Russian Hip Hop

Russian hip hop is hip hop performed in Russian, developed in the late Soviet and post-Soviet space from the mid-1980s onward. It follows the global template of rapping over sampled or programmed beats but developed a local character: dense, literary lyricism, preoccupation with street life, the panel-block suburbs and political disillusion, and a delivery shaped by the Russian language's stress and rhyme resources. From the pioneering *Bad Balance* and the 1990s cassette underground through the mass popularity of *Kasta* and *Detsl*, and the 2015 reset by *Oxxxymiron*, *Skriptonite* and *ATL*, it became one of Russia's dominant popular genres.