Scriptonite’s vocal style is unusual. Sometimes he raps or sings, but other times he shouts or goes into a sort of bizarre whaling that sounds like he is crying. This may come across at times as comical to outsiders, but to a fan of the music, this gives it a sort of relatability marked by […]

Artyom Arteomovich Gotlib, known professionally as Slava Marlow, is a Russian producer, rapper, beatmaker, and YouTube content creator. Slava Marlow was born on October 27, 1999 in Novosibirsk, a Siberian town known for science and industry. His parents divorced when he was young. He greatly disliked his father after the divorce, and therefore disliked his […]

Pyotr Tchaikovsky, a leading Romantic composer from Russia, is beloved for his emotionally charged symphonies and ballets like Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. Despite initial training for a civil service career, his passion for music led him to the St. Petersburg Conservatory. He gained international recognition for his innovative compositions that blended Russian folk influences […]

Hanna (Ханна) is a Russian pop star and model. Her full name is Anna Vladimirovna Kuryanova (Анна Владимировна Курьянова) and she hails from Cheboksary, the capital of the Chuvash Republic in south central Russia. She was born in the last days of the USSR on January 23rd, 1991. Hanna graduated from a music school specializing […]

PLAYD Russia on spotify has over 80 public playlists, covering many different genres, occasions, and charts. They can also be found on Facebook. Updated weekly, their Top 50 Rap chart shows the top hits in Russia. In late June of 2021, here is a snapshot of the Top 5:   1. CAMRY 3.5 – Slava […]

So far, no other art form has contributed more significantly to my Russian language journey than music. Listening to Russian lyrics strengthens my listening comprehension; translating Russian songs deepens my vocabulary and broadens my understanding of Russian culture; and singing Russian songs helps me practice pronunciation and enunciation. It has also brought my language learning […]

Manzhia, a Russian-Tajik singer, is coming into a wider spotlight after her performance at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. She was born on 8 July 1991 in Tajikistan. Her mother was a fashion designer and psychologist, and her father worked as a doctor. Her father initially discouraged her from pursuing music, believing that it wasn’t […]

Late-Soviet Siberia fell in love with punk. While rock bands like Kino and Alisa were making waves in Leningrad, the major industrial and scientific centers of Central Russia produced an underground punk genre that grasped audiences in the USSR and post-soviet diaspora. The cities of Tyumen, Omsk, and Novosibirsk were the centers of this movement. […]

Pelageya (the stage name of Pelageya Khanova, Пелагея Сергеевна Ханова) is a Russian singer known for her versions of folk songs of various nations, romances, and other compositions. Occasionally these are arranged with some rock influence, but she sings almost excusively folk songs in what can be considered traditional styles. Pelageya was born into a […]