Slovo 32 (english language)

003 JAG 008 Mixtape 012 MF & Varzan 017 Points of no return 021 DJ Wizz 024 Street sports 027 Ziv Lahat 038 Reviews 045 What are you reading?

048 Personal evolution

Editor: Vitali "Nelson" Makhnach

Website: HTTP://SLOVOMAG.COM Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/slovomagazine E-mail: slovohiphop@gmail.com

JAG is MC from Finland. His music combine classic boom bap sound with own authentic style. We have spooken with JAG about his music, Finnish hip-hop scene and international collaboration in Europe.

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In your biography it is written that an important event for your development as an artist was the MC competition at the Tavastia club in Helsinki in 2006.

Tell about him. And what should the artist do after success at such contests, so as not to squander opportunities for nothing?

We won a radio station's demo contest, and the prize was to open live show for Redrama (FI) and Promoe (Looptroop, SE) at Tavastia. It was a surreal feeling to perform at such a legendary venue. It was also my first ever solo gig, and that made it even more crazy.

Those kind of opportunities are great for upcoming artists, but one should never think that it immediately leads to something big. You have to keep working just as hard as before.

Tell us about Finnish hip-hop. What periods did it went through in its development and how is it changing now?

Finnish hip-hop has been around for a long time, but really started getting big in the early 2000's. Since then a lot of new styles have been developed, some copying sounds and styles from the USA, others going with more uniquely Finnish vibes. What used to be a clear line between mainstream and underground hip-hop has been blurred, and now even underground artists get a lot of radio play, views and streams, and even do very well on the official charts. And it's safe to say that the more mainstream/pop rap (that might not fall into my definition of hip-hop) is the

biggest genre in the country right now.

Now rap of the different countries standardizate under a pattern of the American mainstream is appreciable.

Does Finnish hip-hop lose its identity?

No, I think that the Finnish hip-hop identity is still stronger than ever.

Does most MCs in Finland write rap in their native language or in English?

Finnish is by far the most popular language, and has been for quite some time. More and more MC's who started their careers in English have changed to Finnish,and among the younger generation rapping in English is very rare these days. I like the fact that people take pride in their language and show clever ways to use it, but I would also like to see more support for the English-language rappers from Finland. There's a bunch of us and the level of talent is really high, but getting noticed is getting harder and harder.

In the already mentioned battle in 2006, Promoe was present. How does hip-hop from neighboring Sweden affect the Finnish scene?

The scenes are pretty different and I don't really see a connection between them. The Swedish scene has been bigger for a long time though, so I'm sure some Finnish artists have been influenced by it.

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You actively perform and gathered your own fanbase in many ways thanks to live concerts. At the same time, there are many artists who do not perform much, but are actively promoted on the Internet. What do you think is the dead-end way? Can a rap project be just a studio project?

Yeah, you can be just a studio artist, but personally I don't understand it. As a fan I know nothing better than seeing my favorite artists perform live, and as an artist I know nothing better than performing on stage. But to each his own, do whatever makes you happy (smiles).

The situation with rap on radio in different countries is very different. Somewhere rap absent in broadcasts, but somewhere there are popular programs about rap and hip-hop. How are things at the Finnish radio stations?

The biggest radio stations have the mainstream stuff in heavy rotation, but the more underground music is pretty much reserved for programs that specialize in hip-hop.

There are a few smaller radio stations though that show a lot of support for the hip-hop scene.

There are two albums and EP in your discography. Tell us about them. How did your style change from release to release and what are the features in music and lyrics of each of these releases?

The first one ("Average Jay" EP, 2009) was a mix of a bunch of styles, and really just me trying different things. On the

first album ("So Far No Good", 2012) the sound was more cohesive, 90's influenced mixed with melodies and live instrumentation. My last album ("Detention", 2014) was mostly 90's/boom bap influenced, with a couple of more electronic and modern sounding tracks in the mix. My style of rapping has stayed the same throughout, mostly focused on wordplay, flow and delivery. I try to speak on some real life things every now and then, too, but mostly it's just having fun and being sick with it (smiles) My main man Bluf has produced most of the beats on my releases so far. The first album had a few features, including Swedish artists Cleo and Trainspotters, Finnish rapper Ekow and singers Amie and Anton. "Detention" only had one feature, my man Cstar.

Among your tracks there are those that are strictly sustained in the style of the boom bap of the 90s. But there are also tracks with modern sound. How do you put these genres together and what styles of modern rap are you deliberately avoiding in your work?

I listen to a lot of different styles from different eras, but the 90's/boom bap ish is definitely closest to me. I like to mix it up and try different styles, but I always approach the the track with the same attitude, which is going all in. A lot of the new stuff these days is very dope production wise, but too often the rapping/singing is just wack. There's really no style I avoid as far as the sound goes, but let's just say you're not gonna hear me mumbling on records.

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Tell us about your video clips. Do you try to reflect together with the classical hip-hop video scenes also some specificity of culture and life in Finland?

Most of my videos were influenced by classic hip-hop videos, adding a little twist of our own, of course. The scenery sometimes captures the beauty of Finland, but so far I haven't tried to make anything specifically Finnish.

You collaborated with artists from Sweden, Estonia, France and Russia. Tell us about the joint work.

I collaborated with Trainspotters and Cleo from Sweden for my first album. I had been a fan o their music for a while and it was a blessing to get to work with them. We have kept in touch with Trainspotters and toured together in Finland and Estonia, and I also visited their hometown UmeĂĽ for a show a few years ago.

I've performed in Estonia several times and collaborated with local groups 5Loops and Manipulated Mindz. Great guys that make awesome music!

We did a short tour in Russia a couple years ago where we visited Vyborg and St. Petersburg. It was a great experience and I would love to go back! Promotors and artists in Russia, hit me up! (smiles) The French connection is my latest collaboration outside of Finland. I'm working closely with the Paris-based label Tomawack. We are making music together and I performed there in October. Right now we're booking a tour in France for September, and Tomawack-artist Komo Sarcani is visiting Finland for a couple of shows in July.

If we compare rap in these countries, which scene stands out most and why?

I've only had good experiences in these countries and look forward to visiting each of them again. I wanna give a special shoutout to Estonia though. A small country with a great local hip-hop scene, and that classic boom bap sound is very much alive and well. The love we get everytime we visit is amazing!

Tell us about the JBH-Productions label that you represent. What other artists are subscribed to this label?

The label is ruled by my longtime producer Bluf and myself. So far we've only released my albums and singles, but Bluf is also working with some other artists every now and then. Mostly it's just a way for us to do our own thing and stay in control of what we do. Maybe some day we'll put out music by other artists as well, we'll see.

You also worked with the French label Tomawack.

What joint tracks you released or planrelease?

We made my upcoming album's first single "Turn It Up" together. Abraham Lilson, who is signed to Tomawack, produced the track and we filmed the music video in Paris.

We're cooking up something new as well, but I won't reveal what just yet. Other than that we have the tours I mentioned coming up.

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Your concerts are organized by Rockin Hot Mama Agency. How developed is the market for concert agencies in Finland?

It's looking good at the moment. You have the big juggernauts who handle the bigger shows, but lately there is been more smaller companies that book very interesting acts and organize really good events.

How does the Finnish audience refer to concerts and artists – do people more interest in famous "stars", or concerts of young artists in small clubs are also popular?

It varies a lot, but in general I think the scene is pretty well balanced, and there's room for upcoming artists alongside the bigger names. There's basically at least a couple of hip-hop parties in Helsinki alone every week, so there's a lot to choose from.

Now you are working on the third solo album. Tell us

about it. What important topics did you touch in the tracks of this plate? How does it reflect your personal growth as an MC? The sound is similar to my my last album, "Detention", meaning a lot of boom bap mixed with some more modern sounds. As far as the lyrics go I'm still very punchline oriented, but I also touch on some personal things as well as some global topics. There's definitely some bangers on there but some songs that will make you think as well, so it feels like a good mix.

You released some singles and clips before the album's release. How else are you going to promote this release?

Yeah, we've released 2 singles so far and there will definitely be one more before the album is out. Other than that we're gonna use all the contacts we have to get the album heard as far and wide (and loud) as possible. We have some new merchandize coming up as well.

http://www.jbh-productions.com https://soundcloud.com/jag-music https://www.instagram.com/emceejag https://www.facebook.com/jagofficial https://www.youtube.com/user/JBHProductionsFIN 007

The role of mixtapes in the popularization of music of the twentieth century is enormous. In the US, many journalists call mixtape the most popular form of American music distribution. Musical corporations were sayng about death of the mixtape, promised to destroy it with bans and systems to protect music from copying.

Retrogrades frightened of Internet technology and were crying about the mixtape's death. But it is alive. Moreover, it adapts to every era, from the epic of magnetic cassettes to the time of files transfer on the network.

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Their birth mixtapes are obliged Phillips corporation, who first introduced the audio cassette at the Berlin Radio Exhibition in 1963. The truth at that time, this technology looked very poor. Its problem was monophonic sound, more suitable for recording on a dictaphone, rather than for replicating albums. But technologies in the modern world does not stand still, and for several years the quality of cassettes has grown substantially. The connoisseurs of sound still treated them skeptically, preferring vinyl or coil multichannel stereo tape recorders. But the price of cassettes, their compact size and ease of use have done their job. In the late 70's thousands mixtapes began to appear. They were made by fans of music, radio DJs and DJs in clubs.

It would seem what the problem to make a compilation of your favorite songs? But in practice the creation of mixtapes required special skill of working with a tape recorder. It was necessary to press the pause correct so that no clicks were heard on the recording. The duration of the mix had to be calculated perfectly, so as not to leave a blank space at the end of the tape, and the very logic of selecting

songs from a good mixtape did not differ from the professional DJ set – the compositions had to be combined with each other, creating a single atmosphere.

The history of mixtapes is rich in bright pages on both sides of the Atlantic. In Europe, mixtapes have been and continue to be an important way of promoting electronic music. Since the beginning of the 1980s, some Berlin radio stations have been producing mixtapes with independent music.

In the USA, of course, the mixtape is strongly associated with hip-hop culture. And it is not surprising, because the fathers of hip-hop, Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, Kool Herc and DJ Hollywood did mixtapes of their own sets.

True, there is another version that they, on the contrary, tried in every possible way to prevent the release of mixtapes, believing that this will kill their live shows. And according to this version their mixtapes were the result of the pirates' work. As it was in reality, only the hip-hop coryphae themselves can say.

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But the fact is that in the late 70's many hip-hop DJs were already selling their tapes. They were distributed by taxi drivers, and fans rewritten it each other, increasing the fame of DJs. Supporters of the version that Bam, Flash and Herc wrote their mixtapes themselves, say about the good quality of such records made from the remote, but not from the cassette to the cassette. They also note the considerable price of such mixes. On it the DJ could earn up to 70 bucks.

In the early 80's, DJ Brucie B contributed the development of mixtapes. He began to record live music on tapes with mixes. Also DJs Kid Capri and Doo Wop became famous for their mixtapes, and Ron G, who in the early 90's created popular today mashup mixes, when one style connects to another. In his case, it was R&B acappella in combination with hiphop beats. The era of the flourishing of the mcing spawned an avalanche of freestyle mixtapes, where the MCs rapping with completely different, often alien, beats.

This formed the vision of mixtape in hip-hop, as a release with "controversial" rights. That is, if in a fulllength album all samples are taken only by agreement with the authors of the songs, from which these samples were cut, then on mixtapes this is often not

paid attention. As well as the use of other people's beats is normal on mixtapes. The tracks of these releases can be freestyle, remixes and just short sketches from one verse. Such "raw" releases found their fans, thanks to their natural atmosphere. And, of course, thanks to the fact that mixtapes are now available for free download and used by artists as promo releases before the albums. There are, of course, exceptions in the form of paid mixtapes, but still they are rare.

With the advent of the CD era, many people predicted mixtape death. However, they not only did not die, but also continued to develop. As in the old times when they shared music on cassettes, they began share their favorite music on CDs. In the United States, even whole correspondence clubs were created, the participants of which mailed out discs with mixtapes to each other.

The era of the Internet, it seemed, certainly had to kill the mixtape. Why is it needed when you can just listen to playlists or individual tracks on social networks, special applications, and simply in any media player?

But this did not become a threat to mixtape. He lives and the number of daily produced mixtapes only increases.

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It is very easy to explain this. Mixtape is not just a collection of tracks. This is creativity. The creativity of the music lover, who selects the best music, thinks about how to combine it into a single album, and as a result creates a completely new audio release, which for an hour immerses the listener in their own emotional world. So the mixtape artist not only shares music with other music lovers, but also gives them a part of his love of art. And this can not be killed by any technology. And each technical innovation only opens up new opportunities for listeners of music.

A lot of books have been written about the role of the mixtape. Among fiction books, in which the authors discuss mixtapes, it is worth recalling the Nick Hornby's book "High Fidelity". And among nonfiction is a magnificent research of "Mix Tape: The Art of Cassette Culture", the authorship of Thurston Moore.

Turn on your favorite mixtape and enjoy these wonderful books. And maybe it will inspire you to your own creativity. After all, you probably collect your favorite music during many years and you have something to share with other music lovers...

Websites about mixtapes: http://www.artofthemix.org http://crabwalk.com http://www.datpiff.com http://www.livemixtapes.com https://www.spinrilla.com http://crackmixtapes.com http://mixtapewall.com 011

The duo MF & Varzan became known to many in 2012, after the success at the "Rap Music" festival. Over the past five years, the band has released several joint and solo releases, performed at many festivals, and changed their own style of sound. About rap in Belarus, personal experience, development and outlook on the future, we talked with the participants of the duo.

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You stayed known a few years ago, having won at the Rap Music Festival. What that victory gave you? How much is this festival really important today, when the new generation of listeners have new "idols" and they climbed up through the Internet, rather than the fest?

Hello from Belarus! Yes, we took part in this festival, took the second place between crews, and also Varzan won the "Best MC" nomination. The victory at that time gave us, perhaps, the most important thing – confidence in what we are doing. And then the rest came: inspiration, new acquaintances, some kind of unique contribution to history, various trips to concerts and our performances there.

We believe that this festival is important now, at least thanks to its rich history. The many of its participants today have become very popular performers. After all, the festival has been more than 20 years old!

Of course, the Internet and advertising do their business, and if you also have a good capital, then everything becomes simple. But we think that MC should try himself on the stage, and this festival is exactly the place! So, to all who are now at the beginning of the music journey, and not only, we advise you to try your hand at "Rap Music" festival!

How did the duo MF & Varzan develop after "Rap Music" festival? How did your creativity change?

Let's say right away, we have not "bombed" yet. A lot of things slowed us down after "Rap Music": Varzan was drafted into the army, MF became a father. You understand, this is life, and you have to work besides everything else. The development was and is our goal, we took part in various festivals and interesting projects: "I'm a legend" – a festival in St. Petersburg, "Vapexpo 2016" – a fest with official refereeing by Basta, where MF won. Also, according to the version of the Belarusian award ceremony in the field of street culture STREET AWARDS, we received a prize in the nomination "Debut of the Year". In addition, our duet was a member of the famous Internet project "Meat Mincer" (issues 70 and 123). By the way, solo we took part in the "9th official Battle of Hip-Hop.ru", where Varzan reached the second round, and MF to the 4th.

Now we are actively working, both on joint projects and solo projects, we are performing with the composition of live musicians, and we are preparing an interesting new program. Today the style of our music has changed, and it seems to us that this is the right way!

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Belarusian rap, in your opinion, has been developing in recent years? Does it acquire its own identity or, on the contrary, lose it in the "eternal" shadow of Russian rap?

In our opinion, it has always been original and qualitative, and it is not entirely correct to say that it was in the shadows. It's just that in our country everything is arranged differently. In Russia, rap reaches a higher and qualitative level, and this applies to both the performers themselves and their audience.

In Belarus in this plan is difficult situation, because very few people need it. By the way, our statistics show that listeners from Russia are more interested in our work, and happy with our successes than Belarusians.

But, despite this Belarusian MCs do a really highquality product, which without problems will create competition for many eminent Russian performers.

were created as a joke and a play on words.

The main theme of the tracks of the past was everyday life: work, music, parties, life problems. We wrote, so to speak, music about music, about its influence on us and our views. It is difficult to called one strictly serious release. Probably, it's Varzan's EP "Density".

As for MF, in his opinion, this is an underrated track called "Call of Nature" from the 4th round of the "9th official Battle Hip-Hop.ru" and the track "Follow Me", which in the near future will be re-released with the new beat with a fundamentally new sound. In general, in the new, still unreleased material, there are really powerful tracks. Well, if we talk about funny tracks, there are MF's tracks as "HDMM" and "Understand me correctly", as well as "Tarantino" and "Talk about True" from Varzan. We are now preparing serious and high-quality tracks, but more on this later.

In a duet, each MC should be recognized. And you succeed. How would you describe your own flow?

What links your styles together?

Yes, we are really quite easy to recognize. The difference of our styles unites us, creating harmony and own sound. We always understand each other; we know what each of us wants to convey. Perhaps this is because we are best friends and constantly communicate. Therefore, we never have any special problems in joint creativity. We always find a compromise. Previously, we pursued the abstract sound, complicating the tasks for ourselves and our public, both with the semantic load and the technicality of the flow. Now we have changed the guidelines a little, and we are focusing more on simplicity and accessibility to the listener, while trying to remain the same duo, with the same ideological core! We experiment and firmly believe that this is for the better (smile).

Released last year, EP "In Da City" is quality sound and connection with the classical hip-hop. Tell us about this release.

This release was compiled from various tracks recorded in different years and associated with different events. With some of them we won at festivals and performed at concerts. All this was before the studio recording. And at some point we realized that this should be written down and conveyed to a wider audience. So we started recording "In Da City". In it, we tried to convey the whole mood of street life, the problems that surround us, and the ideas that make us grow and move on!

If we talk about the topics of lyrics – what is reflected in your tracks? What tracks would you call the most serious, and which, on the contrary, 014

The level of studio recording and access to it in recent years has grown significantly. Almost no one is releasing tracks without mixing. But how much does it really make our rap better? After all, without the ideas of technology can create a highquality, but empty and uninteresting track.

Here, as it seems to us, everything is ambiguous. On the one hand, really tracks with professional mixing and mastering, but without a soul will remain dead.

On the other hand, it's no secret that the big part of modern music is just a beautiful wrapper with a poorquality product inside. And here the matter is rather in the listener – many trite do not want to search in the tracks for any essence, to delve into someone's thoughts, or listen to the manner of performance. For the many people it will be enough that the track stupidly makes you move into rhythm. Therefore today in the music market as a whole the situation is such that the artists and their managers emphasize the quality sound and primitiveness in the lyrics. In general, we believe that everything should be done at the highest possible level. The track in fact includes many components: music, lyrics, voice, performance and mixing. And that the product turned out really high-quality, everything should be at the proper level

and without hackwork, because it can spoil the whole impression of the track. It does not matter that your opportunities are limited. You must try to squeeze the maximum out of mix, maximum self-feedback from the microphone in a performance. And when you write lyrics, it is not necessary to think narrowly, you need to express your thoughts on the topic as freely and fully as possible. Then, in our understanding, we will get a really good track. Although, of course, of all the rules there are exceptions (smile).

Returning to the topic of live performances – how often do you manage to perform? Is this sphere developing in Belarus? And how does your experience of stage performances develop?

In process of incoming offers we try to always take part in concerts. And, not always it is a question of a fee. Our conditions are more than loyal, and are often limited to pay for travel tickets and minimum remuneration. Now we have problems with management, so everything is a bit complicated. With the man who has organized our concerts before, we broke up due to misunderstandings. And while we do not able to find a worthy substitute, so we organize our live show themselves.

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In general, we often organize our parties, which, despite the small population of our city, gather people no less than the capital's parties.

By the way, the question of concerts in Belarus as a whole is pretty sick – there are very few parties of this format, and they are either frankly "rotten" or with a lot of nuances that spoil the impression of them, or they are in generally half-empty halls. If you do not talk about eminent guests, only a few performers here gather a lot of people at their concerts, and this really depresses. In general, attitude of many people is rather strange. There was one characteristic case. At one of our parties, we invited already well-known at the time Murovey. And we offered one our friend to come on the party. He said: "Well, Murovey is good MC, but he is a Belarusian, I cannot take my own people seriously." It was shocking. Moreover, there is a feeling that many people share this opinion. For example, with that opinion many popular Russian

MCs couldn't be famous!

Touching on the topic of the experience, as we have already said, now we are actively working with "live" music of the friendly band. This is a very interesting experience, and we "matured" to it after a long time, but it really is worth it. It demand great responsibility, high level of self-criticism, but the final sound of the tracks is something really incredible!

Do you plan to release a new album? What are you working on now?

Yes, certainly, and not one! We will repeat that we have many joint and solo projects. Now we are working on individual tracks, but soon we will start do the album. We also plan to shoot a number of video clips. And of course there will be many performances with live music and new sound.

https://vk.com/mf_varzan https://soundcloud.com/mf_varzan/ https://twitter.com/mf_varzan http://bit.ly/2qLfJW3 016

At the heart of hip-hop was an experiment. This experiment was spontaneous and natural. And the founders of culture always told about this. It's no wonder that during long history hip-hop has changed a lot. Thanks to the constant search for the new and influenced by the surrounding world. What changes have become key for hip-hop?

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From entertainment to the message One of the key events in hip-hop history was the complication of his lyrics. The form of MC's lyrics began to change in the 80s, and the rhymed party cribs were replaced by detailed lyrics. One of the people who turned the tide was Kool Mo Dee. Although attempts to write more complex lyrics were before, it was Kool Mo Dee who made this approach to lyric poetry popular.

This gave impetus to the development of hip-hop lyrics to the level of MCs' narratives in the 90s.

Beatmakers and composers Sampling is the basis of hip-hop music. With this it is impossible to argue. But how it do the guardians of traditions – limit hip-hop music only by sampling is hardly reasonable. The creation of hip-hop music "from zero" opened the way to it for many talented composers. Firstly, this principle of work was more understandable for them than the search for samples.

On the other hand, it is more interested for them. This is especially evident at the junction of different genres with hip-hop music.

From the streets to the lofts Throughout most of its history, hip-hop strictly kept the image of street music. This were stories about the streets, sound from the streets, which were made by

people from the streets for their fellows. However, already in the late 80's it was clear that this situation would change. Teenagers from rich families liked listen to "music of gangsters," but hip-hop became more and more popular in American pop culture, and the need to combine this music with the intellectual component in lyrics and aesthetics became more and more obvious.

About the first attempts can be argued for a long time, because already in the 80's with hip-hop experimented and jazzmen, and rockers, and just avant-garde musicians. But it was in the 90's that the development of intellectual hip-hop began, in which there was not a word about guns and wheelbarrows, but there were many abstract poetic images. Over time, numerous variations of this hip-hop settled in studios and cafes in the lofts of the bohemian neighborhoods. So hip-hop became a full member of the avant-garde culture.

Disintegration of elements United at the beginning, now hip-hop culture only nominally unites all its "children": graffiti, breaking, mcing and djing. And even the fifth element, knowledge, which in theory should act as a connecting link for the other four, in practice often turns into a set of slogans and very diverse ideas, interesting to a narrow circle of connoisseurs.

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If the MCs and DJs are still connected to each other due to the natural proximity of these elements, the bboys and bgirls are only associated with that part of hip-hop music that is suitable for the dance. And many graffiti writers have completely disappeared from this culture, being connected more with contemporary fine arts than strictly with the subculture of hip-hop.

This process is logical. And it is unlikely to be able to collect all these very different cultures together, except within the framework of specific festivals. Moreover, each of them has already created many branches.

Role of the DJ At the dawn of hip-hop, the DJ was the undisputed king of this culture. He united everyone around him, except for writers. But those, as a rule, did not miss parties, in the center of which there was a DJ. With the development of beatmaking and the complication of mcing, the role of the DJ began to go into the background.

The most talented and ambitious developed their skills to astounding heights by creating turntablism, what became a separate subculture based on the battles between these virtuosos. The rest DJs remained collectors and selectors of good music at parties and in radio programs. Partially DJs returned with the arrival of trap music and other sub-genres of hip-hop, focused on clubs and dances. But the greatness of the kings of the turntables did not return to the full.

Positive and negative Calls for peace and a positive rethinking of themselves in hip-hop already in the 70s came across a brutal reality. At the same time, cruelty was based not only on poverty, but also on adolescents raised in these conditions who were engaged in a stupid war for territory. We must pay tribute to hip-hop. Although he did not stop this war, because it was not in his power to change the reality, but at least reduced its intensity. Nevertheless, being a culture created by real life, it could not turn into a fantasy, separated from drugs, violence and crime. It was all in hip-hop throughout its history. But this topic became a main with the rise of gangsta rap in the late 80's. And this moment became a turning point in the history of hip-hop. The whole image of a cheerful and carefree party culture from the ghetto gone in the shadow of stories about money, power and gangs. One liked this action, others saw themselves in it, somebodies got money from it. But there were also those who saw in this the degradation of culture. Is it real? The concepts of development and degradation are often linked. After all, life itself is contradictory. And it is hardly possible to talk seriously about development based on ignoring the negative reality. In other words – the appearance and rise of the gangsta rap was inevitable. But this does not negate the problems that he brought with him, as well as the achievements in the development of hip-hop music. And this once again shows the complexity of life, even in its reflection in music.

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Pop culture Hip-hop has long been a part of popular culture. But if in the late 80's it was perceived as a temporary popularity, and hip-hop itself was more of a alien interspersing in the existing culture, today it penetrated into it very deeply. You can see the reflection of hip-hop in movies, fashion, online memes, design, children's toys and many other things that are not directly connected with it. In this case, hip-hop itself often appears unintentionally, being taken from some ordinary things, in which it also happened by accident. This means that it has become an established element of pop culture. If we talk about the musical side of this culture – hip-hop is everywhere in it.

Fashion Hip-hop style has been constantly changing. Each epoch brought its own trends. The most important thing in this process, perhaps, is that along with "carnival" costumes and "status" sets of things, hip-hop culture has created a lot of very simple and convenient styles that remain relevant in any era and even for people, which are far away from the culture of hip-hop.

The global scale The spread of hip-hop around the world has led not only

to its popularization, but also to various ambiguous processes. On the one hand, the process of imitation of the American original in different countries led to completely different results. Somewhere, it was still a subcultural game. Somewhere it lost all connection with the roots and only remotely resembles the original. And somewhere really original subgenres of hip-hop were created, which connected the classics with local realities. In any case, the culture of hip-hop itself has received new blood and has become diverse, thanks to a meeting with regional and national cultures of different corners of the planet.

Borders Does hip-hop have boundaries? It seems to be limited to its elements. But these elements develop, accumulating many experimental branches. And so their borders are very conditional. Yes, classical hip-hop has borders.

They are concrete and ossified, fenced with walls of tradition. But all other aspects of this culture have no borders, even a single direction of development. And this proves that in the future we will see many more changes in hip-hop culture. And also a lot of controversy about whether all this is hip-hop or connected with it only in words.

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DJ Wizz is talented DJ from US city Rochester. He has experience in work with many different genres, which he presents for people in the clubs and in his mixes in the Internet. DJ Wizz told us about hiphop and other styles, modern and old music and about that how people of different ages perceive those styles.

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You play different hip-hop in your sets. How does the old and new school blend on the dance floor of modern clubs? How are they perceived by listeners of different ages?

It really depends on the audience and age group the club promotes. For example if the club is known or promotes to a diverse crowd they appreciate all kinds of music and I'd have more advantage to give them a unique experience taking them through different eras of music with my unique touch! Leaning toward a more urban crowd, the old and new music can't have a huge distance between the eras! A younger crowd really wants to hear the most popular songs and really don't have that much patience for older music!

They tend to be on top of everything new whether it's on the radio or YouTube.

Dance culture and hip-hop have always been closely related, but never coincided. Not all hip-hop hits are created for clubs. Many tracks carry a message, but are not suitable for dancing. Today, popular hip-hop, on the contrary, increasingly becomes club music akin to dance electronics. What do you think it is a temporary process or the gap between conscious hip-hop and hip-hop for the dance will only grow?

I feel it has potential to grow. It depends on the artists coming up with unique ways to get their message across and keep their audience dancing, I personally believe it's in production, anyone will dance to a nice tempo beat and adhere to the message of the track.

Tell us about the club scene in Rochester.

The Club Scene in Rochester is divided! The many clubs are centrally located in one area, where you can spin multiple genres of music and everyone has fun, but the urban scene is

predominately hip-hop and reggae. You can't rock a night in the urban scene without playing a good balance of both.

DJing is an art, but it can also become a daily routine for a DJ who earns money for life by performances in clubs.

How to avoid losing inspiration and not turn into a person who just puts hits for the audience on the dance floor?

That depends on the individual. If your passion is music and its in your heart you don't lose focus, a little weary but you're still inspired. I focus heavily on perfecting my craft to NOT sound like other djs, I pride myself on keeping that distance.

You'll know a DJ Wizz set when you hear it. I make it with exciting art.

Previously, mixes of DJs were transmitted from hand to hand on tapes. But situation changed and people are not interesting it as before. On the contrary, the DJ needs to provide his mixes in the stream of Internet releases. How did this change the DJs approach to recording mixtapes?

The approach shouldn't change just because the delivery methods have. You put your best mix forward ALWAYS and believe it or not there are still a small percent that STILL prefer mixtapes/cds, not the files in computer.

At the dawn of hip-hop, the DJ was at the center of this culture, but then his place was occupied by the MC. Now with the era of trap music, DJs have regained some of their roles, but that's a completely different music. How do you assess this change of roles in hip-hop DJing?

I feel the roles have never changed the MC just became more visual than the DJ! the DJ STILL play an important role, whether it's trap, hip-hop and other genres.

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What is the specificity of the distribution of trap music in your region?

Trap music is everywhere the same as all other genres, because technology has made it possible for anyone to distribute and access all kinds of music from anywhere in the world. I think most if not all regions are the same in that regard.

What is the innovation of modern hip-hop DJs? Did the DJing technique stop in development?

This is one word – technology. It helps and hurts the culture!

God send it to the seasoned djs, but the newer djs have no patience in learning the technique of deejaying when they can just buy a laptop, controller with software that'll mix, & sync your music for you. Yes, it slowed the development but it'll never stop it!

You not only play music, but also make your own beats.

Tell us about them.

My beats are different. Some of them are in boom bap style, mostly original, some have samples, some haven't it, and others are up-tempo high energy beats.

If we compare production and DJing – Is a good DJ always a good producer?

Not necessarily, djing and production are cousins and you'll tend to like one more than the other. So you're gonna be better at one than the other but trying to maintain both is difficult. You'll lose touch of one of them.

What kind of mixes are you working on now and what are your plans for the future?

Well, I make a lot of different mixes in such genres as trap, old school hip-hop, r&b, jungle, reggae, but now I'm working on some breakbeat mixes and I plan to keep putting out good music in future and help people know about the hip-hop history, as far as what samples came from where and the history of the DJ.

https://www.instagram.com/djwizz https://www.facebook.com/DjWizzz https://soundcloud.com/wizz-the-waxxkutta https://www.mixcloud.com/djwizzthewaxxkutta 023

What unites hip-hop and sports? With professional sports hip-hop have a little common. If you do not consider their union of the use of rap music in soundtracks for matches, films and computer games about sports. But after all, sport is not only an entertainment industry with multi-million dollar investments. There is also its non-commercial side. Millions of people on the cities' streets around the world play basketball, workout, get pleasure from it and develop themselves. This street sport unites with hip-hop by its origin and spirit.

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Of course, the USA example in this area is the brightest. Street sport there is elevated to the rank of religion in this country. There are thousands of fanatics who have dedicated their lives to basketball or street workout and millions of people of all ages, for whom this is a familiar and enjoyable way to spend time. And, of course, in the forefront of this movement are the poor areas of American megacities. It's hard to find a street hip-hop video, in the frame of which there will not be a basketball court. Workout competitions take place in all city parks and unite hundreds of participants. A video with impressive athletes' exercises collects millions of views on YouTube. And in most of their soundtracks sounds rap.

It is simple to explain, because the cult of a strong body on the streets has always been popular, and now it is popular also thanks to the advertising of the fitness industry. Basketball at all is the national game of Americans. On the popularity of this sport with the United States, perhaps, only Lithuania, and maybe a couple of other countries of the world, can be compared. That is why street sports and street hip-hop

culture were inextricably linked from the time of their appearance. For this, it was not necessary to create artificial tournaments and "federations" under the aegis of the state. This directive way, which is very beloved in the countries of the former USSR and other regions with authoritarian political culture, leads only to ridicule both street sports and street culture, because the word "street" in all these projects is nothing more than an advertising prefix.

The Americans proved that it is not the intervention of officials and the inflating of the importance of sport that make it successful and in demand. On the contrary, professional sports develops when it is a commercial sphere of activity. After all, this is just entertainment, and not a guarantee of the development and prosperity of society. Entertainment should not be financed by our taxes. But health is really an important item of budget expenditures. And nonprofessional sports, children's sports is an important factor in improving people's health. What it takes to its develop? Not so much – to create sports grounds and gives enthusiasts freedom of action.

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Now in one New York there are more than 2000 basketball courts, thousands of local amateur teams and regular championships that gather crowds of spectators. A professional sport in this plays only the role of a symbol, an ideal that sets the level of the game, that inspires teens. And it turns out that in this system there are no contradictions and superfluous players. Some earn money on "big" sports. Others enjoy sports on the streets, where there are no contracts and advertising tinsel. But there is love and self-development. And this self-development unites such a sport with hip-hop. Not without reason, Universal Zulu Nation also participated in the organization of the workout championships, emphasizing the connection between all forms of street culture.

America in this area is a good example for imitation.

True, in our region other sports are popular, and the very specificity of our life forms a completely different attitude to the "game." Sport that does not bring money is perceived no more than a child game, and its enthusiasts, like any other enthusiast, find it difficult to find a common language with the surrounding community. Therefore, we rarely see people over 20 at our sport venues, we practically do

not know about spontaneous amateur championships, and for their organization in the thinking of most people, an official is needed who will give permission for this. So in hip-hop here, many people are ruled by a certain "king" who shows what to do and how to do it.

These "kings" create many "super organizations" that only create false fame around themselves.

Many American movies are trying to convey the atmosphere of street sports and its connection with professional sports. Perhaps more interesting than Hollywood blockbusters will be three documentary films that are worth seeing to anyone who wants to understand why and how sport in the streets of the United States has become an important part of the lives of millions of people. These movies are "Hood Dreams", "Soul In The Hole" and "Doin' It In The Park". From the feature films is the emotional picture of the rise and fall of Earl Manigault "Rebound – The legend of the Earl the 'goat' Manigault". This movie is especially impressive.

The atmosphere of freedom that makes hip-hop a culture and way of life, and not just a set of momentary entertainment, also makes street sports a culture. And so it can change your life!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qesEVaeXl6Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMPJouBxk0M 026

Ziv Lahat is open minded artist. His art was formed influenced by many cultures and art genres. Ziv Lahat's art find its place on many things – from canvas and covers for music albums to sneakers and clothes. Important moment is that his art harmoniously combine with everyday life and modern mass culture.

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You work immediately in several areas of fine arts. What led you to these areas?

I always wanted to bring my own creativity that I love and to explain to people what I love and where my inspiration, that I took it is. It can be from Tribal art to Lowbrow art to Urban art and all of this mixed together and you'll understand what are my areas that I love to create and to draw.

Your works were published in many magazines, and also you had several exhibitions in different countries. Tell us about cooperation with magazines and exhibition places.

I'm always pushed myself higher in early age. I told me that if I won't contact people, magazines, brands and galleries how people will know me and my art.

I started to contact magazines and galleries that I love and admire. They have loved that I do and it was awesome to be part of it. On my side it's a publicity of my art and for them it's another level of creativity.

I'm always thinking it's a good way that people will discover new person and talent. If we can share it with the world why not? Because I believed in this idea I started to contact them to be part of their world.

European art is booming. On the one hand, this opens up new opportunities for artists, and on the other, it raises the level of competition. How difficult is it for a young

artist in Europe to gain recognition, to organize his exhibitions and, finally, to earn money for life by his own creativity?

Well it's really hard to be a young artist with those talents that are in our world.

First of all you should push yourself hard and to draw a lot that people will see you and you must not afraid contacting sponsors, galleries, press and brands.

For a young artist that don't have a lot of money can't have his own exhibition just if he thinks that he can bring a lot of lights and new creativity to those persons that will love it.

I'm working hard on my social network that people around the world will know and I working hard to have sponsors that I can do solo exhibitions in our world and gain money for life with it.

Modern art has long ceased to be strictly separated from everyday life. It penetrated all spheres of mass culture.

What it gave a global human culture and how this process affected on the art?

I think people are always searching for new art but the situation it's a little bit hard because most of the people aren't open minded to understand what art means for people that are drawing, sculpting, tattooing, cooking etc‌ I think if you create something special more people will understand you if they want too.

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What is the modern art education in European universities? What is the most important thing it gives to artists?

Art education learn us to gain money, to work on your social network and to do what all people are doing (like in my university, that I studied, they always said to me you should create something mainstream and not something special that you believe in).

I think the most important things that art universities brings to artists – to be more mainstream, to work hard on your portfolio and to work on your social network.

Tell us about the characters that you create. How appear their unusual images?

When I create my characters I'm always thinking about what I love. I want that people will understand what my universe is. I'm always searching how I can mix my inspiration with all what I love together. For example you see a Rasta person with tattoo on his body; he drinking from a tiki mug, sitting on a beach, near with soundsystem and he touch of surfboard and hot rods too‌ It's my universe!

In many of them we can see your interest in the

animation culture. What animation really inspires you?

There are manga, comics, "Asterix and Obelix", old Disney movies, graffiti, Ed Roth's comics and Ukiyo-e art.

Fantasy and reality in art – how should they be combined, so as not to turn the art into a heap of disharmonious elements?

They could combine when you put a little touch on it, but not a bigger. I think that each artist want his art have a harmonies with all the elements that he or she puts together.

Does the artist's imagination have boundaries?

No, I don't think that an artist imagination have boundaries.

Musicians have long needed designers. A good cover attracts listeners to the album and helps it to stand out among thousands of other records. Do designers and painters need music? Why is it important for artists?

Yes, I think they should love music because music is a huge inspiration in our world. On my opinion you can always find a music that you will love and that help you create your art.

Like on my side in each art you can find what music I listened to it or imagine on it.

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You are interested in many styles of music. Different subcultures form their own aesthetics. How do these differences combine in your art? Do you try to dedicate each work to one culture and one style of music or combine several of them in one picture?

I'm a multicultural man. I love many things. I'm always searching how I can combine all what I love together on one picture. Sometimes you can see that I put 3 or 4 things together, but dedicate to a unique genre. But most of my arts are combination of different genres and cultures.

You also design clothes and shoes. Tell us about it.

I studied fashion design in ESMOD Paris, I had a company of customizing sneakers for private clients and for a concept shops too. I did a few collections for a few brands in Europe and especially in Paris. I'm always searching for collaboration with the fashion industry to work on collection or private collections too.

Small clothing labels in Europe are only creative projects or full-fledged competitors for large corporations?

Small clothing labels in Europe have just creative projects.

They don't have the money to gain like the big labels. They can't competitors with the big labels, but always searching possibilities to collaborate with big companies and maybe to grow after that.

The culture of snickers during a few decades conquered the world. Tell us about your preferences in this shoe and about your work in its design.

My preference is more sneakers because I love to draw and to create on them stuff, to put leather, textiles or to draw with

markers and paint with spray cans. For me it's the same as my art that I create always mixed what I love together but on sneakers I was always focused on 3 themes because you can do a lot of thing on a little space.

How graffiti and hip-hop culture in general affected you? How does it affect now?

I always love this culture from early age. I was one of the pioneer that brought to Israel they Hip-hop culture, it's affected me and help me be not shy and to be open mind.

Now it makes my art bigger when I listen to classic old school hip-hop and create my own art.

What is the interest of modern hip-hop from the point of view of fine art?

The point of view of fine art in modern hip-hop scene is interesting graphics, freestyle and characteristic.

What projects are you working on now?

I'm working on some projects with a few companies. There are designing a bag and wallet collection with a French brand, a sneaker design with a brand, making a tiki mug, designed a skateboard decks, a cover albums design for a soundsystems and bands and to be exhibit in a few exhibitions.

How do you see your own art in the future? In which direction do you see the development of your own style?

I want to see my own art growing in difference directions (press, galleries, brands etc.) and people will understand who I'm and what I love to create.

I want search for more new techniques in art. And I will work hard on my social network more and more (smile).

www.zivlahatart.com https://www.twitter.com/zivlahatart https://www.facebook.com/ZivLahatBlog https://www.instagram.com/ziv_lahat_art 030

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DJ Quik & Problem - Rosecrans DJ Quik is cool because it changes with time, but never rushes to the extreme in pursuit of popular trends, and never forgets about his own style. Therefore, each of his albums sense the time, but stands out from the mass of the same releases of other producers. The result of collaboration with Problem became the dope album "Rosecrans". And I must say that MC sensed the soul of the DJ Quik's beats, making lyrics of the album harmonious and corresponding to his musical basis. https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/rosecrans/id1228968197

Organized Noize - Organized Noize There are melodic plus the classics. So you can describe the new mixtape of Organized Noize. It has a soul of old hiphop, emotionality and excellent rhythms. "Organized Noize" will be a great soundtrack for a summer day. https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/organizednoize/id1227107362 KRS-One - The World Is MIND Despite all the scandals with KRS-One and the conflicting attitude of many fans to it, Chris Parker's music still deserves the attention of every connoisseur of hip-hop. His new album predictably stylistically and thematically continues his predecessors. But it is not boring. It is not

boring, like many patterns of "new stuff", disguised by tradition. The album sounds brisk and bright. And KRSOne communicates its ideas to listeners. https://krsone.bandcamp.com/album/the-world-is-mind The Notorious B.I.G. & Faith Evans - The King & I This album was supposed to be released! Despite all the debates about posthumous albums, when the acapellas of the deceased MC are used to realization of the ideas of completely different artists, some such albums turn out to be very interesting. "The King & I" is just one of them. Faith Evans and her husband sound as if they had not been all these years since Bigi's murder. Beats, Faith's vocals, Bigi's voice and couplets of famous guests are all here to the point.

If this album were recorded in the 90's, many of these feats could not be, but today the war between the coasts is past.

Fans Bigi will be pleased, and someone will shed a tear for the past times of rap 90's. The orthodoxies, of course, will find many inconsistencies to the rap of those years, but the album was not planned as a return to that era. It's just a widow's album, in memory of her husband. And the emotions embedded in it are felt. https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-kingi/id1199923319

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Snoop Dogg - Neva Left Snoop in recent years has regained its former form. There was no trace left from the sad albums of the late 2000s. And every new release of Snoop now makes us wait and wonder what else he will come up with. And although Neva Left is not surprised by radical experiments, it pleases a diverse and high-quality hip-hop. Here you will find patterns of a classic from Snoop, and his modern sound. In general, the album will not make you bored. https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/nevaleft/id1229792933 The Age Of L.U.N.A - Coco The Age Of L.U.N.A is a hip-hop team from London.

Listen to this EP, and you will become their admirer! They definitely have a taste. This is melodious beautiful hip-hop, with a mid-tempo recitative and magnificent female vocals, which complements the picture, like a cherry on the cake! https://soundcloud.com/ageofluna Brother Ali - All The Beauty In This Whole Life This is very good alternative hip-hop. The instrumental part of the album breathes of life without "synthetics".

Everything from melodies and samples to drum parts sounds natural. There are no overloaded basses on the album, which would distract from the message of Brother Ali and his recitative. Sincerity sounds in the voice of this

MC. He does not shout, does not pressure the listener with aggressive intonations. He tells with conviction. And it makes you listen and believe him. https://brotherali.bandcamp.com/album/all-the-beautyin-this-whole-life Kool G Rap - Return of the Don "Return of the Don" is really the return of the legendary MC! It is very powerful album, in every track of which professional confidence is heard. Kool G Rap has not lost his skills, and makes us happy with new hits. And eminent guests help him in this. Everything is as usual, in the traditions of Kool G Rap and good old hip-hop from New York. https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/return-of-thedon/id1232016873 Rozewood - The Ghxst In The Mirror; Binary Ghxst Two albums of this original MC will appeal to fans of atmospheric and at the same time minimalistic hip-hop. It is not for nothing that the theme of space, ghosts and other supernatural phenomena plays an important role in the artworks and lyrics of the albums. Music corresponds to these images. This makes the albums non-standard, which is always attractive! https://rozewoodghxstgxd.bandcamp.com

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Komo Sarcani - Amour Noir With this album Komo Sarcani demonstrates modern French rap, which will be of interest to a wide range of listeners. Firstly, there are no standard copies of American trap music, which is common in popular French rappers in recent years. Secondly, "Amour Noir" did not remain in the past. It is a modern album with modern sound. But he proves that in order to sound modern, MC must not overwhelming the album with electronic music and crushing everything alive by basses. Everything should be in moderation and then you can really build a bridge between the classics of hip-hop and its modernity. Komo Sarcani did it!

He also managed to make the album diverse in mood.

And this is especially important for those who do not know French and will appreciate "Amour Noir", primarily on a musical and emotional level. The first track of the album, one of the best, immediately attracts the attention of the listener with its deep powerful melody. He seems to be preparing us for a serious and difficult conversation. Given that the album is largely autobiographical and reflects the complex issues of the history of African countries in recent decades, the immigration and interaction of African and French cultures, then such a beginning is entirely logical. But the whole album is not so

gloomy and heavy. And the mood from track to track varies.

This variety is also promoted by interesting rhythms in many tracks, guest couplets and talented arrangements. All this makes "Amour Noir" really worthy of your attention an example of quality French rap. h t t p s : / / i t u n e s . a p p l e . c o m / u s / a l b u m / a m o u rnoir/id1206845749 Keny Arkana - L'Esquisse 3 This is one of the best albums of 2017! He will definitely be in our top at the end of the year. Keny Arkana is always on top. Her charisma, her sense of music and beautiful lyrics make each her release a dessert that millions of listeners around the world enjoy for a long time. "L'Esquisse 3" became a bit more modern in sound, but kept everything that distinguishes the style of Keny. All tracks of the album are so harmoniously interconnected that there is a feeling of traveling without stops, so the album listens in one breath! http://smarturl.it/KenyArkanaLesquisse3?IQid=K Ae3

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Master P - Intelligent Hoodlum This Master P's mixtape will awaken nostalgia of many fans of the old dirty south. This is an old kind Master P, who knows a lot about the "canons" of the genre. The music of "Intelligent Hoodlum" has a minimum of any newfangled chips. In addition, the mixtape play not very long. So you will have time to enjoy it, but you will not have time to bore by it. http://www.datpiff.com/Master-P-Intelligent-Hoodlummixtape.846033.html Young M.A. - Herstory This MC attracted attention with its juicy recitative, simple videos, where she just hang out with friends and reads rap.

She is praised by eminent MCs. Her is compared to the classics of gangsta rap. And all predict her success. Of course, the album "Herstory" was expected by many listeners. And he should not disappoint them. The main thing that is in this record is emotional recitative of Young M.A., which captures its naturalness and is instantly remembered. But the musical component of the album pleases. These are modern beats that do not sound like a standard stamps, as often happens with young artists. https://itunes.apple.com/by/album/herstory/id1230265678

Young God - KRWU Instrumentals This instrumental album from the participant Blue Sky Black Death, like his other releases, is on top! From the first to the last track, "KRWU" captures the listener.

Atmospheric music sounds so great that it is difficult to distract from its melodies. They create a huge field for

imagination! And this is next step in the successful of Young God. https://iantaggart.bandcamp.com/album/krwuinstrumentals Bliss n Eso - Off the Grid Famous Australians returned with a new album. It sounds fresh and bright. This is a great example of alternative hiphop, which is not afraid to develop and experiment with related genres. http://blissneso.com Logic - Everybody The previous album of this MC was in the lists of many publications in the category of "best albums of the year". A new year has come, and a new album. It is also high-quality and original, with interesting lyrics and a single concept of sound. https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/everybody/id1221017 205 Skinny - Late Night Blvd This is interesting melodious EP with soft unhurried beats.

Young generation of hip-hop fans will like "Late Night Blvd". But from the album stands out the last track, sustained in the traditions of classical rap. The guest of this track is legendary Ice T! https://soundcloud.com/skinny/sets/late-night-blvd

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Joey Purp - iiiDrops This is an interesting release from the not yet well-known MC. Here you can hear the influence of classical hip-hop, but not less here also the modern sound. These elements are woven harmoniously, creating a good album by Joey Purp, which is worth listening to. https://soundcloud.com/joey-purp/sets/iiidrops Adlib - Primitive Tomorrow The new album Adlib attracts, in the first place, its vivid sound. It's a melodic yet powerful album. With this album you will not relax, on the contrary, "Primitive Tomorrow" will cheer you up! The admirers of Adlib will glad to this album. https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/primitivetomorrow/id1186369914 K a s t a - F o u r - H e a d e d Ye l l i n g ( К а с т а Четырёхглавый Орёт) Albums of the Kasta are a holiday for fans of quality rap in Russian. Especially because that such rap today is rare.

Kasta is interesting because she did not stay in the past, like many of her colleagues in the "veteran crew", and did not turn into "stars for teenagers", like other rap artists that are popular today in Russia.

"Four-Headed Yelling" album, without exaggeration, cool! The only its nuance is the junction in it of funny

jolly tracks with serious tracks with deep meaning. This, of course, makes the album diverse. But there is no harmony in the combination of these tracks, they are too different. And serious tracks, which is quite logical, turned out to be much more interesting. Especially bright (but not the only such!) are "Forward" and "New way".

They should be in all future collections of Kasta's the best.

And I would like to hope that in the future we will hear a lot of tracks in which Caste will talk about the surrounding reality with the criticism and sarcasm, that inherent this band. http://apple.co/2s4LZqZ MimO - Illusion (МимО - Иллюзион) MimO's new album is as usual melodic and beautiful. An imaginative and poetic lyrics in "Illusion" is related with literature and theater. And this, probably, is not accidental, because MimO is an actor. But with all kinship with previous albums, "Illusion" is distinguished by a great influence of jazz. The album is slower and calmer. This is a complete immersion in the author's inner world, a leisurely conversation with him, which will awaken your own feelings and thoughts about something important to you. https://vk.com/mimo_rap

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This list will appeal to fans of the old good sampled hip-hop. Here you will find a jazz light sound and a heavy hardcore. But each album stands out in its own way.

MF Grimm - American Hunger: Rebirth http://bit.ly/2rmGF15 Marco Polo - Baker's Dozen https://marcopolobeats.bandcamp.com/album/bakers-dozen-marco-polo DJ Rhettmatic - Rhett Got Beats https://rhettmatic.bandcamp.com/album/rhett-got-beats Molecules & Showbiz - A Bronx Tale https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/a-bronx-tale/id1227956888 Showbiz & A.G. - Take It Back EP http://bit.ly/2sABeJx Lost Boyz & Lords of The Underground - Lost Tapes (9th Wonder Presents) http://www.7thboro.com/9th-wonder-presents-lost-boyz-lords-underground-lost-tapes

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Junior Makhno - Party Discipline https://effiscienz.bandcamp.com/album/party-discipline Jakk Wonders - Forgotten Wonders https://www.audiomack.com/album/jakk-wonders/forgotten-wonders Dro Pesci - When I Blow Up Don't Show Up! Vol. 4 https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/a-bronx-tale/id1227956888 The Underachievers - Renaissance https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/renaissance/id1220285947 Jay Worthy & The Alchemist - Fantasy Island https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/fantasy-island/id1230227590 T-Rolla - The Storm https://alpconnect.bandcamp.com/album/the-storm

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We continue the review of books about hip-hop, which we started in the last issue of our magazine. These are a few completely different, but very interesting books about this culture.

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Tricia Rose - Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America This is one of the key and fundamental researches of rap music. Trisha Rose considers all of her aspects, appreciating how traditional African-American culture has blended into rap music with modern technologies. She analyzes in detail the lyrics of key representatives of the genre, the reflection of racial and social problems in rap, and gender stereotypes. At the same time, Trisha Rose notes both the achievements of rap music and its role in modern culture, as well as the negative side in the form of misogynistic lyrics and aggression, which created a controversial image of this music in the mass consciousness. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/160195.Black_Noise Nick Smash - Hip-hop 86-89 This book is a rarity. Nick Smash wrote his review of hip-hop in youth of this culture in 1990 year. And he focused not on the entire history of the genre, but on the very last period of its development, from 1986 to 1989. Three years, but that was great years! It was during these years that hip-hop experienced a grew up and radical changes that set the direction of its development for the next decades.

Now the book is not easy to find, which led to its fabulous price of $ 500! https://www.amazon.com/Hip-hop-86-89-Nick-Smash/dp/0863597599 Sacha Jenkins, Elliott Wilson, Chairman Mao, Gabriel Alvarez, Theodore Alos - Ego Trip's Book of Hiphop Lists The slogan of the book says that it is more popular than racism. It pleases. Moreover, for a fan of rap such a book is truly priceless! This is a detailed description of 25 years in the history of hip-hop music. Interviews, lists of albums and singles – everything you want and need to know about rap! https://www.amazon.com/Ego-Trips-Book-Rap-Lists/dp/0312242980 046

Nelson George - Hip-hop America This book by Nelson George became a bestseller and was repeatedly reprinted. In it, the author showed all aspects of the collision of young African-American culture with the media. It was hip-hop that became the battlefield of these worlds, but at the same time it is the field of their interaction and interpenetration. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/133178.Hip_Hop_America Shea Serrano - The Rap Year Book: The Most Important Rap Song From Every Year Since 1979, Discussed, Debated, and Deconstructed This book shows the evolution of rap music from 1979 to our days. 1979 was the starting point, because it was this year that rap hit the charts, and became a notable phenomenon in the music culture of the United States. Shi Serrano chose the most important tracks of each year and told about the artists who changed the genre. An important advantage of the book is that the author does not forget about the social side of rap music. He describes the hits and their creators in the context of social reality and time, when they achieved success. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24795949-the-rap-year-book Ice-T, Douglas Century - Ice: A Memoir of Gangster Life and Redemption-from South Central to Hollywood Ice-T is a legend and a person whose biography cannot be boring. Where does the myth end and the real life of Ice-T begins? We think that many people want an answer to this question. This book describes the history of Ice-T from childhood in the streets of southern Los Angeles, the criminal period of his biography, the service in the army, and the turning point from the gangster life to the life of the musician. And, perhaps, the second period is not less stormy than the first. The author of many hits, Ice-T is also a participant in scandals because of his straightforward lyrics. And on the background of all these stories he talks about the family and problems of modern society, which makes the book not only an exciting description from the outside, but also represents the view of the MC on the world. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9824853-ice

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Talks about the evolution of hip-hop are often sound like as nagging. They often become an extended continuation of the disputes about "tru" on the Internet. However, this evolution is taking place. And most importantly, it happens in each of us.

Someone's perception of hip-hop has radically changed over the years of interest in this culture. Someone has turned into an impregnable castle from traditions that cannot be changed.

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My story began in 2003. I have heard Onyx, Public Enemy and a couple more crews. But they did not become insight for me and did change my view of music. In those times I was interested in different music, my horizons constantly expanding. I was interested in musical culture as such. It's interesting to learn new styles and think about why people had such ideas and what inspired them to create such music. In the center of this musical kaleidoscope for me was rock music, in all its diversity. Rap became one of the many styles I met then. Why it did not change my tastes? Probably a reason of it was its musical component. Like many people unfamiliar with the variety of hip-hop, I had the stereotype of its simplicity, and that the music in it is only a rhythmic background for the lyrics. Subsequently, of course, I have seen how diverse hip-hop could be. And in general, I stopped evaluating music by its complexity – emotions are born not by the virtuosity of the musician, but by his sincerity and his creative ideas.

I began listen more rap to the 2006. And these changes were of a cultural nature rather than a musical one. I wanted to hear social lyrics, not the slogans that were popular in politicized punk rock, which I listened then.

And musically, I still gravitated towards powerful and aggressive music, but without overloaded roaring guitars and speedy of songs in which words cannot be disassembled. Rap became the perfect satisfaction of this need.

After I started interest in the hip-hop culture. Two years later, I began to look for information about its essence. This led to the creation of the magazine that you are currently reading. It was 2008 year. What happened in hip-hop at that time? Tracks in the genre of dirty south genre were sounding in the US clubs, and "aesthetes" from hip-hop were delighted with the experiments of Kanye West. In the post-Soviet space, the teenage fashion for rap of the early 2000s had already disappeared, and a completely different wave began when the lumpens in sports pants, who were laughing the hip-hop heads before, had become fans of the rap crew Center and their fairy tales about drugs.

My entrance to hip-hop was different from the standard scenario for our latitudes. I did not pass the stage of admiration for the Russian rap of the late 90's – early 2000's. Only a few teams were regular guests in my tracklist. And some of them, such as SixtyNine, were not well known to the average teen-rapper.

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This saved me from the subsequent comparison of all the new teams with Bad Balance, and indeed from the ubiquitous curtsey to the veterans, without regard for their real creativity, as it is customary to do among my generation of listeners of Russian rap. No less important is the social aspect of culture. I did not blindly copy the style, but was interested in its origins and compare it with the reality surrounding me.

Therefore, I was not wanted to become the blackest "wiger". But the fact that in the mood of the American rap of the 90s I heard the same emotions that gave birth to the kinds of gray blocks of my city. This was the "hook" that hooked me in hip-hop forever.

Over the past almost ten years I have listened to many thousands of albums, made several hundred interviews, reviewed hundreds of videos, and read a lot of articles. I became acquainted with the roots of African American culture and the zigzags of its development in the twentieth century. I compared "their" hip-hop with "our". And I more and more convinced that there are a small number of people here, for whom hip-hop is not "them" or "our", but a united culture. And in contrast to these people – there are millions of consumers of a refined rap product, in which the American musical form is intertwined with a faceless post-Soviet reality.

But what is? Is it reason to cry about traditions, which

are ruining? Or about people who are not interested in hip-hop classics and its culture? But so it is everywhere. New generations have grown up. They grew up in a totally different culture. They do not understand hip-hop 80's or hip-hop 90's. They are interested in electronic music with recitative, which is the majority of modern styles of hip-hop music. Yes, there is an army of fans of classic sound all over the world who not only store it, but also produce hundreds albums in this style every day. And this is good. The only bad thing is that we are increasingly confronted with a precipice, with a wall that separates these people and the new generation. After all, the endless repetition of the classics, no matter how marvelous it may be, does not make these "new copies" classics. These are just good albums. But they are being done now, and they are secondary. Those really classic albums grew out of the realities of that time, and were for that time innovative! Many of them were not understand by listeners. Time goes on. Modern subgenres of hip-hop music are more than just one-day dance hits. Although this type of songs is main. Like most songs are without meaning. But among the "musical fast food" in all times hiding ideas, maybe incomprehensible, but sincere and inspired by life itself. And each of them really enriches the culture.

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For a person who listens to hundreds of records a month and writes about them, this fact looks particularly contrasting. Listening many good albums that pay tribute to past eras, you know in advance what you will hear. Both music and lyrics are predictable. And at some point it became boring. I want listen to something new.

Yes, personally, big part of new sound is boring by its plastic sound. It does not touch my soul. But there are still such albums, which find respond in my soul with their unusual sound. Thanks to them, I want to write about young people who look at hip-hop in a new way. I do not want just rewrite the thousandth time what has already been told and ask about those "golden times", every second of which has already been added to the chronology of hip-hop.

Whatever one may say, the culture is tired. Like any other culture, hip-hop overgrew banalities. All these endless mantras about "one love" and "peace, love, unity", being pronounced millions of times, begin to sound like banal conventionality. But they were once slogans that aroused hearts. Culture is tired in essence of its music, dance, poetry. Too many people create their art with an eye for the past. Too many veterans are simply replicating the same albums one by one. Yes, it happens that one of them is a bright flash from this stream. The rest are just good albums. Of course, this statement is true in relation to the leading veterans of the genre from the United States. If we talk about postSoviet veterans, then many of them really now would be

better not to release anything. The problem is that their rap of the 90's is not the American rap of the 90's. This is an attempt to copy it. And these guys stayed in that time, and with the same thinking. Today they either try to copy themselves of the 90s, or do an "adult" rap. Only their concept of "adult rap" is very similar to the postSoviet criminal songs mixed with post-Soviet pop music. And this only once again shows the common cultural level of these "big uncles" who teach the young to the mind. The young rappers in ex-USSR looks the clips of Lil Yachty and Gucci Mane, and trying copy of these already parodic products. The parody of the parody is no longer funny, but ugly. And the essence of all this is that when you start copying something foreign, you need either to come to an understanding of its essence, or to proceed to create on its basis your own style. Since in the post-Soviet region is not any of this – the hamsters continue to twist their wheel in a cozy cage.

I finished with negative mood. And this is not good. I wrote about a personal journey in hip-hop, its rethinking and its perception today. But I couldn't write about it without remarks about the state and development of hip-hop in general. On the other hand, what these thoughts can change? The world remains itself. Each of us listens and writes the music he wants. And if such reflections live in our heads, then they affect only our own creativity and the perception of the world.

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