From the top of the Russian Spotify chart…
[Video]
[5.29]
Wayne Weizhen Zhang: Ebullient, chaotic and feisty like, say, an episode of Euphoria where Rue gets caught up with the Russian drug trade.
[7]
Thomas Inskeep: Apparently, in 2022 you can get a smash in Russia by combining early-mid ’90s UK rave, a L’Trimm bassline, and some meh rapping. It’s a curio, but not much more.
[4]
Nortey Dowuona: Shadowraze’s flow is tight, economical and a little awkward, interrupted for a brief crack. Plvstic’s beadwork is also economical, a simple eight-bar phrase in 4/4 time with a bulbous bass drum rubbing awkwardly against the flat kicks, sandpaper percussion and dull snares that pop up by note two and get erased by Shadowraze’s jutting overlapping vocals — until they slow to a crawl at the end of the song, seemingly too bored with the idea to keep running with it.
[6]
Vikram Joseph: Perhaps this would sound less anonymous if I had a greater-than-zero grasp of the Russian language, but I’m not holding my breath. This might be called “Astral Step,” but there’s nothing remotely celestial-sounding about this passably grimy, drill-adjacent song. To its credit, at a snappy two minutes it doesn’t hang around.
[4]
Edward Okulicz: This is monotonous enough that it could have been created in someone’s bedroom in 1996 using the primitive software a teenage kid might have had. It’s got velocity and volume but no actual force.
[3]
Ian Mathers: In band name, song title, and production, this absolutely feels like something would have been passed around either on burned CDs or direct from PC to PC at a LAN party back in the day. I didn’t really expect Russian rap in that setting, but I’m not mad at it either.
[7]
Andrew Karpan: Laid over beats so cheap and minimal it evokes genius or just necessity. I like the way his bars don’t mumble but sound frank and cold and make me wonder how much harder I would look wearing a beanie.
[6]