Music
Marijuana and mushrooms with a mind-altering effect are the spices in Наш Хип-Хоп (Our Hip-Hop), and not everyone can handle them well. Someone once said you shouldn’t take one on an empty stomach, but the other might just work. Our hip-hop today always fits in, especially with the bass not too low.
Slava KPSS (Слава КПСС) = Vyacheslav Mashnov, born in 1990 and from the rather far east,
Kharabovsk or
Хабаровск. Turned as a rapper—also under the name Sonya Marmeladova, a
character from
Crime and Punishment, and under the nickname Гнойный (Gnoiny), meaning something like festering—with a diss aimed at many.
Sabi Miss (Сабина Ахмедова,
Rostov-on-Don 1999) is going to put her phone on silent mode. And strongly advises, if it’s still necessary: don’t call me (не звони мне) and don’t write me (не пиши мне), all directed at a сука (a rather impolite term). Not very flattering, but it does rhyme with без звука (without sound). Поставлю трубку на режим «Без звука»: I’m putting my phone on silent mode.
A Russian problem is a проблема. The plural is проблемы – problems usually don’t come alone. Pharaoh (or Фараон, meaning pharaoh) and The Chemodan Clan are dealing with them too.
Face 3x
Music
A whole portrait in a few headlines.
Meet Russia’s most controversial rap star – Dazed (2018) introduces rapper Face (sometimes Фэйс). Another notable headline is
‘I Am the Enemy of the State’: Russian Rapper Compares Russia to Prison Camp – The Moscow Times (2018). Despite this, he was named (by the Financial Times) as one of
The Russian rappers Vladimir Putin wants to befriend. That might be difficult.
This is America by Childish Gambino (
Donald Glover) in a Russian version and setting. That becomes Это Россия (This is Russia, 2018). By Юрий Хованский (
Yury Khovansky), also known as
MC Khovansky (1990).
Kizaru 3x
Music
You might not know much about Kizaru. Then read a
Russian-language bio and also see
punch-line.ru. The question Что ты знаешь обо мне (what do you know about me) is answered by Kizaru himself. Ты ничего не знаешь обо мне, you know nothing about me.
Kerry Force 3x
Music
These days, Karina Novotutova (1991) mostly posts pictures of her kids on
VK, but in a previous life, she was a rapper. And not a bad one either. With a great flow and attitude. In 2015, Kerry Force (or Карина Форс) released a “Best of” album with 14 tracks (
Spotify) and then disappeared from the scene.
Guf 3x
Music
Гуф (or Guf), formerly Rolexx and born as Aleksei Dolmatov (Алексей Долматов), was born in 1979 and, like Slim, comes from Centr. He has a reputation as a guy who occasionally runs into problems. For more information, you can visit
Wikipedia or check out
Гуф – о героине, разводе и новой жизни (Guf on heroin, divorce, and a new life, 2017).
Зануда 3x
Music
A Зануда is someone who’s a downer or a bore. The rapper Зануда (Zanuda) was born (in 1981) as David Nuriyev (Давид Нуриев) in
Baku (Azerbaijan), but moved to Moscow at age nine. He was part of Centr and also goes by Птаха (Ptaha).
Каспийский Груз 3x
Music
Каспийский = Caspian; Груз = cargo or load, also meaning goods or a burden.
Каспийский Груз comes from
Azerbaijan (which borders the Caspian Sea) but sings in Russian, and that’s all that matters.
Centr 3x
Music
Rap is (or was) popular in Russia. Центр (tsentr) or Centr is one of the pioneers of modern rap. It began in Moscow in 2004, founded by Rolexx (now known as Гуф or Guf) and the Princip – see more on
Wikipedia.
Slim – Recently
Music
Slim, or Slimus (Moscow 1981), comes from Centr. From his EP Место под луной (A Place Under the Moon, 2018), Намедни means something like: recently, lately. Slim gives his take, and the visuals are equally striking.
