | 2 | — | — | 96 | — | — | |
| Bird cherry | 71 | — | — | — | 32 | — | — | — | |
| You will leave | 14 | 9 | 50 | 6 | 17 | 15 | — | 306 | |
| On the lilac moon | 3 | 4 | 16 | 7 | 5 | 3 | — | 358 | |
| Subtitles | 1 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 8 | 1 | — | 9 | 4 |
| Let's be informal | 23 | 18 | 5 | — | — | — | — | 84 | 80 |
| No way | 2 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | 44 | 25 |
| How can I understand your love? | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | 97 |
| Spellbound | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 453 |
| Airy Sarafan | 4 | 27 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | 32 |
| I can't forget | | | | | | | | | |