Bayan
Rap / Hip Hop
Holding It Down For Southern Ukraine Globally
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Member Since 1/19/2006 Band Members Pen-A-Plast ft. S.St "Dlia Tachki" screwed & chopped by Bayan
Influences u can see 'em among mah "Friends" Sounds Like
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About Bayan
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01. Intro 02. Kino 03. Ya - Bayan 04. Master-klass 05. Piatnica (interlude) 06. Slava bogu - piatnica 07. Ne mogu molchat' 08. Na dne (intro) 09. Na dne 10. Mongol'skoe igo 11. Ya - Mongol (Mongol feat. Bayan) 12. Fu (feat. Mongol) 13. Skoka mojno (interlude) 14. Skoka mojno (feat. Vetal) 15. Aybolit '03 (feat. Mongol) 16. Never No More remix (Aaliyah tribute) 17. Kino (clean) 18. Outro "Wu-Tang - A Slower Style Screwed & Chopped Mixtape"SOUDCLICK
Soul in the hole (intro) Hollow bones Can it be all so simple? It's yours Love session A better tomorrow Little ghetto boy Broolkyn zoo C.R.E.A.M. Ice cream Strawberry Never be the same again Motherless child Biscuits Cold world Tha riddler Anything Pass the bone Soul in the hole (outro) Hip Hop In Ukraine
What can you tell tell us about the HipHop scene in Ukraine ?
(how did u get in contact with it? Is it easy to find people who share this passion?)
Lets just start off with the fact that there is definitely hip hop scene in Ukraine. But I wouldnt call it thriving and for the most part its pretty much confined within each in every city with a sporadic interaction between hip hop artists from different cities. Theres annual hip hop festival in Kharkov In Da House, which recently became somewhat less important, and some general music festivals mostly in Kiyev where selected hip hop acts usually perform. Theres a magazine X3M (Extreme) which covers hip hop related events and posts reviews of new hip hop albums which drop. In 2 words Ukrainian hip hop scene is a Big Underground.
In the city of Nikolayev in Southern Ukraine where I live there is a fairly successful local rap trio Banghi Hep, judging by their albums sales, which werent backed up by promotion, and the fact that they actually managed to get to the broad market, which for underground artist is a success in itself. These guys are pretty much the core of an active hip hop scene in the city, so I just hooked up with them as soon as my debut album was ready. In our city there are a few rap groups and MCs and everybody knows each other or at least are aware of each other existence.
What do you know about the writing/breakdance scene?
(Are their relations between the Artists of different styles?)
As to graffity artists and b-boys the ties between them and rappers at least in our area are not too close. We all pretty much doing our thing separately, each one in his own realm.
Do you think the HipHop culture is high rated in the society of Ukraine?
The general public, average citizens in Ukraine got little or no knowledge about hip hop culture as a whole. If they know anything then its limited to rap just because there some pop artists trying to do rap thing and which can be heard on the airwaves accessible to all.
Whats the meaning of this culture for the youth?
In Ukraine hip hop is not the culture of the youth, but rather a culture of a fraction of youth. It is not widely accepted. But those who relate to hip hop culture are trying to express their identity through clothes and fashion.
Which opportunities does an artist have in Ukraine to spread his music?
The only real opportunity at hand is of course the Internet. When it comes down to real, not virtual, market the opportunities are extremely scarce. The system of record deals and labels in Ukraine is rudimentary and underdeveloped, its all happens in the framework of personal connections. Who rules the showbiz in the former Soviet Union is individual producers who invest in a chosen artist and promote his music or put music behind the artist, who has limited control over the musical product hes involved in creating, record deals are secondary. And since hip hop is not a part of pop culture in Ukraine, and as a result not profitable genre of music, nobody of those producers would start working with and promoting any hip hop acts. In fact they do not feel hip hop and cannot distinguish between quality hip hop and garbage, thats why if any new hip hopish act appears on the big stage theres a great chance its manufactured and its music sucks. The problem with this situation is that it imposes on the listeners a certain perception of hip hop, which has nothing to do with the real deal, and it creates a vicious circle when you should sound like those fakes to have a slim chance of getting to wide audience as a hip hop artist. Also down here theres no alternative ways such as mixtape or local shows circuit for an artist to get exposure or indie record labels which specialize in releasing rap music.
Then with a newly elected president and new rules of the game it became even harder for a rapper to make it to the airwaves nationally if he raps in Russian (let alone to any rapper period), since the official language in Ukraine is Ukrainian, although it speaks less than half of the country population and the media is heavily promoting music in Ukrainian.
How would you describe the development of the HipHop culture in Ukraine?
Its certainly developing if you look a few years back. But I wouldnt mind if it developed faster. First it has to become at the very least a part of the mainstream pop culture in the country and come out of the underground.
What would you say is the typical style of ukraine rap when you listen to the beats and the lyrics?
Since most of the Ukrainian rappers rap in Russian they are influenced by the rap coming from Russia and tend to copy the style of the most noticeable of them and follow the general trend of Russian rap, which is fairly grimy, gloomy in its lyrics and beats melodic parts.
I should made a reservation that I personally listen to very little of local rap, but in favour of Ukrainian (made in Ukraine) can say that it sounds more happier than the Russian and more diverse.
The beats are mostly straight forward, simple and samples driven, produced on PC, because stuff like samplers and groove-boxes is too expensive out here and simply hard to find in retail. But since the introduction of the Dirty South and The Neptunes to the mainstream game there are people trying to make beats in that bouncy style and more complex and intricate. Likewise in the rapping technique young rappers, which started rapping in the last couple of years, tend to use more complex phrasing and rhyme scheme in line with the latest waives from the States. The old timers do not seem too eager or capable to step their old fashioned lyrical game up though.
What do you think are main differences when you compare the music and lifestyle of ukraine HipHop with HipHop out of the States and the rest of Europe?
Well, the obvious difference, which I already mentioned earlier is the fact that hip hop in Ukraine is not mainstream (I do not really think it is in Europe, but its definitely a lot less underground out there. Maybe Im wrong, unfortunately never been in Europe). When its mainstream a whole movement starts circulating around a phenomenon including media attention, fashion, lifestyle. All that Ukrainian hip hop lacks. Besides if we talk about hip hop music per se, Ukrainian hip hop is underground and the artists have very little resources and access to quality studio equipment, therefore their music has poorer sound.
Who are the most succesful musicians in Ukraine?
By genre its pop music artists. By name, the first which comes up to mind is pop-rock group Okean Elzy (Elza Ocean), but I do not know their real numbers, its just that they are all over the media. But in fact its hard to name a few Ukrainian pop music artists which have a fan base or following , there are some in rock genre though, but they are not overexposed.
Most of pop songs you hear on the radio are from obscure artists, which you cannot name and which you wont hear another song from in the near future.
Overall Ukrainian pop music which can be considered mainstream is flat and unbrilliant in my personal opinion both musically and lyrically. In the post Soviet countries success in music industry is not measured by record sales, but rather by media exposure, which can lead to more opportunities as far as concerts and tours are concerned.
What can the world expect in future of Ukraininan music?
I believe from Ukrainian music theres nothing to expect. I don't see a Ukrainian act blowing up internationally any time soon. The world has enough quality music to go around, mainly from GB and USA, since they are the originators in the popular music genres, all the rest of the world is just imitating, and the original folk music which different parts of the world has to offer to the world music diversity will never become pop. But then again you never know, who would expect Tatu doing that good in the international charts.
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