A STAR IS BORN!
Баста (aka) Ноггано
Basta (aka) Noggano (in english)
Vasily Vakulenko (born April 20, 1980), better
known by his stage name Basta (aka Noggano), is a Russian singer,
songwriter, and actor. He is
known as a hip-hop artist or rapper but is a professional musician and
entertainer beyond those genres. He is popular in Russia and Eastern
Europe and seems to be gaining in popularity everywhere else.
He was born in 1980 in
Rostov-on-Don to a military
family. He studied music in school and admits to having listened to
American rappers and hip-hop artists.
He married in June 2009 and has a daughter, Maria, who was born in December 2009.
There are virtually no English articles
about Vasily, and most of the information
is in Russian.
However, after you watch his videos, it is apparent that he is a genuinely talented artist whose work has the ability to
bridge borders.
To add to any confusion, Vasily has taken on
several stage names since beginning his career. One of his first names
was “Busta Honk,” a name which he used in one of his first groups. Then,
in 2000, he began using the alias Basta (or in Russian, Баста) and in
2007, began using Noggano (or in Russian, Horraho). He presents the
image of a gangster, but his artistry seems to transcend that.
He has released three main albums, which are:
Basta 1 (2006)
Basta 2 (2007)
Basta 3 (2010)
His music is mostly characterized as hip-hop or
rap, but some of his work has a much richer, strangely haunting, and soulful depth to
it.
We have embedded four of his videos, all of which
are posted on You Tube, that will give you a flavor of his diversity as both
a musician and performer.
We predict great things for Vasily.
Trivia Note:
In the second video down (the one with Basta driving a taxi), at the
very end of the video, he has a brief exchange with his passengers. The
dialogue translates like this:
Basta: "Was it you in ...?"
He: "Where?"
Basta: "In (the movie) 'Antikiller' " ?
She: "Yes, he was it, but he didn't remember
anything."
And yes, the passenger in the car is actually the star in the movie, Antikillers!
The title of the second video literally translates as "Love Without Memory."