Krovostok (Кровосток) is a Russian hip-hop group from Moscow. Formed in 2003, Krovostok consists of Shilo (Шило, stage name of Anton Chernyak, Антон Черняк) on vocals, producer Feldman (Фельдман, stage name of Dmitri Fain, Дмитрий Файн), and beatmaker and backing vocalist Fantomas 2000 (Фантомас 2000). The band is know for their liberal use of profanity […]

Potap and Nastya (Потап и Настя) are a Ukrainian pop/rock duo. They sing mainly in Russian, occasionally in English, and rarely in Ukrainian. Their linguistic preferences have brought them controversy in their native Ukraine, but they remain a highly popular contemporary group, and they affirm that they are fully Ukrainian, despite singing in Russian. The group consists […]

Staisha is the stage-name for one Nastya Aleksandrina (Настя Александрина), a Moscow-born hip-hop, reggae, and R&B singer/songwriter. Trained as a singer from a young age, she would go on to graduate from the Gnessin State Musical College, where she studied jazz and pop vocal styles. Although she began her career as a backup singer for […]

5’nizza (pronounced “Pyatnitsa,” Russian for “Friday”) is a Russian duet who plays across the genres of hip-hop, reggae, and funk. Originally from Kharkiv, 5’nizza existed from 2000 until 2007 and then, after a long hiatus, re-formed in 2015. They have played shows around Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and the United States. 5’nizza consists of Sergei Babkin […]

Boombox is a Ukrainian band from Kiev that mixes various musical styles, including rock, hip-hop, and funk. Formed in 2004 by vocalist Andrei Khlyvnyuk (Андрій Хливнюк) and guitarist Andrei Samoilo (Андрій Самойло), they have released a steady stream of albums and collaborative projects since their inception and built a loyal following throughout Ukraine, Russia, and […]

Geegun (Джиган) is the stage name for Ukrainian born hip-hop artist and DJ Denis Aleksandrovich Ustimenko-Weinstein (Денис Александрович Устименко-Вайнштейн). The artist has remarked upon his adopted name as a combination of the second half of the American hip-hop abbreviation for “original gangster”—O.G.—and a transliteration of the English “gun,” due to his fondness for firearms. Besides being […]

Quest Pistols Show (simply Quest Pistols until 2014) is a unique and unusual Russian/Ukrainian … band, for lack of a better word. They often refer to themselves as a “show” (шоу) instead, and in their own words have, over the course of their existence, transformed from an “amateur ballet and freak boy band to a […]

25/17 is a Russian alternative rock and hip-hop group that was formed in 2002 in Omsk, a Siberian city. The group initially went by the name Ezekiel 25:17 (Иезекииль 25:17)—the quotation reads “I will carry out great vengeance on them and punish them in my wrath,” otherwise known as Samuel L. Jackson’s most famous line from […]

Nursultan Azykbaev (Нурсултан Азыкбаев) is a Kyrgyz pop singer who has extremely recently come to the forefront of the Kyrgyz pop scene. He sings in Kyrgyz, Russian, and English. Azykbaev, only 21 years old, is currently studying flute performance at the Kyrgyz State Music Academy—he is in his third year. Azykbaev made waves recently when […]