Ukrainian rap is a problem child, the troublemaker in the country’s musical family environment. Like a lonely bastard who is asked to dress normally and speak less during family celebrations, he is rarely invited to official ceremonies. We mention it especially when it is necessary to emphasize “the exceptional range of genres of Ukrainian music†, one of the rare occasions where its presence is officially admitted.
It experienced anarchic development, with a short period of public recognition, then a long stay in the shadow of Russophonie. Even in the 1990s, which, not without reason, were considered a period of flowering for Ukrainian pop, rap remained a niche, exotic phenomenon.
At that time, Ukrainian music was making news all over the country – people were listening to Iryna Bilyk [une autrice-interprète qui chantait alors en russe et en ukrainien]Scriabine [un groupe de rock ukrainophone] ou Akva Vita [un groupe de dance ukrainophone] – y compris à Donetsk [dans le Donbass russophone, une ville aujourd'hui occupée par la Russie] et à Sébastopol [sur la presqu'île de Crimée, annexée par Moscou en 2014].
At the same time, rap fans frequently turned to Russian productions
