Ras Orchestra – No Way Back (Нет пути назад)
Russian reggae? Yes, it exists. Some might already know this (or still) thanks to Nina Hagen (lyrics: In the Soviet Union, we celebrate reunion), but for many, this may come as a surprise. Reggae is often associated with sunshine and summer, and Russia is not Jamaica.
So what. If the weather gods aren’t cooperating, the true rasta man or woman will make it sunny themselves. Jah (in Russian Джа) is great.
Njet puti nazad
The opening track is by Ras Orchestra (not to be confused with Rasta Orchestra). Нет means no or not, путь is a way or path (it becomes пути when there is no way); назад means back or ago. Нет пути назад: no way back.
The song is from 2009, and the video may be a bit dusty, but it still sounds sunny, and that’s always useful. You can also listen to Ras Orchestra on
Spotify; other tracks on YouTube include
Это Твоя Жизнь (It’s Your Life) and
Вавилон, гори! (Burn,
Babylon). If you find the lyrics for Нет пути назад online, be sure to let us know.
На!Смерть
Reggae, Russia, and the road forward no matter what come together in В пути by На!Смерть. Check out Зеленый свет and ПриКольщик, also circulating as Russian guy sings reggae in freestyle and Не наркоманы а растаманы мы.
More reggae will follow, if Джа wills it.
Most of the music here is also in an
R1 playlist on YouTube (in order of release).
See also
Best Russian Music and
Russian Song Lyrics.
More
Music
Anyone who wants to present Russian music cannot ignore Zemfira. Popular and mainstream – millions of records sold – but also distinctly idiosyncratic. The music is usually accessible (we categorize it under Pop), but the attitude is rock.
Raw Anti-Putin punk from
Nizhny Novgorod /
Нижний Новгород. Loosely based on ‘Maggie’ by The Exploited.
From the green city of
Zelenograd /
Зеленоград. Dreamy indie-folk with a melancholic undertone. Created by
Mikhail Rodionov (1992).
The alarm blares (Ревёт тревога), the road awaits (ждёт дорога). They are many (Их немало), we are few (нас немного). We are in an unjust world (Мы в несправедливом мире) tin wolves in the shooting range (Жестяные волки в тире).
The word offret is Swedish and means ‘sacrifice’; the band Offret is Russian and makes heavy music. The link between the word and the band: a
1986 film in Swedish by the Russian Andrei Tarkovsky.
A band from Saint Petersburg that makes a kind of post-punk/indie-pop. Not for long yet, so not much material yet. However, they already have a few very successful tracks with original music videos. До свиданья, дорогая is the
Russian title for the film
The Goodbye Girl (1977), but it has nothing to do with it.
