1) Da Net Unity - Sweet City
one of the oldest rap groups
2) Saga - In Defiance of Fate (2003)
Life in Yakutsk is life in defiance of fate. May someone try to prove that it is not so.
3) Jeada - Kichi Ba5arar Surdeh Elbe5i (2003-2004)
"A man wants too much".
The first excellent track that had MC reading in Yakut and the MC reading in Russian.
Not his most famous song, but the very fact that you can do that in one track just shocked me.
4) Urban Rhyme - Mephisto (2001)
"2001, Tuimaada Valley, Yakutsk City. Urban Rhyme." I have had goosebumps for 20 years (most of my life) every time I hear the first seconds of the track.
5) Masta'z Fam - Between Dust and Fog (2004)
There is much dust in Yakutsk in summer, especially in the '00s. In winter Yakutsk is covered by fog almost all the time. That is why people live as "between dust and fog".
6) Wipe OUt - autumn (2003).
Autumn in Yakutsk is my favourite time of year.
7) Symbiosis - Sakha Kaskile feat Jeada,SashT
"The Future of Sakha". One of the essential tracks in Yakut rap
8) Second Block - Noise Pollution (2002)
"The lyrics are simple ... a bookworm from the noughties, swearing a lot".
This track laid down a love of "raw", primitive sound in me. The lyrics are surprisingly good for high school kids.
9) The Other Side - Music of Freedom (2006)
10) MJ - All I Need (2002)
The most beautiful song about love
11) Boogie - Jeada-Uda (2004)
Later, Boogie will go to Moscow and gain popularity as L'One (Levan Gorozia). In 2004 he was known for dissing Jeada, who peaked after creating the "Sakha Rap" genre. The song says, "it's commendable that you read in your native language". Conclusions everyone draws for themselves.
12) Jeada - Emee Manna Min.
"Here we go again"
In this song, Jeada showed me that you could rhyme sufficiently, use assonance, and other poetic devices in the Yakut language. He showed me that you could make the Yakut rap sound like a real ("foreign") one by controlling the Yakut rhymes and pauses between them.
13) Sweet Town Bros - Time (2002)
Sweet Town Bros. A significant song for me.
14) MJ - Lirarams (2006)
Best 36 bars in the history of Yakut battle tracks. Prove me wrong
15) Memento Mori - Only Expensive.
A period when some Yakut rappers got into strange themes - esoterics, space, Mein Kampf (?), nitsche, etc. Good times.
"...Sex Pistols' Sid Vicious does not make sense here.
These thoughts are associations of sorts,
But we do not remember where this shit comes from,
Where the fuck did that shit come from?"
16) Jamal - Lead Rain (2003)
Dreary storytelling to Bach's toccata.
17) X-Ray - Sweet City.
A girl-only band. By the way, there were quite a few of them. Another song about the sweet city
18) Wazimular - Kuorat Wonna Haar
"Town and Snow."
A song recorded far away from the homeland. It is impossible to listen to it anywhere outside of the Republic because it conveys a sense of great longing.
19) Urban Rhyme - Hopchiki (2002)
At the turn of the century, the derogatory word "Hopchik" was common in Yakutsk. It was a nickname for people who were so-called "posers". Imitation, fake rappers. Who came into the culture only because of fashion and did not contribute anything.
"- Who is the topic of "Hoppers" addressed to?
- The track was about young "rappers" for whom hip-hop was not a culture but rather a fashion. They were the kids who were hanging out downtown somewhere, wearing loose baggy pants, thinking they were real ghetto gangsters."
20) Night Shift - Ghosts of Freedom (2002)
"it is just dumb monotonous chugging, the same drum samples throughout the tracks, melodies in the time of four like in punk rock, some kind of animal energy."
21) Chisty Bit - In the Heart (2005)
The quintessence of Yakut urban "nostalgic" rap. Each of their tracks is a massive declaration of love for Yakutsk. Not surprisingly, the band members have not lived here for a long time.
22) Yuzhnaya Dolina - Uulussa Yttara (2003-2004)
"Street Dogs."
West Yakutia style. I cannot accurately convey my feelings when listening to it. I think only a Sakha, only someone who grew up away from the cities, in the back of the republic, can fully understand it. Very uncompromising song, powerful.
23) Ba Bai - Valley of the Deceased (2005)
In my opinion, this is the best Storytelling track in Russian rap, on the level of "Skazki" by Kasta.
It is about Yakutsk, of course.
24) Nochnaya Smena / Night Shift - After Fate (2003)
This band has defined the sound of Yakut rap for many years to come. I am talking about the signature sound.
25) Rhyme Center - Arda5y Kitta
"Along with the Rain."
Another representative of western Yakutia. It always seemed to me that even though the Eastern MCs were more "literary," the Westerners knew the language in its simple, vernacular essence. Because of this, they developed such a simple, casual style. When you can just throw in bars after bars, there is nothing really to say, but there is more to convey than you can imagine.
26) Chyornykhod - Necessary Defense (2002)
In the late '90s and '00s (and not only...) Yakutsk was the epicentre of interethnic clashes in various variations.
"I do not know about you, but I am ready to win.
We are ready to defend; you're in a fucking trouble now!"
27) Urban Rhyme - 60 Seconds (2001)
I turned on the Urban Rhyme cassette on my tape recorder, and this was the first song. That is when I knew I would listen to it for the rest of my life.
28) Wipe Out & Clean Beat - H.A.R.D.C.O.R.E. (2005)
Hardcore
29) Bratia - Dadaizmic Abstract
An absolute classic of Yakut rap in the late '00s. Probably the last band of the decade, which perceived rap as black music, as an "extension of black consciousness".
30) Yuzhnaya Dolina - Uulussa Yttara (New) (2005)
The same track, but in more modern treatment and presentation. A real anthem of Western Yakutia.
There is quite a big difference between the MCs from the west and the centre/east. That is a separate topic.
31) Smoke Mine - JML (2008)
This track reminds me of the time when the "Yakut language" disgrace issue started going away from the city. That is, it stopped being a mauvais ton among young people, it seems. It was in the late '00s. And largely thanks to Yakut rap.
32) 4 Rayons - By Conscience (2004)
Until the last decade, my mind was grounded in Yakutia; it seemed to me that anything beyond that just did not exist. This song reminds me of that feeling.
33) Tohsus Nota - Sanaa tuge5e
"at the bottom of my mind" (literally).
Potent track. If literally - it conveys the process of growing up as a Yakutian man in different moments. It is already challenging enough, and if you are also a rapper... Try to prove to the world and those around you that what you were doing all your youth had sense.
34) Clean Beat - The Air of the City.
35) MJ - a remix of the first track, 2006.