The best rappers: Russians. The best rappers: Russian Popular rap artists

In recent years, rap in Russia has developed to incredible proportions. There are many performers who work in different directions. Russian rappers write lyrics to suit every taste and have many fans. Their compositions are liked by different groups of people, but the masters of domestic rap will not leave almost anyone indifferent.

People's rating

Guf - he not only performs controversial compositions, the main theme of which is drug addiction, but also actively gives reasons for discussion in the press. Just look at his arrest in Krasnoyarsk or the numerous novels attributed to the performer. At one time there were rumors on the Internet that the rapper had died.
Basta - many rappers (Russian) focus on this artist, because for several years he has not left the top positions of the charts. His compositions are more lyrical and melodic, which attracts a fairly large audience of listeners.
Noize MC is a controversial performer who actively collaborates with rock bands and often combines different sounds. He also became famous for his active civic position.

There are many talented performers on the domestic stage who attract people by presenting lyrics. Many Russian rappers have achieved popularity thanks to the Internet, but there are other ratings.

The most outstanding rappers according to music critics

In 2016, many rappers received good ratings from experts. The top three are as follows:

Oxxxymiron - this rapper, who studied at Oxford, has so far only two albums and countless tracks, which allowed him to become the “King of Rap 2016”. In addition, he serves as the prototype for the main character of the series “Londongrad”, which is partly biographical.
Slim was liked by critics for the depth of his lyrics and diligence. He releases quality albums almost every year.
Ptah (Boring) has been gaining experience for a long time as part of different groups, now he experiments a lot and releases only high-quality material.

These rappers (Russian) have earned high marks not only from critics, but also from listeners. They actively tour and regularly appear in the rotation of music channels.

Gaining popularity

It cannot be said that the latest list contains only novice performers. Their ratings are simply not as great as those listed above.

Max Korzh became a discovery of the Russian rap scene. His lyrics mainly talk about relationships.
KReeD released his first album “Bachelor” in 2015. Previously, his first video received 4 million views, thanks to which employees of the Black Star label paid attention to him.
L’One is a Siberian of Georgian origin who is just gaining popularity. He was a participant in the “Battle for Respect” project on one of the music channels.

This top Russian rappers was created based on downloading and listening to their tracks over the past three months. Their compositions can also often be heard in TV series, films and TV.

"I am human. We can do everything. What will I leave behind? Cleanliness." Antokha MS sings such lyrics to the accompaniment of a drum machine, synthesizer and trumpet on his album. For some he is a weirdo, for others he is an alien, and still others are sure that this is all frivolous. But “serious” musicians fully appreciated Antokha’s music: Basta on Twitter calls he is nothing less than “great,” and Ivan Dorn calls him jam with him at a concert. And we can give one hundred percent guarantee that there are no analogues to Antokha in the world, he is our natural product, the same artist who could only appear in Russia.

“Kinfolk” is an amazing album. Under the instrumentation of young Tsoi, Antokha declares very simple slogans - be kind, be friends with the world, play sports, and so on. These songs and the very idea that creation can change the world may seem very childish (the play at the beginning of the song “Years” is reminiscent of music from “Jumble”, and the album cover is a Soviet musical fairy tale), but perhaps this is precisely the view of what is happening We didn't have enough around us in the harsh 2016.

10. L"One

"Gravity"

The album "Gravity" was composed in Amsterdam. On it, an amazing girl Jasmine sings like Soviet singers of the 60s. It features beats from the author of "Devil Is a Lie", produced by Major Seven. On it, Vladi, Basta and L"One coexist on equal terms within the same track. Already all the listed facts indicate the degree of seriousness with which L"One approaches his work. He is a passionate man, full of good intentions, but now these intentions are not just declared, but wrapped in a large album of mainstream hip-hop, exploring the entire spectrum of genres, from piano ballads in the spirit of Coldplay to fashionable Ukrainian house. And after such work, against the backdrop of the overwhelming majority of domestic rap, L "One looks like an alien creature. A Martian, if you like.

9. Pike

"A L F V"

You already know about the sticky song “Patimemaker”, and if you don’t know, then, apparently, you didn’t live in 2016. It’s interesting that on the album “A L F V” it appears as an appendage, almost as a bonus track. The crazy hit, in fact, is not at all typical for Pika, because musically here he relies on completely different layers. Firstly, this is the legacy of the Rostov school, from Caste from the time of the album “Louder than Water, Higher than the Grass” to the Sand People. And secondly, psychotropic American rap - A$AP Mob, Future, Danny Brown; the list is extensive.

The result is a wild hybrid that does not fit into any framework. Pika's songs are like spells, he plays inimitably with his voice, repeats the words many times so that they form some kind of mantras, shouts, whispers and sings - in an enlightened high voice, which then cannot be confused with anyone. “Fuck to the Pharaohs”, “Kmon”, “So I Live”, “G-Bass”, “Rock-n-roll & Gun” - all this is the hit list of the Rostov nugget; psychedelic rap grown in the southern black soil.

8. LSP & Pharaoh

"Confectionery"

Despite all the stylistic differences between the co-authors of “Confectionery”, both of them are extremely textured relays of decay and hassle. The six tracks of the new EP are the most tender ballads about p***** and attempts to plug the existential emptiness with a more beautiful carcass. A similar trick has always worked well for LSP solo - making people on the dance floor jump merrily to songs about nightmarish things. If you listen closely to these honeyed romances, there is “just me and my darkness” in them, a loss of moral and emotional guidelines. Such songs could be sung by a spider to its victim stuck in its web - of the two, he knows too well how it will all end.

7.ATL

"Karma x Coma"

Having taken a break in 2016 after the release of what many considered to be their best album, “Marabou,” ATL did not leave us without music. Such releases, where verses from joint tracks are laid on new beats and interspersed with various kinds of outtakes and unreleases, are needed so that the listener does not get bored between numbered albums. And we have to admit that you won’t get bored with such material! The author is known for his ability to effectively appropriate someone else's - so the name “Karmacoma” landed here from the album “Protection” by the English group Massive Attack, with which ATL has nothing in common in sound, but much in spirit. The line “dancing creatures plus drugs” is like the motto of the album, the dance floor is like a black mass, the end of everything is the result; There is more joyless music in the world than is necessary, but listening to it rarely brings so much joy.

6. Coin

"Psychedelic Cloud Rap"

It all started as a joke: in January, an album recorded on her knee by high school student Lisa from Yekaterinburg, where she sang about Gosha Rubchinsky’s clothes, the Ukrainian issue, suicidal teenagers and cute friends, went online. In short, I spoke out on all the high-profile issues of 2016. The album went viral, everyone spoke about its performer, opinions varied from “indigo child” to “Furfur website project” - so what next? That's all?

It turned out that no: then Monetochka released new songs, no longer remarks on the topic of the day (although those also have not gone anywhere), but the compositions of an intelligent and talented girl - just listen “A new form of capital” or “I went to the realists”. At the end of the year, she sang in the song “Childfree” on the latest album of Noize MC, and such a duet looked like a logical development of the story of Monetochka.

5. Max Korzh

"The little one has grown up, part 1"

Songs for youth and songs about youth are completely different things, although they are consonant. As a rule, while attributing the first to Max Korzh as a songwriter, the second is forgotten. And, in general, they miss the very essence: the blue-eyed longing for hungry irresponsibility and boyish gatherings.

Such a metamorphosis with Max’s character happened back on “Domashny”. There, the reveler began to turn into a young family man and father. On the new album, in accordance with the title, he has also matured - but has not lost his impetuosity and spirit of youth. The thrill of life has not become less, don’t think so. On the contrary: the new Max Korzh is about the fact that you need to resist everyday life, love your family, and not forget the boys.

4. Noise MC

"King of the Hill"

In 2016, when the popularity of the word “hype” reached its peak, an album was released about what happens after it. Generally speaking, the whole idea of the race to popularity is based on the fact that the public constantly needs someone new. It's only a matter of time before the next king is pushed off the mountain. “Tsar of the Mountains” is not a concept album. But it makes it clear what the answer to the question “What to do after your name is no longer asked on every corner?” The author himself finds it - to mind his own business. It’s not for nothing that the record opens with the track “Make Some Noize” about the love of music, and ends (and here “King of the Hill” unexpectedly merges with “Gravity” L"One) with the hysterical ballad “Favorite Color” - it’s better than reading something about it listen once.

3. Caspian Cargo

"the Gross"

Brutto's solo album leaves fans of the early Caspian Gruz with everything that made them love the Baku duet, but attracts new ones, for whom not only a biting word is important, but also constant innovation in sound. It perfectly combines “ours” with “not ours” - a current sound with songs about the black Volga, auto-tuning with soulful singing with a guitar, a cover of restaurant singer Ruslan Nabiev with a paraphrase of the hit O.T. Genasis "about coca".

We often try to attach to various artists the title of brother of one of the American rappers (“Yanix - Russian Tyga”, “LSP - domestic Future” and so on), this predictably infuriates them. You can’t hang anything like that on Brutto. Because in his songs Travi$ Scott, Drake and others meet with Krug and Nabiev - and speak with them, if not in the same language, but certainly as equals with equals.

Russian rap is very young, however, in the firmament of which many one-day stars and unknown performers managed to appear, a lot of money was invested in their promotion, which no one remembered after a few years. However, several really cool teams and performers have emerged whose songs become timeless classics, have tens of thousands of fans and are able to pack full houses for their concerts. Although I must admit, I really didn’t manage to scrape together ten really cool Russian rappers, whose albums are sold in large numbers year after year. Meet the ten best Russian rappers.

10. Dzhigan

In tenth place we have the star of recent years of the hip-hop scene, Dzhigan, who loudly declared himself in 2009. His songs are constantly played on major radio stations, and he has received several awards, such as Golden Gramophone and Song of the Year. In general, real pop from the world of rap that people like.

9. Max Korzh

Belarusian boy Max Korzh became a real discovery of the Russian rap scene in 2012. The musician released two studio albums, which immediately became hits, and each concert invariably attracts full houses of people. Most of the artist's singles have a lyrical direction and revolve around relationships between people.

The eighth place of the best Russian rappers was taken by the Bad Balance team, not just a legend of Russian rap, but his father, mother, grandfather, grandmother and uncle all rolled into one. In general, they stood at the origins of the emergence of such a trend in music as hip-hop in the USSR, and then in Russia and the CIS countries. For many years they remained trendsetters on the rap scene, raising the bar higher every year. The most interesting thing is that Bad Balance, changing their lineups, still perform quite well these days, releasing new albums with enviable regularity.

The British boy Oxxxymiron with Russian roots, who graduated from Oxford, literally burst onto the Russian-language rap scene in 2009, becoming the best rapper of the year. He organically combines electronic music with aggressive, dark lyrics with fast rapping. The musician has released only one album and a bunch of individual tracks so far.

6. Bird

Ptah, aka Bore, was a member of several groups until he was ready for a solo career. The rapper became famous as part of the Centr group, where together Guf and Slim, who, by the way, are also heroes of our rating, release several very successful albums. In recent years, he has been experimenting a lot, releasing albums and individual singles.

Noize MC is the king of freestyle in the Russian rap scene, who manages to combine several musical styles together, creating simply mind-blowing mixes. Due to provocative tests, musicians are often sued and performances are cancelled.

4. Caste

Casta is a real legend of Russian rap and the voice of the streets, however, gradually adding more and more lyrics to his texts. All tracks become timeless classics that do not lose relevance over time. Each album of the group, and they polish them to perfection over the years, is a real holiday for fans, and right away they fall into the top sales, forcing second-rate creations of pop artists to stand in the corner and blush.

3. Slim

Slim, a veteran of the Russian rap scene, began his musical excrement in the mid-90s, but became a real star as part of the group Centr. His signature style is texts with deep subtext. The rapper regularly releases at least one album a year, which surprisingly turns out to be of very high quality, without obvious failures.

2. Guf

The real national rapper of Russia is Guf, who is listened to by young and old, from informal get-togethers to glamorous audiences. He was one of the members of the Centr group, from which he left with a scandal, quarreling with all the participants, lived for some time in China and was seriously on drugs. His songs are dedicated to life, many of which are dedicated to drugs. His albums sell well, and every second song becomes a hit.

1. Basta

The best Russian rapper Vasily Vakulenko from Rostov-on-Don was behind several successful musical projects, the most successful of which was “Basta”. In just a few months, he was able to soar to the top of the Russian rap scene, setting the bar high for other performers. All of Basta’s songs are hits that can be listened to for months, and new albums set sales records.