In the mid-2000s, the music world "blew up" the compositions "My game" and "You are the one that was next to me." Their author and performer was Vasily Vakulenko, who took on the creative pseudonym Basta.
About 10 more years passed, and the unknown Russian rapper Vakulenko became the best-selling rapper in Russia. And also a talented TV presenter, producer and composer. The second pseudonym of Vasily sounds like Noggano.
Vasily Vakulenko is an example when a person was able to put himself on his feet without his father's fat wallet. He stubbornly went to his goal and was able to achieve popularity.
Childhood and youth of Vasily Vakulenko
Vasily Vakulenko was born in Rostov-on-Don in 1980. Vasily's parents were not connected with art. When little Vasya became interested in music and art, they decided to send him to a music school.
Vasily did not do very well at school. He always went against the accepted system. And he often argued with teachers, cursed with peers and hooligans.
However, Vasily still received a diploma of secondary education. A good prospect opened before him - to go to study at a local music school.
Vakulenko successfully entered the music school, the conducting department. While still a student, Vasya realized that studying was not for him. “When I was a student, I read biographies of famous people at the same time. I realized that even half had no education, which, in principle, did not prevent them from achieving success.
Vakulenko left the music school. But he still loves music. The first mention of rap appeared in Russia in the 1990s. Then Vakulenko caught himself thinking that he was not opposed to mastering rap culture.
As a teenager, Vakulenko wrote his debut rap lyrics. Now Vasily believes that with this text it was a shame to break through "into the people." However, at that time there was practically no competition. This nuance and talent of the guy allowed him to almost instantly get a significant army of "fans".
In the hometown of Vasily Vakulenko, they called him “Basta Khryu”. Therefore, when I had to choose a creative pseudonym, they did not go through the names for a long time.
The beginning of a musical career
When Vakulenko was barely 17 years old, he was accepted into the Psycholyric group, which was later renamed Casta. During this period, Vakulenko released the first track "City", recorded on professional equipment.
At the age of 18, the artist released the track "My Game". He instantly made Vakulenko very popular outside of Rostov. This track opened up a good prospect for Vasily to start a solo career outside the Psycholyric group.
After the release of the track “My Game”, Vakulenko and Igor Zhelezka began touring the major cities of Russia. The guys went on a musical tour, performing at various venues. On average, the concerts were attended by about 5 thousand listeners.
The peak of his musical career was in 2002. Yuri Volos (a friend of Vasily Vakulenko) suggested that the rapper organize an impromptu recording studio at home. And he agreed.
Vakulenko missed music, as the concert activity, in which he had been engaged for more than 5 years, ceased to give positive results.
Vakulenko took up writing texts. However, his dreams were quickly shattered. He was no longer recognized. And finding a worthy producer turned out to be an almost unrealistic task. During this difficult life period, Vakulenko recorded the track "Dumb labels, no chance."
The musical composition fell into the hands of Bogdan Titomir. The popular musician really liked the Vakulenko track. And he invited Vasily and Yuri Volos to the capital of Russia, to the studio of the creative association Gazgolder. There, rappers were accepted and showed interest in them. Here Vakulenko took a creative pseudonym and now calls himself Basta.
Rapper Basta - a real "breakthrough" in 2006
2006 was a very successful year for Basta. This year, Vasily released his first debut album, Basta 1. The audience enthusiastically accepted the debut album.
Following the debut disc, Basta presented two video clips - "Once and For All" and "Autumn". Also one of the popular compositions was the track "Mom".
Basta presented to the public the second album, which has the symbolic name "Basta 2" (2007). This disc includes works with singer Maxim and Russian rapper Guf. A little later, Vakulenko released video clips: “So spring is crying”, “Our summer”, “Inner fighter” and “Tea drunkard”.
In the future, Basta devoted even more time to working with other Russian rappers and pop artists. The joint composition of Basta and the Nerva group deserves considerable attention. The guys released the video "With Hope for Wings", which immediately became a hit.
In 2007, Noggano appeared in Basta's work. Under this creative pseudonym, the rapper released three records:
- "First";
- "Warm";
- "Unreleased".
In 2008, Vasily tried himself as a screenwriter and producer. After he tried on these roles, he realized that he also wanted to try himself in cinema.
At the moment, Vakulenko tried himself in 12 films. He wrote scripts for 5 projects.
In 2011, Basta released the Nintendo album, which struck with the unusual cyber-gang style. The tracks included in this disc hit the hearts of the fans.
Waiting for the new album
Now only one thing was expected from Vakulenko - a new album. But the performer decided to take a break for a while.
In 2016, the audience saw Vasily Vakulenko as the jury of the musical project "Voice". Some time later, Basta and Polina Gagarina recorded the song "The whole world is not enough for me without you."
In 2016, the 5th album was released. "Basta 5" became the seventh work of the famous Russian rapper. A year later, Vasily Vakulenko released the album "Luxury".
Not without counting the money of Vasily Vakulenko. He took the 17th position in the list of the richest figures in Russian show business (according to Forbes magazine). His income is estimated at more than $ 2 million.
Basta in the show "Voice Children"
In 2018, the Russian rapper became the jury of the musical project "Voice of Children".
Ward of rapper Sofia Fedorova took 2nd place. In 2018, he announced that he would fight overweight by posting a photo of a bare torso. But a little later, the rapper took his words back.
Today Vakulenko is taking interesting interviews with the stars of domestic show business on his own YouTube channel. His channel is called TO Gazgolder.
Judging by Instagram, you should not count on the release of a new album. But there will be a significant number of video clips. In 2019, Basta released the clips “America, Salute”, “Without You”, “Komsi Komsa”, etc.
Basta's new album
In 2020, Vasily Vakulenko (Basta) released a new album by the electronic project Gorilla Zippo. The rapper's collection was called Vol. 1. It includes 8 electronic tracks, including the previously released composition Bad Bad Girl.
In 2019, Vasily Vakulenko told fans that he was working on a new LP. The sixth studio album was released in November 2020. It was named "Basta 40". The presentation of the LP is scheduled for 2021.
The album contains 23 tracks. Guest verses went to performers: Scriptonite, ATL, Noize MC, T-Fest, ODI, Eric Lundmoen, ANIKV and Moscow Gospel Team.
At the beginning of March 2021, Vakulenko presented an instrumental version of the 40 LP. Basta said that with the presentation of this collection he drew a line and says goodbye to himself. A record was released on the rapper's label, which included 23 tracks.
In May 2021, it became known that Vasily Vakulenko recorded the musical accompaniment for a tape about rugby. The piece of music was called "Worth its weight in gold." The premiere of the series in which the track will sound will take place at the end of the month of the same 2021.
The Russian rap artist in early June released a lyrical piece of music called "You were right." The track was released on Vasily Vakulenko's label. In the composition, the rapper turned to his former lover. He listed the mistakes he made in the relationship. The track was warmly received by Basta's audience.
Rapper Basta now
At the beginning of February 2022, Basta and Scriptonite presented a video for the track "Youth". In the video, the artists rap in the high-rise elevator going down. Periodically, activists join the rappers. Recall that the track "Youth" was included in Basta's longplay "40".
