Band’Eros (Банд’Эрос) is a Russian R&B/hip-hop group that was founded in Moscow in 2005. The band’s name is a purposeful play on words – calling to mind both “banderos” – a Spanish word for an outlaw and “Band Eros” – referring to a certain sexuality within the group. The original members were Batishta (Kirill Petrov/Батишта, […]

Infinity (Инфинити—not a real word in Russian) is a Russian electronic/dance group. It was formed in 2007 by Tanya Bondarenko (Таня Бондаренко) and Aleksey Kutuzov (Алексей Кутузов). Before that, the two had created similar music under the name Black and White (Чёрное и Белое), without achieving much success. Bondarenko sings and writes songs; Kutuzov composes […]

Ruki Vverkh! (Руки Вверх!) is a Russian electronic pop group who takes their name from the ubiquitous DJ command for people to “get their hands in the air.”  The group’s name suits their musical style, which blends high-energy electronic pop with samples and aspects of world music. This popular group once worked as official spokesmen […]

Russkii Razmer (Русский Размер, Eng: “Russian Size”) is a Russian electronic group whose music falls somewhere among techno, trance, synth-pop and eurodance. The band has had a number of hits and is much loved in the Russian electronic music festival circuit. Russkii Razmer formed official in 1993, but founding members Dmitri Kopotilov (Дмитри Копотлив) and […]

DJ M.E.G. is a popular Russian DJ, producer, and choreographer. M.E.G. stands for the artist’s initials, his full name being Eduard Georgievich Magaev (Эдуард Георгиевич Магаев). DJ M.E.G. has worked with the likes of Timati and David Guetta, among others, and his sound is known around the world for its upbeat, poppy vibes. Magaev comes […]

Car-Man (Кар-мэн) is a Russian techno-pop band, which reached peak popularity in the early nineties. Known as much for their dance moves as their music, the original lineup consisted of Bogdan Titomir (Богдан Титомир) and Sergei Lemokh (Сергей Лемох), and continues today as a solo project of Lemokh. Titomir and Lemokh met when they were […]

Eles (Элес, meaning “dream” in English, and not to be confused with the Kazakh girl band of almost the same name) was a contemporary Kyrgyz band popular in the 1990s and 2000s. They sang in Russian and Kyrgyz. One of the most successful Kyrgyz bands of all time, they are credited with being one of […]

Arsen Zhumabekov (Арсен Жумабеков, though he goes by his first name alone) is a popular contemporary Kyrgyz pop star who sings in Kyrgyz, Russian, and English. His music is a bit different from that of some of the other most famous Kyrgyz singers of today—less dance-y, more melodic, fitting his more serious-sounding voice. From Talas, […]

Мirbek Аtabekov (Мирбек Атабеков) is known as the most famous Kyrgyz singer of today (or perhaps of all time). Limon.kg, a Kyrgyz online newspaper, has called him “our everything,” a title that refers to common way that Russians have of referring to Pushkin. He’s also a songwriter and starred in the 2014 Kyrgyz film Talisman […]