Nyusha (Нюша)  is a popular Russian singer from Moscow. Born Nyusha Vladimirovna Shurochkina (Нюша Владимировна Шурочкина) to a family of musicians, her musical career started early, when at the age of five she recorded a song called “Song of a Big Bear” (“Песенку большой медведицы”). She now goes by her first name only. She did […]

Oksana Pochepa (Оксана Почепа) is a Russian singer who has gone by the name Akula (Акула; “shark”) for much of her musical career. She was born in Rostov-on-the-Don and started playing music as a child, performing with children’s musical ensembles. She started attending music school when she was nine, supported by her father, who wanted […]

Sergey Lazarev (Сергей Лазарев) is a Russian singer who represented Russia in the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest. Sergey Lazarev’s music career started when he was eight, when he began to sing in children’s musical groups and act in musical theater. He joined the children’s music group Neposedy (Непоседы; “fidgety people”), where he met Vlad Topalov, […]

Seryoga (Серёга) is the stage name of Syargei Parkhomenka (Сяргей Васільевіч Пархоменка), a Belorussian rapper who performs in Russian. He is known as the creator of his own hybrid genre— “Sport Ditties” (“спортивные частушки”)—which combines hip-hop with Russian folk rhymes. Hailing from Gomel in the Republic of Belarus, Seryoga spent five years as a student […]

Pavel Volya (Павел Воля) entered showbusiness as a DJ for the Russian radio station Hit-FM and a VJ on the music channel МУЗ-ТВ (MUZ-TV). In 2003 he became well-known as a regular on the Russian sketch-comedy show Comedy Club, before landing numerous smaller acting roles in movies and TV, most notably the 2009 comedy A […]

Egor Kreed (Егор Крид) is a Russian rap and hip hop artist. Until 2014, he was known as “KReeD” and has also gone by just “Kreed” in the past as well. Egor Kreed knew he wanted to be a musician from the age of 11, when he first heard 50 Cent’s song “Candy Shop”. Born […]

Kasta (Каста) is a Russian rap group originally from Rostov-on-Don, whose core members are the MCs Vladi (Влади), Shym (Шым), Khamil (Хамиль), and Snake (Змей). Exposure to New York’s Wu-Tang Clan in the early nineties prompted them to purchase as many American rap cassettes as they could get their hands on, and to study English […]

Centr (Центр) is a Moscow rap group originally formed in 2004 by MCs Guf (Гуф) and Princip (Принцип), and later joined by Slim (Слим), Little Bird (Птаха), and others. The group’s debut album, Gift (Подарок) was self produced and recorded. Only thirteen copies were made – and were given as New Year’s gifts to friends. […]

Basta (Баста) the stage name of Vasilli Bakulenko (Василий Михайлович Вакуленко), is one of Russia’s most iconic rappers. Originally from Rostov-on-Don, Vasilli studied music in high school and, under the influence of rappers like Wu-Tang Clan, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, and Busta Rhymes, formed his own rap group at the age of fifteen. Basta later collaborated […]