Music of Belarus
Encyclopedia
Belarus
is an Eastern Europe
an country with a rich tradition of folk
and religious music
. The country's folk music traditions can be traced back to the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
. In the 20th century, the Soviet control of the country somewhat limited musical development because nationally oriented music was considered subversive and dangerous to the Soviet authority. The country's musical traditions spread with its people to countries like Russia
, Canada
, United States
, Kazakhstan
, Latvia
and Ukraine
http://zbsb.org/eng/hist_1.shtml. The people of Belarus were exposed mostly to Russian pop music during this period and also after independence in 1991. In 2002, however, Alexander Lukashenko
has signed a decree requiring 50% of all FM
broadcast music to be Belarusian in origin, and since January 1, 2005 the rule was made even stricter (75% of daily broadcast music must be Belarusian). Though it doesn't regulate songs language, so most of broadcast music is still in Russian.
s were the major profession for musicians. A neumatic chant, called znamenny, from the word 'znamia', meaning sign or neume, used until 16th century in Orthodox church music, followed by two hundreds of stylistic innovation that drew on the Renaissance
and Protestant Reformation
. In the 17th century, Partesnoe penie, part singing, became common for choruses, followed by private theaters established in cities like Minsk
and Vitebsk
.
institute in Belarus was founded (1924) and the first opera
s (Mikhas Podgorny by E. Tikotsky, In Virgin Forests of Polesie by A. Bogatryev and The Flower of Happiness by A. Turenkov) and ballets
(The Nightingale by M Kroshner).
Popular Soviet Belarusian music
was composed by several prominent bands, many of whom performed Belarusian folk music
. Folk rock act Pesniary
, formed in 1969 by guitarist Vladimir Mulyavin
, became the most popular folk band of the Soviet Union, and often toured over Europe. Pesniary's example inspired Siabry and Verasy
to follow their way. The tradition of Belarus as a centre of folk and folk rock music is continued today. Late 70's saw more straightforward rock bands such as Suzorie
(probably the best-known rock band of the late 90s, and 00s), ULIS
, Little Blues Band, The Stoks, Tornado
, Krama, TT-34
and Neurodubel. Modern pop stars are also well-known, including Boris Moiseev
and Lyapis Trubetskoy
(though they tend to orient themselves toward Russia
and Russian speakers). There are also electronic music performers like Autism, Energun 22, h.h.t.p., Dromos
. Worth noting is Drum XTC performs live drum'n'bass. Around 2002 a new generation of electronic bands appeared, organized by Electrokids
promo-group, including the groups like Randomajestiq
, Stone People, Dreamlin
, T-Trider, CherryVata and Koordinate of Wonders.
Rock music of Belarus arose in Perestroika times. Bands like Bi-2
(currently living in Russia), Lyapis Trubetskoy
, Krama and ULIS
were founded in late 1980s or early '90s. Though rock music has risen in popularity in recent years, the Belarusian government has attempted to limit the amount of popular music aired on the radio, in favour of traditional Belarussian music. These restrictions have encouraged some Belarusian bands to sign up to Russian labels and to tour more in neighbouring countries.
The tradition of Belarus as a centre of folk and folk rock music is continued today by Stary Olsa
, Gods Tower, Vicious Crusade and Kriwi
, among others. Stary Olsa is a Neo-Medieval music
revivalist band that uses authentic instruments of the medieval Belarus (then part of Grand Duchy of Lithuania
).
In 2003, Belarus took part in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest
for the first time. Their participant, Volha Satsiuk, came in 4th place. In 2004 Belarus made it to the semifinals of the regular Eurovision Song Contest
. The country was represented by a duo Alaksandra i Kanstantsin, who failed to reach the final. Nevertheless, they won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2005
the following year, with Ksenia Sitnik
's song, 'My Vmeste'.
The Belarusian authorities promote folk or "Slavic" music at the country's top musical event -- the state-sponsored Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk
, an annual pop and folk music festival in Vitebsk
. The biggest festival of Belarusian rock music takes place outside of Belarus, in Gródek
, northeastern Poland
, a small town some 40 kilometers east of Białystok -- the center of Podlaskie Voivodeship
, which is inhabited by a 200,000-strong Belarusian minority. The festival, held in July every year since 1990, is organized by the Belarusian Union of Students (BAS) in Poland. The official name of the event is the Music Festival of Young Belarus or Basovišča
("BASS" + suffix "-ovishcha", alt.spelling Basovishcha, Basoviszcza). Some rock music fans dubbed it "Belarusian Woodstock
."
with the debut album Vikhod (Выход, A Way Out).
Among other influential rap artists of the mid-'90s are Kat, Ghetto Mentalitet (Гетто менталитет, Ghetto Mentality), Miatezhniky (Мятежники, Rebels), Lisy Dil (Лысый Дил, Baldie Dil) and many more.
The most prominent events of this period include underground hip-hop parties at the Rezervatsya (Резервация, Reservation) club in Minsk and Krapiva-98, a hip-hop festival that drew the entire movement to its apogee.
However, a great start was followed by a détente, after which most of the old school rappers went underground.
The second wave was led in Minsk by Oleg Litvinuk, a person who tried to turn hip-hop into a mainsteam culture and provided an incentive for an array of mostly ephemerous rappers and rap crews. The rap creativity substantially decreased. However, this wave still managed to produce a number of prominent rappers reminiscent of the old school era. By 2005, most of the old school and second wave rappers disappeared. Among the rappers to emerge during the second wave are Nestandartny Variant (Нестандартный вариант, Irregular Design), who later became a most acclaimed Belarusian pop-rap crew.
The third wave has developed around a Belarusian rap source bratinfo.com and is represented by young (born in the late 80's - early 90's) rappers. Some of the new artists are as charismatic and committed as the old school pioneers, others are more into diss and bling-bling rap.
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
is an Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an country with a rich tradition of folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and religious music
Religious music
Religious music is music performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence.A lot of music has been composed to complement religion, and many composers have derived inspiration from their own religion. Many forms of traditional music have been adapted to fit religions'...
. The country's folk music traditions can be traced back to the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
. In the 20th century, the Soviet control of the country somewhat limited musical development because nationally oriented music was considered subversive and dangerous to the Soviet authority. The country's musical traditions spread with its people to countries like Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
and Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
http://zbsb.org/eng/hist_1.shtml. The people of Belarus were exposed mostly to Russian pop music during this period and also after independence in 1991. In 2002, however, Alexander Lukashenko
Alexander Lukashenko
Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko has been serving as the President of Belarus since 20 July 1994. Before his career as a politician, Lukashenko worked as director of a state-owned agricultural farm. Under Lukashenko's rule, Belarus has come to be viewed as a state whose conduct is out of line...
has signed a decree requiring 50% of all FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
broadcast music to be Belarusian in origin, and since January 1, 2005 the rule was made even stricter (75% of daily broadcast music must be Belarusian). Though it doesn't regulate songs language, so most of broadcast music is still in Russian.
Traditional music
Documentation of its music stretches back to at least the 15th century. Prior to that, skomorokhSkomorokh
The skomorokhs were medieval East Slavic harlequins, i.e. actors, who could also sing, dance, play musical instruments and compose most of the scores for their oral/musical and dramatic performances. The etymology of the word is not completely clear...
s were the major profession for musicians. A neumatic chant, called znamenny, from the word 'znamia', meaning sign or neume, used until 16th century in Orthodox church music, followed by two hundreds of stylistic innovation that drew on the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
and Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
. In the 17th century, Partesnoe penie, part singing, became common for choruses, followed by private theaters established in cities like Minsk
Minsk
- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...
and Vitebsk
Vitebsk
Vitebsk, also known as Viciebsk or Vitsyebsk , is a city in Belarus, near the border with Russia. The capital of the Vitebsk Oblast, in 2004 it had 342,381 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth largest city...
.
Music of Soviet Belarus
In the 20th century, the first secondary educationSecondary education
Secondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education includes the final stage of compulsory education and in many countries it is entirely compulsory. The next stage of education is usually college or university...
institute in Belarus was founded (1924) and the first opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
s (Mikhas Podgorny by E. Tikotsky, In Virgin Forests of Polesie by A. Bogatryev and The Flower of Happiness by A. Turenkov) and ballets
Ballet (music)
Ballet as a music form progressed from simply a complement to dance, to a concrete compositional form that often had as much value as the dance that went along with it. The dance form, originating in France during the 17th century, began as a theatrical dance. It was not until the 19th century that...
(The Nightingale by M Kroshner).
Popular Soviet Belarusian music
Soviet music
Soviet music is the music composed and produced in the USSR. It varied in many genres and epochs. Although the majority of it was written by Russians, it was also influenced by various national minorities in the Soviet Republic. The Soviet state supported musical institutions, but also carried out...
was composed by several prominent bands, many of whom performed Belarusian folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
. Folk rock act Pesniary
Pesniary
Pesniary was a popular Soviet Belarusian folk rock band. It was founded in 1969 by guitarist Vladimir Mulyavin. Before 1970 the band was known under the name Liavony .-Style:...
, formed in 1969 by guitarist Vladimir Mulyavin
Vladimir Mulyavin
Uladzimir Muliavin was a Belarusian rock musician and founder of the folk-rock band Pesniary.- Biography :Uladzimir Muliavin was born in Sverdlovsk in the family of a worker at the Uralmash plant. He started playing the guitar at the age of 12.In 1956, after graduating from school, he entered...
, became the most popular folk band of the Soviet Union, and often toured over Europe. Pesniary's example inspired Siabry and Verasy
Verasy
Verasy was a musical band created in Belarus in 1971. It was created under the Belarusian State Philarmony, Minsk, director and composer Vasily Rainchik...
to follow their way. The tradition of Belarus as a centre of folk and folk rock music is continued today. Late 70's saw more straightforward rock bands such as Suzorie
Modern Belarus
Belarus gained independence after the fall of the Soviet Union and new bands appeared, including N.R.M.N.R.M.
N.R.M. is a rock band from Minsk, Belarus, founded in 1994. They are considered to be the most popular rock band in the country...
(probably the best-known rock band of the late 90s, and 00s), ULIS
ULIS
ULIS is a Belarusian rock band, singing in Belarusian language. It has been created and made its first public performance in Minsk in March 1989...
, Little Blues Band, The Stoks, Tornado
Tornado (band)
Tornado is a Serbian progressive/power metal band formed in 1998. During its initial period the band's sound was described as "Byzantine metal" by the band members themselves as well as by some critics.-Studio albums:...
, Krama, TT-34
TT-34
TT-34 is an alternative rock band from Belarus. They are popular in Russia and have recorded several songs with the Belarusian singer Seryoga. Some of their music was used on the soundtrack of Night Watch, a 2004 film which was a blockbuster in Russia and was, in 2006, released in the U.S. by Fox...
and Neurodubel. Modern pop stars are also well-known, including Boris Moiseev
Boris Moiseev
Boris Mikhaylovich Moiseev is a Russian singer, choreographer, dancer, writer, actor, head of dance group and author of popular shows in Russia.-Biography:...
and Lyapis Trubetskoy
Lyapis Trubetskoy
- Early years :The band was formed in Minsk in 1990. By the end of 1990s it received serious popularity in Belarus and other countries of the Russian speaking world....
(though they tend to orient themselves toward Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Russian speakers). There are also electronic music performers like Autism, Energun 22, h.h.t.p., Dromos
Dromos
Dromos can refer to:* the cursus publicus, the public road system of the Roman and Byzantine empires;* Dromos in architecture, an entrance passage;* also modes used in Greek music....
. Worth noting is Drum XTC performs live drum'n'bass. Around 2002 a new generation of electronic bands appeared, organized by Electrokids
Electrokids
Electrokids - promo group that promoted electronic music in Minsk, Belarus. Electrokids were responsible for one of the most influential festivals of electronic music in post-soviet territories, System of Electronic Maddness and series of drum and bass events since 2003.Rooster of artists promoted...
promo-group, including the groups like Randomajestiq
Randomajestiq
Randomajestiq is a music project of musician Vladimir Hropov. Vladimir was born in 1976 and is currently a sound designer, composer and producer. In 1993 Vladimir started composing chiptunes on the AY-3-8910 fm-synth chip. With his experience in tracking, he moved to PC and current production...
, Stone People, Dreamlin
Dreamlin
Dreamlin is an electronic music group from Belarus.Dreamlin, hailing from Minsk, Belarus started when Denis «C4» Korabkov, who used to play guitar with a local cult, psychedelic reggae band at the time met Egor Kunovsky, who had long been involved with music software and computers.In 2000, they...
, T-Trider, CherryVata and Koordinate of Wonders.
Rock music of Belarus arose in Perestroika times. Bands like Bi-2
Bi-2
Bi-2 is a Russian rock band with Belarusian origin, formed in the 80's in Minsk, Belarus. It was one of the most successful with many sales and chart-hits in Russia. Bi-2 was awarded MTV Russian Music Awards for Best Rock Act in 2007.-Pre-history:...
(currently living in Russia), Lyapis Trubetskoy
Lyapis Trubetskoy
- Early years :The band was formed in Minsk in 1990. By the end of 1990s it received serious popularity in Belarus and other countries of the Russian speaking world....
, Krama and ULIS
ULIS
ULIS is a Belarusian rock band, singing in Belarusian language. It has been created and made its first public performance in Minsk in March 1989...
were founded in late 1980s or early '90s. Though rock music has risen in popularity in recent years, the Belarusian government has attempted to limit the amount of popular music aired on the radio, in favour of traditional Belarussian music. These restrictions have encouraged some Belarusian bands to sign up to Russian labels and to tour more in neighbouring countries.
The tradition of Belarus as a centre of folk and folk rock music is continued today by Stary Olsa
Stary Olsa
Stary Olsa is a Belarusian medieval folk band. Stary Olsa play medieval Belarusian music of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.Stary Olsa is one of the few Belarusian bands enjoying popularity outside Belarus. The band has received numerous positive critical reviews.The band was founded in 1999 by...
, Gods Tower, Vicious Crusade and Kriwi
KRIWI
KRIWI is a Belarusian folk and rock band. The band name literally means "a person belonging to the ancient Belarusian tribe of Kryvians".KRIWI is known for using a variety of European folk instruments and mixing them with modern technology of synthesizer and samples, with powerful vocals of Veranika...
, among others. Stary Olsa is a Neo-Medieval music
Neo-Medieval music
Neo-Medieval music is a term used to describe a variety of styles within modern popular music. A common characteristic of these styles is that they contain elements of Medieval music and early music in general...
revivalist band that uses authentic instruments of the medieval Belarus (then part of Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
).
In 2003, Belarus took part in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest
Junior Eurovision Song Contest
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest , is an international song competition which has been organised by the European Broadcasting Union annually since 2003 and is open exclusively to broadcasters that are members of the EBU. It is held in a different European city each year.The competition has many...
for the first time. Their participant, Volha Satsiuk, came in 4th place. In 2004 Belarus made it to the semifinals of the regular Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
. The country was represented by a duo Alaksandra i Kanstantsin, who failed to reach the final. Nevertheless, they won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2005
Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2005
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2005 was the third Junior Eurovision Song Contest for young singers aged 8 to 15. On 26 November 2005, the contest was broadcast live from the Ethias Arena in Hasselt, Belgium, in a joint effort by the national broadcasters Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep and...
the following year, with Ksenia Sitnik
Ksenia Sitnik
Ksenia Mikhailovna Sitnik , sometimes also transliterated as Kseniya Sitnik or Xenia Sitnik, is a Belarusian child singer...
's song, 'My Vmeste'.
The Belarusian authorities promote folk or "Slavic" music at the country's top musical event -- the state-sponsored Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk
Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk
The International Festival of Arts "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" is an annual festival held in Vitebsk, Belarus under the auspices of the Belarussian Government since 1992. Its main program is devoted to Slavic music. The main participants are artists from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, with guests...
, an annual pop and folk music festival in Vitebsk
Vitebsk
Vitebsk, also known as Viciebsk or Vitsyebsk , is a city in Belarus, near the border with Russia. The capital of the Vitebsk Oblast, in 2004 it had 342,381 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth largest city...
. The biggest festival of Belarusian rock music takes place outside of Belarus, in Gródek
Gródek
Gródek may refer to the following places:* Gródek, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship * Gródek, Lesser Poland Voivodeship * Gródek, Lower Silesian Voivodeship...
, northeastern Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, a small town some 40 kilometers east of Białystok -- the center of Podlaskie Voivodeship
Podlaskie Voivodeship
Podlaskie Voivodeship , is a voivodeship in northeastern Poland. It borders on Masovian Voivodeship to the west, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship to the northwest, Lublin Voivodeship to the south, the Belarusssian Voblasts of Grodno and Brest to the east, the Lithuanian Counties of Alytus and...
, which is inhabited by a 200,000-strong Belarusian minority. The festival, held in July every year since 1990, is organized by the Belarusian Union of Students (BAS) in Poland. The official name of the event is the Music Festival of Young Belarus or Basovišča
Basovišca
Basóvišča — the festival of Belarusian alternative and rock music, which is annually conducted by Belarusian Association of Students since 1990.The festival takes place during two July days in the Borak forest near Gmina of Gródek, Poland...
("BASS" + suffix "-ovishcha", alt.spelling Basovishcha, Basoviszcza). Some rock music fans dubbed it "Belarusian Woodstock
Woodstock Festival
Woodstock Music & Art Fair was a music festival, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music". It was held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in the Catskills near the hamlet of White Lake in the town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to August 18, 1969...
."
Belarusian rap
Belarusian rap dates back to the early - mid-'90s and has produced three waves of Belarusian rappers. Having evolved around a most influential rap crew of the mid 90's Udar Bandy (Удар банды, The Gang Strikes) and their associates Ё.Б.Т.В.О.Ю.М.А.Т.Ь. (S.C.R.E.W.Y.A.M.O.T.H.E.R.), the first wave was a movement of the most numerous, committed and impassioned rappers in Belarus (born in the late 70's - early 80's). Originating from the city of Lepel, Udar Bandy recorded two amateur highly acclaimed tape albums that were recopied and changed hands massively. These tapes produced a great effect on the youth trapped in a disorienting crime and poverty striken environment. In 1997, after recording the controversial studio album Uroki Rasslableniya (Уроки расслабления, Chill Out Lessons) Udar Bandy disappeared from the scene to reemerge in 2007 as the core of a creative alliance called Da JointDa Joint
"Da Joint" was the first single from EPMD's fifth album, Back in Business. Produced by Erick Sermon and Rockwilder, "Da Joint" became EPMD's second and final single to make it to the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at 94 on the chart...
with the debut album Vikhod (Выход, A Way Out).
Among other influential rap artists of the mid-'90s are Kat, Ghetto Mentalitet (Гетто менталитет, Ghetto Mentality), Miatezhniky (Мятежники, Rebels), Lisy Dil (Лысый Дил, Baldie Dil) and many more.
The most prominent events of this period include underground hip-hop parties at the Rezervatsya (Резервация, Reservation) club in Minsk and Krapiva-98, a hip-hop festival that drew the entire movement to its apogee.
However, a great start was followed by a détente, after which most of the old school rappers went underground.
The second wave was led in Minsk by Oleg Litvinuk, a person who tried to turn hip-hop into a mainsteam culture and provided an incentive for an array of mostly ephemerous rappers and rap crews. The rap creativity substantially decreased. However, this wave still managed to produce a number of prominent rappers reminiscent of the old school era. By 2005, most of the old school and second wave rappers disappeared. Among the rappers to emerge during the second wave are Nestandartny Variant (Нестандартный вариант, Irregular Design), who later became a most acclaimed Belarusian pop-rap crew.
The third wave has developed around a Belarusian rap source bratinfo.com and is represented by young (born in the late 80's - early 90's) rappers. Some of the new artists are as charismatic and committed as the old school pioneers, others are more into diss and bling-bling rap.