1994–1999: Debut album and Gru 2 (Biću tu, Srce) Andonov began his career in 1990 as a founding member in the Yugoslav recording act
Project 6, which disbanded in 1993. His first demo recording as a vocal soloist was produced in 1994, although his first public releases date back to 1995, with the album
Da li imaš pravo? (Do You Have The Right?) which marked the beginning of the first wave of
Serbian hip hop. His debut album was recorded at
Studio Jugodisk and
Studio Avalon from 24 October until 10 December 1994, although it was released a year after. In the first recording he collaborated with Enco, who was featured only in that recording, more specifically in the sequence
Život je lep (Life is beautiful). Andonov published the album
Gru 2 in October 1996, and it gained him notoriety in the
Balkan countries, becoming the most commercially successful album in Serbia to date, selling 4 million copies, which holds the record as the best-selling album in Balkan history. The song was also credited by Dragan Brajović Braja to have found the balance between commercialisation and underground. The Gru 2 album earned him two Serbian Oscars of Popularity, one for the album itself, and one for the single. The song
Srce won Andonov a
World Music Award in 1997 in category of Best Hip-hop Singles. Songs from the album merged hip hop with
swing, which was another autochthon creation in Serbian music done by Gru. He toured Eastern Europe in 1999.
2000–2006: Između redova, Beogard In 2000,
Metropolis Records published a rendition of his debut album
Da li imaš pravo 5 years after the original issue, on CD. The rendition included various guests, including Serbian music producer
Marko Kon, hip-hop group CYA, rapper Đorđe Radivojević Ramirez (ex Sunshine), Bojan Todorov and Vladimir Ilić. He also had his film debut in
Land of Truth, Love & Freedom as Petar Peca, and composed the soundtrack for
Dorcol-Manhattan. In 2004, he starred in the Serbian dub for
Shrek as
Lord Farquaad, alongside
Nebojša Glogovac as
Shrek,
Anica Dobra as
Princess Fiona and
Radovan Vujović as
Donkey. In 2002, he released the album
Između redova (Between the Lines), on which he had worked on for 7 years with the label
City Records, since 1995 until 2002. The song MF "Gru – Ko Je Gru?" (MF Gru – Who is Gru?), went in a new direction, as it interpreted the musical style of
eurodance.
Biću tu was released again on the album due to the popularity it generated.
Stara škola, nova škola, which was done as a collective work with rappers
Juice,
Shorty,
Sky Wikluh and MC Drejz. He was Don Trialeon's guest star in Trialeon's radio show Škola alongside
The Jungle Brothers,
Sole,
Coolio and
RZA of
The Wu Tang Clan. starring Branislav Platiša and
Anica Dobra and acted in the
documentary Poslednja Nova Godina that same year. In 2006, he co-wrote the soundtrack and composed
Adrenaline Junkie for the American film
Undisputed II: Last Man Standing. He went on an international tour in June 2006, having shows in Australia,
The United Kingdom, South Africa,
the United States, and France.
2007–2010: The Ultimate Collection, television projects From 2007 to 2010, Andonov primarily started DJing. In an interview, he stated that he didn't produce music, but did DJ and perform. He did an international tour in 2009, rapping in Canada,
Scandinavia and (Germany).
Adrenaline Junkie and
Nebo ispod zemlje were published as renditions due to the refreshed motives of
RnB and
Swing music. By the end of 2009, Andonov had cut ties with the Serbian record label
City Records who had done production for his both compilation albums. He also took part in the seventh gala for Operacija trijumf, alongside Croatian musician
Dado Topić, American pop artist
Anastacia, and Macedonian vocalist
Kaliopi on 10 November. At the time, when the four artists formed the seventh gala,
Mirjana Kostić and Kristijan Jovanov were expelled, while contestants
Adnan Babajić and
Milica Majstorović were nominated. Later, he helped produce the song "
Bistra voda" for
Mirjana Kostić and performed shows alongside her.
2010–2014: I dalje me žele, Dugme po dugme, Biću tu (20 godina kasnije) In 2010, Andonov alongside Serbian rapper
Ajs Nigrutin released
I dalje me žele (They Still Want Me) as a hip hop duet. The rap song had similar motives as
Biću tu. The song achieved numerous accolades, including "The Number One Best Rap Song of 2010" by
Kurir and the "Number One Best Hip-Hop Songs of the Last Decade" by
Blic. It also spawned numerous covers of varying
Your Face Sounds Familiar adaptations. He voiced Minion in the Serbian dub of
Megamind, alongside
Dragan Mićanović, who dubbed Megamind, and appeared in two episodes of
Ulica lipa, as the fictional
Leskovac native Branislav Savić. In 2011, he produced
Idemo na sve by Serbian singer
Ana Kokić and Romanian recording artist
Costi Ioniță, which went on to top the charts in December 2011. In 2011, he won the
Indexi Award for his collaboration with
Ajs Nigrutin. In May 2012, he performed with Bosnian-born rapper
Edo Maajka in
Dom Mladih in
Sarajevo, on behalf of Maajka's
Štrajk mozga album tour. The same year, Andonov toured the US for 3 months, performing in
Carnegie Hall in New York City, and in
Troubadour In late 2013, it was revealed that Andonov collaborated with
Marchelo and his crew on a new book-album titled
Napet Šou (Tense Show), which was published in October 2014. The album is composed of 18 tracks which were recorded with contribution from over 30 artists, which included Andonov. Gru collaborated with
Juice and
Napoleon on the track
Šta da radim sad (What Do I Do Now). Andonov produced instrumentals for the entire
Tvoje lice zvuči poznato franchise. He performed with choreographer Aleksa Rafiović Zile and the dance crew an
ABBA medley, in the final episode of the first season. In 2014, Andonov collaborated with recording artist and producer
Stefan Đurić Rasta for the track
Dugme po dugme (Button per button). The single had elements of
trap music and Serbian turbo-folk. Andonov also published the EP
Samo za tvoje oči (Only for Your Eyes), alongside the collaboration. The single also attributed vocals from
Sky Wikluh. He toured Asia in October 2014, and performed and MC-ed in the
Philippines, Japan,
Thailand,
Vietnam and
Cambodia. In December 2014, he performed
Merry Christmas Everyone as
Shakin' Stevens for the
second season of Tvoje lice zvuči poznato, for which he had done instrumentals. Andonov performed in the final episode it with the contestants to close to show.
2014–2019: Novo leto, Plan B, Nebrušen dijamant In 2015, Gru was featured on the single
Novo leto alongside
Belgrade-based hip hop project Kurtoazija, fronted by vocalist MC Stojan. The single was considered a summer hit because of the vast fame it amassed. Andonov released a refreshed version of
Biću tu, titled
Biću tu (20 godina kasnije) (I'll be there / 20 years later), alongside Serbian rapper Gazda Paja. The song itself featured production from his own studio, but also the Serbian record label IDJ videos, which lasted for 6 years. Gru published the variation on 22 August 2015. Unlike the original which incorporated elements of
old-school funk, the 2015 release blended the worlds of
hip-hop and
turbo-folk and pop music in order to appeal to modern listeners. The music video, produced by IDJ Videos, had featured guest stars similar to the ones in the 1996 video of Andonov's Biću tu, such as the Cindy models In April 2017, Andonov did a charitable concert in
Zagreb with
Edo Maajka. The same year
Biću tu was interpreted yet again in the
Albanian version of
Your Face Sounds Familiar. It was sung by Albanian vocalist Flaka Krelani in the fourth episode, which landed her 2nd place in the episode. The performance was also reprised in the final, when Marjana Bombaz and Xum Allushi performed
I dalje me žele as Nigrutin and Gru to close the show. In September 2017, Andonov did a concert for
Grey Goose Vodka in River Club Belgrade, attended by over 20,000 people. In November 2017, Andonov released a medley single, which incorporated
Biću tu,
I dalje me žele,
Srce,
Putnik,
Kiša,
Ozbiljna veza,
Čovek je čoveku vuk,
Pravo u raj,
Skit,
Dugme po dugme and
Doktore in that order. Andonov stated that the mixture embraced every single aspect of his career. Earlier that year, he purchased a tropic bar in
Boracay, Philippines. In mid 2018, he toured Africa and stayed in
Egypt for a brief period, performing. Later that month, he recorded with Serbian-born vocalist Baba Khan
Nebrušen dijamant (Unbrushed Diamond). The song's music video was directed by
Milan Stanković, on behalf of IDJ Videos, and was released on 2 September 2018.
Nebrušen dijamant was filmed in
Herceg Novi,
Montenegro, and recorded in Belgrade, Serbia. In January 2019, Gru had taken part in the
Abarth VIP race by Petrol, alongside various Serbian media personalities, including
Dragana Mićalović,
Hristina Popović and
Sara Jovanović. He completed second place out of ten, finishing the race at 54 seconds. He was the runner up after Uroš Čertić. ==Artistry==