It’s difficult to choose a criterion that can be used to rank the best rappers of Russia. Do you prefer rappers who are famous for their punchlines - phrases that can “hook”? Or do you like the perfect presentation of the text, under which the crowd begins to swing in a single rhythm? What about the charisma and artistry of a musician?
In the end, every rap fan has his own set of values. For the list of the best rappers of Russia in 2019, we tried to select candidates, focusing both on personal preferences and on Yandex research, good and bad reviews about concerts, as well as the opinions of music critics.
10. Ptah (David Nuriev)
During his career, Ptakha has also been a film actor (in Rezo Gigineishvili’s “Heat” and in the episodic role in “Inhabited Island” by Fedor Bondarchuk), and participated in numerous scandals with the most famous rappers of Russia, such as Drago, Guf, Basta and Oxxxymiron.
And in 2017, shortly before the presidential election, Ptaha presented a video clip for the song “Freedom 2.017”, in which he ridiculed the protesters organized by Alexei Navalny, calling them “majors” and taking to the streets for “Uncle Sam’s money”. The elections were held, and new high-profile scandals involving Ptahi have not yet ensued.
9. Face (Ivan Dryomin)
The young hooligan, who was taken to the police department more than once, grew up, wiser, and now he is no longer a hooligan, but writes songs about the times of turbulent youth. And the nickname Face, according to the rapper, symbolizes his many faces and frequent creative metamorphoses.
More recently, on February 1, 2019, Face released the first mixtape Slim, which included 9 songs (mostly in the genre of trap).
Not far behind his son and father, Timothy Dremin. He became a video blogger and started a channel called Timokha Against Everyone, where he expressed his opinion on the work of popular Russian rap artists.
8. L’One (Levan Goroziya)
Even those who are far from rap admiration, note the amazing energy at L’One concerts. He sings sincerely, but without too much pathos, not hiding his emotions on the stage, and his texts not only “rock the hall”, but also make you think about life.
This singer’s music box contains both funny and touching songs, such as The Simplest Song, in which Levan sings about his path to fame.
7. Timati (Timur Yunusov)
Many graduates of the Star Factory disappeared from the musical horizon immediately after a short minute of fame. But Timati is not like that, his rap star shines brightly and is not going to go.
For several years, he has been among the top 10 best rappers in Russia and has successfully integrated rap into the official Russian pop art, actively demonstrating his patriotism and support to the authorities. And people who are far from rap are inevitably familiar with Timati thanks to the advertising jingle for Tantum Verde Forte.
You can respect the work of Timati, you can hate him, but to deny that the name of this musician is constantly on the hearing is impossible.
6. Slim (Vadim Motylev)
This rapper and beatmaker is known not only for his songs, but also for his personal conflict with another famous rap artist - Guf. In the video “Spice Baby” (Ptakh also participated in its filming), he ridiculed Guf’s manner of speaking, called some of his weaknesses and repeatedly called his music ring rival “cunning Jew”.
But once Slim, Ptaha and Guf were members of the Centr group - one of the most influential Russian hip-hop groups in the early 2000s. Perhaps this is just the case when "darlings scold - only amuse themselves." But at the same time they earn good money.
5. Pharaoh (Gleb Golubin)
This is one of the youngest performers in the ranking of Russian rappers in 2019. He was 23 years old, which means that Pharaoh as no one understands the aspirations, fears and hopes of modern youth.
Music critics call him and similar musicians the likeness of Justin Bieber and Kurt Cobain. Creativity Pharaoh can not be called acutely social or deeply intellectual, well, let it be, but it is relevant and in demand among young people.
4. Noize MC (Ivan Alekseev)
In his tracks, one of the most famous and popular Russian rappers favorably combines rock melody and recitative. In 2007, he became the winner of the largest online competition - the seventh official hip-hop battle - held on the site hip-hop.ru, and then starred in the film "Raffle" (he also wrote the soundtrack for this film).
The impressions of Noize MC concerts are positive for many people. They praise high-quality sound, good organization and the way the performer puts everything on stage.
Unlike Timati, Noize MC is not averse to “trolling” those in power. For example, the rapper refused the proposal of the Nashi movement to write an anthem for them, but he composed the sarcastic song Our Movement.
3. Guf (Alexey Dolmatov)
If for every joke voiced that Guf died, the rapper was given an extra year of life, he probably could live forever. He is one of the founders of the cult group Centr and the winner of many awards: Rock Alternative Music Prize, MTV Russia Music Awards, etc.
In October last year, an unpleasant incident occurred with Guf - he was beaten in the elite Moscow club "Bunker-42." Its representatives say that the singer has a concussion and two ribs are broken. It remains only to wish the rapper full recovery and success in his future career.
2. Oxxxymiron (Miron Fedorov)
For the first time, Miron tried to read rap at the age of 13, and, in an interview with Keep It Real, said that he was sure that he was the founder of Russian rap. Then this confidence disappeared, but he still entered the number of the most popular rap artists in Russia.
Oxxxymiron's work may not be close to the older generation due to the abundance of obscene language, but the younger generation is happy to listen to this singer, who knows how to present his songs with high quality and is not beaten, and often “clever”, inserting interesting metaphors, comparisons and forcing into the text listeners to google certain terms. And educating young people is a good thing, right?
In addition, Oxxxymiron is the fastest rapper in Russia and 7 in the world.
1. Basta, Noggano, N1NT3ND0 (Vasily Vakulenko)
The most popular rapper in Russia can be safely called "a man who made himself." He advanced to the heights of the Russian rap scene not thanks to high patrons or wealthy parents, but thanks to his own talents. He has an excellent rap style, honed by years of practice, he does not go astray and does not suffocate.
Basta masterfully deals with rhyme, and he is focused on legal show business, which means that there are not so many obscene words in the texts. He is a kind of rap analogue of the Don Cossack, who won’t climb into his pocket for a word, rude in appearance, but kind inside.
