Meanwhile, Pavlov joined the Moscow band "Zvuki Mu" ("Sounds of Moo"), a successful art-rock group that enjoyed a fair degree of fame -- and the attentions of mega-producer Brian Eno -- in the late 1980's. Eno, producer for the Irish rock band U2, was impressed by Zvuki Mu's funky, jazzy sound, and arranged two US tours for the band. So it was that in 1989, 23-year-old Alexei Pavlov found himself in New York City: the capital of Western decadence, the city that never sleeps, the Center of Rap on Earth. He soaked up all the rap culture he could, bought himself a pair of black silver-studded shoes, and returned to Russia ready to write his own rap music. MC Pavlov was born.
Over the next five years, Pavlov used whatever means he could to get his hands on anything having to do with rap music. The Russian borders were opening, allowing first a trickle and then a stream of imported goods from all over the world, but rap music was not high on the list of commodities flooding into the new Russia. So Pavlov wrote to ask his contacts in the US to send tapes and information, and scoured Moscow for his beloved rap.