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 […]

The band Burito’s eclectic music has been described as everything from “r’n’b” to “hard rock with hip hop elements” to “alternative-electronic.” The band borrows from a variety of styles to make a sound entirely their own – sensitive, poetic, and toe-tapping. The band name comes not from Spanish but from a combination of three Japanese […]

The upbeat pop duo Artik & Asti combine electronic beats, hip hop elements, and lively vocals. Popular in Russia and Ukraine, they are also known throughout Eastern Europe. While both band members are Ukrainian, their music is exclusively sung in Russian. Artik & Asti comprises two band members: Artyom Umrikhin (stage name Artik) and Anna […]

Undervud has become internationally renowned for their indie rock music with soulful, poetic elements. The group is headed by Maksim Kucherenko (Максим Кучеренко) and Vladimir Tkachenko (Владимир Ткаченко). Kucherenko is a Crimean native born in Simferopol; Tkachenko was born in Kerson in southern Ukraine. The two met at the Crimean Medical Institute in the 1990’s […]

Little Big has topped charts and headlines with their provocative style of rave music with pop, hip hop, punk, and EDM elements. The group calls itself a “satirical art collaboration” and is known as much for its catchy music as its infectious dancing and shockingly bright, brutalist videos. Often funny, occasionally inflammatory, Little Big is […]

Irina Dubtsova is a Russian singer known for her energetic pop style, extensive series of collaborations, and strong songwriting ability. Dubtsova was born in 1982 in Volgograd. She grew up with music in both formal and informal capacities. Her father was a musician who instilled a love of music and singing in Dubtsova. At only […]

Max Barskih (Макс Барских) is a Ukrainian pop singer who has grown in popularity in recent years. His first performance was in 2008 on a Ukrainian television show called Star Factory 2.[1] Two years later, he was named best Ukrainian performer by the MTV Europe Music Awards. He is 30 years old but has already […]