The Top 3 Songs of Russian Rap

Every nation in the world, nowadays, has its own rap groups. The phenomenon was born in the US, but soon contaminated the rest of the world. In Russia rap arrived as early as 1984, obviously under American influence, but we have to wait almost a decade to find artists able to express it in an original way. Today some of its proponents obtained huge commercial success, also arriving at the choice of rapping only in English and obtaining collaborations with affirmed US artists, such as Snoop Dogg, Fat Joe, Xzibit, and so on. What I will propose you here, however, is a list of some of the (older) Russian rap songs, the ones which more tightly tied with the Russian hip-hop lovers, and which you have to know if you belong to this once restricted clique!

1. Баста – Моя Игра (1998)

A wonderful Russian rap song, “My game” speaks about life and hip hop culture in general. Vasilij Vakulenko, stage named Basta, was born in the Rostov-on-Don considered to be the Russian hip-hop center of the years in which the song was published. His own 2006 cover of “My game”, featuring Гуф, is also noteworthy.

Здесь тот, кто проиграл гонку за богатство, отдав предпочтение тому, что нравится.          
Это мой путь, брат! Моя игра. Она мне принадлежит и таким же как и я.       

Here you can find those who lost the run for treasure, treasuring instead what they love.
And that’s how I do it, brother! My game. And it belongs to me as I belong to it.

2. Noize MC – Пенся для Радио (2006*)

Ivan Alekseev, or Noize MC, always fought for what he believes to be right. Today, he claims, him and his group are being blacklisted in Russia, as a consequence of his protests against oligarchs’ benefits or the Russian intervention in Ucraine. Ten years ago, however, he was making satire about the music picked by radio programs, or censorship in general, with his “Song for the Radio”.

Песня для радиоэфира – вот она, готова! Ни одного плохого слова, и припев попсовый. […]
Я ни одной запретной темы в тексте не затронул, не противоречил ни морали, ни закону.                     

Here it is! The song for the radio, not a single bad word, and a pop refrain. […]
I didn’t touch prohibited topics in my lyrics, didn’t contradict nor morality, nor amendements.

3. St1m – Я – Рэп (2007)

One of the main features of rap is the competition between artists, which sometimes results in what is known as “dissing”: speaking badly of a competitor. In case of Nikita Legostev, also known as St1m, the competitor is the rest of the rap scene, which he attacks in his 2007 song “I am Rap”.

Я не папенькин сынок и не продюсерский проект. Мой успех – моя заслуга, я синоним слова “рэп”.      

I’m not a daddy’s boy nor a commercial project. My success is thanks to me, I’m a synonym of Rap.

This is just a degustation of Russian rap, but if you do like the article, I will bring you more examples in the future. Also, feel free to comment below if you disagree with me, if you want to give listening advises, and so on!

Read also: What to watch on Russian YouTube?

Posted by Alessandro M.

Alessandro M. is currently an Intern at Liden & Denz, where he also studies Russian. He will keep you updated on cultural events, curiosities, fun facts and much more though his articles!