Life conducted an investigation into how Basta's business works. A guy from Rostov who “succeeded”: Forbes told Basta's success story How a personal psychiatrist became a business partner

Vasily Vakulenko is known to the public under the creative pseudonym Basta. This is not only a rapper, but also the owner of the creative association "Gazgolder". Considering the financial turnover in the music industry, there is a natural desire for many to understand how much Basta earned over the past year and what royalties he received at the beginning of his career.

About him

• Date of birth - April 20, 1980;
• place of birth - Rostov-on-Don, USSR;
• place of residence - Moscow, Russia;
• citizenship - Russia;
• height - 181 cm, weight - 95 kg;
• occupation - rapper, music producer, actor, film director, TV presenter;
• marital status - wife Elena Pinskaya;
• children - daughters Maria (9 years old) and Vasilisa (6 years old);
• parents - father Mikhail Vakulenko, mother Lyudmila Vakulenko;
• education - Rostov College of Arts, conductor's department;
• favorite music - rap;
• hobbies - curling, football.

How much Basta earned

That year turned out to be fruitful for Basta: at the end of 2019, the singer earned $ 6,900,000. Vakulenko became the highest paid rapper in Russia and the entire CIS.

The path to the dream and the first earnings

Vasily Vakulenko was born into a military family. The first person who determined his musical future was his grandmother - she enrolled her grandson in a music school.

Vasily took the initial steps in rap at the age of 16 after he recorded a track on his verses. The guy was noticed, and in 1997 he joined the Psycholyric group. Over time, the team changed its name to "Casta". The group performed at local venues, receiving $ 100-120 per concert.

At the age of 18, Vasily wrote the song "My Game", one of the main hits in life. The track immediately sank into the hearts of fans. Basta began to tour actively in Rostov-on-Don, receiving $ 100 from each concert.

He received the first large sum after the release of his solo album "Basta 1". It included 19 songs, they gave Vasily the way to large venues. The performer's tracks were heard everywhere: in the yards, on the radio, on TV screens. Since then, many journalists and ordinary listeners began to wonder how much Basta earns.

A year later, the album "Basta 2" was released. The legendary track Basta feat Guf - "My game" appeared on the album. The guys shot a video, after which they were at the peak of popularity.

On the video you can learn about Basta's path to success

In 2016, the track Lil Kate ft was released, Basta recorded the track "Airplanes", and a year later the world saw "Sansara", which was warmly received by the audience. The lyrics of the song stuck in the heads of millions of fans.

Vasily never ceases to amaze fans even today - the rapper regularly releases new songs under different pseudonyms and arranges concert tours around the country and also abroad.

How much and where does Vasily Vakulenko earn

Basta is a highly paid artist with fans all over the world. Despite how much Basta earned from rap, he began to additionally convert popularity into income from advertising contracts, participation in various television shows.

Rostov-on-Don, August 17, 2017. site. Forbes magazine calculated how much Rostov rapper Vasily Basta Vakulenko earns a year, and figured out the components of the artist's success.

Originally from the 1990s

In the 1990s, Vasily Vakulenko lived with his parents near a brick factory. The guy graduated from music school and became addicted to hard drugs. Several times for this reason, I ended up in a hospital bed. Vasya's mother traded in the market, and her grandparents were involved in raising her son. It was they who gave their grandson his first synthesizer, the Yamaha 51.

Then Vakulenko got into the Rostov rap party. He performed with the Kasta group under the pseudonym Basta Khryu. In 1998, the rapper recorded the song "My Game", which is still considered one of the artist's best tracks. The aspiring musician was invited to perform at the festival at the regional Sports Palace, where 6,000 people listened to him. Thanks to that performance, Vakulenko received his first $ 100 and became known throughout the region.

At about the same time, two of the artist's tracks were included in the collection City of Happiness, which came out with a circulation of 300 thousand cassettes. These songs were played in cafes in the Black Sea resorts. Basta began performing regularly, mainly at festivals organized by large companies (Beeline, Sprite, North Caucasus Railways).

On April 22, 2003, Basta "gave up" drugs. He named this date in an interview with the Vdud Youtube channel.

In 2005, a well-known performer at that time, Bogdan Titomir, came to Rostov. He offered Baste to sell some of his songs. To this the Rostovite, as they say, refused. Although, according to another version, Vakulenko nevertheless presented several of his texts to the author of High Energy. Titomir, in turn, showed songs of the "Rostov type" to the owner of the chain of metropolitan pubs "Kruzhka" Yevgeny Antimony. He was just about to invest in the Gazgolder club on the site of the old Arma plant in Moscow.

At the invitation of Antimony, Vakulenko came to Moscow. He is paid for housing, food and a studio to record an album. According to Forbes, it cost $ 100,000 to record the first record. At the same time, the "Gas holder" was being completed. Banker Anton Treushnikov helped launch this project - he invested about $ 1 million in the club. This money was also used to build premises where musicians could work.

In 2006, the creative association "Gazgolder" was established. For 10 years, the music label has released 11 records. Basta became the best-selling Russian-speaking artist in i-Tunes and launched three of his own projects - Noggano, NINT3NDO and StereoBro. About a dozen artists work on the Basta label. Internet audience coverage is about 15 million people. Last April, Basta conquered the largest concert venue in the country - the Olimpiysky Concert Hall, gathering 35,000 spectators.

In 2014, the Gazgolder label made a film of the same name, which earned $ 1.8 million at the box office. Today Basta gives about 100 concerts a year. Each one brings him an average of about 2 million rubles. The total income of all Vakulenko's businesses is approximately 240 million rubles per year. Costs account for half of this amount.

Recall that at the end of July Forbes magazine has a list of the richest celebrities in the country. Vakulenko took 13th place in the ranking.

Last Tuesday Basta came to Rostov to. Kirill Tolmatsky filed a lawsuit against the rapper for insults on Twitter. According to a court decision, Vakulenko must pay 350 thousand rubles for four offensive messages on social media.

Musician, producer, children's writer, YouTube blogger, TV man and multidisciplinary businessman Vasily Vakulenko, known to the Russian audience under the pseudonym Basta, meets us in the Gazgolder space. This is a label where the musician himself and his many wards are recorded. Vasily is wearing a promotional T-shirt of his new album "Dad at a Rave", released as part of the N1NT3ND0 project.

Along the walls of Basta's "office", a large two-story loft, there are long rails with clothes, underneath are fashionable sneakers lined up in a row. Vakulenko is a well-known hunter for "drops" and "collabs". There is a computer with a synthesizer nearby. “Listen to how she sings, the girl is only 14 years old,” - Basta includes a musical recording from a promising young singer. Our conversation starts with music, although interviews are mostly not about music.

— "Daddy at a Rave" is the second release of your project N1NT3ND0. What is his idea and why did the album happen eight years after the first one was released?

- I called it "uncle's return." When I checked out the album in iTunes, I was surprised that eight years had already passed - I thought only five. I wanted to look at the image that I have now, in the context of N1NT3ND0. A retired uncle of 40-45 years old, who in the end, of course, is killed. I found it interesting.

— Is it a very thick, "black oil" sound - a tribute to trends?

- No. The first album N1NT3ND0 was also heavy: no one did such a "southern" sound then. But it turned out to be in demand, had high ratings. So I wanted to make this kind of straight, dumb, viscous music, no frills, very marginal.

— I wanted to talk a little about your many alter egos. Here is the song "Delyuga" from your new album, and in it the words: "This is ours, bitch, deluga - kill yourself." When I was preparing for the interview, I listened to it with headphones, and in my hands I was holding the children's book you wrote - there among the heroes are the panda Misha, the dragon Gosha and the beetle Trypsi. In parallel, on the monitor, I have the "Voice" program with your participation. How do you manage to multiply all these images? How does this technically happen? I still understand when Maxim Fadeev writes children's books - he is harmonious in this. But you are a brutal Rostov guy.

- There are no special technologies and systems. In ordinary life, when meeting with friends, we talk about one thing. We behave differently with children. When we visit mom, we try to be better, more amazing. I am just documenting these different states. In one of Noggano's tracks, there is a line: "To be an example is to the president with the prime minister." I do not pretend to be holy, but within me there is a clear understanding of who I am, where and why I am going. For my listeners, the most thankless thing is to expect something concrete from me. I do what I like - with an eye on criticism, taking into account the comments. But in any case, I have my own vision of how it should be.

Georgy Kardava

— About criticism. Judging by the comments on social networks, many people are being bombarded by you now. Both from projects and from music. Basically, it all comes down to the fact that "Basta is not the same." It seemed to me that this is due to the fact that people cannot ram in their heads all these your hypostases.

- You see, I was “not the same” when I first appeared in music: not too rap, not too rock, not too radio. All these "not too much" have led me to understand: my place is only my place. It is impossible to create something and be afraid of claims: otherwise you will simply burn out without doing anything. People listen to my music, come to my concerts. They share with me my ups and downs, support. Yes, it is sometimes difficult for them to understand how to treat me, but for me it is also a very interesting game. There are Noggano fans who are destroying Basta. N1NT3ND0 also has its fans. I am pleased that people are seriously immersed in this. But bots write something dirty and bad all the same, with rare exceptions.

— You speak as if a study was carried out on this score.

- And I did. After commenting on the pension reform and after the tragic death of Kirill Tolmatsky (Basta and Kirill Tolmatsky had a conflict. - RBC Style). And that's all - she found the scythe on the stone. I began to read it and saw a number of equally composed sentences that come with a certain frequency from closed accounts. On the other hand, well, yes, a certain number of people hate me. But what can I do? They do not need my truth, they only need to depersonalize me and turn me into whoever they need: into a downtrodden, intimidated, confused person.

— A little more about comments on the Internet. I wrote myself one very funny: "Leave Basta alone, you need to treat him like Alla Pugacheva, like the prima donna of Russian rap." Do you agree with this?

- Of course not. Some people perceive Instagram as a platform for expressing serious emotional experiences, pouring there their dissatisfaction with life, bitterness from the inability to realize some plans. For a lot of people, rappers, musicians, my success and my achievements are unbearable. So for someone I may be Alla Pugacheva, but if Alla Pugacheva wrote such albums as N1NT3ND0 writes, that would be cool.

Georgy Kardava

— Do you have a moral tuning fork today? Well, except for BadComedian (the blogger criticized Basta for justifying the pension reform, after which the musician publicly apologized. - RBC Style).

- BadComedian is not a moral tuning fork. He just sublimates some kind of clear to me look. But if we talk about this story, then I turned a deaf ear, and then I spoke out, it was my personal opinion. I'm surprised that Zhenya (BadComedian's real name is Evgeny Bazhenov. - RBC Style) did not say anything about the president in his videos, and all the anger worthy of "liberal-minded freedom fighters" was directed at me. But I accept it.

— You called him later.

- Immediately after the video came out. He asked: “Zhenya, you’re an honest person, why didn’t you call me and find out my opinion? You are not a jaundice, not a TV man. How do you differ from them then? " I actually have as many questions for him as he has for me. For example, regarding the patronage that he provided to Bykov's TV series "Sleeping": Zhenya did not smash him into the trash, which should have been done.

— And he somehow influenced your film ambitions, criticizing the film with your participation ("Gas holder. Klubare", where Basta was filmed. - RBC Style)?

- Of course not. He's a blogger who took the idea of ​​doing movie reviews from the Americans. But next to him there were no people who would say: "Zhen, you are just a blogger who makes funny reviews." I am very sad that he shot just such a review for our first film "Gas Holder" (BadComedian criticized the picture. - RBC Style). We did not take government money and did everything as best we could. But then he acted as the one who smears something interesting. BadComedian is really talented, no doubt, but for some reason all his videos dedicated to serious cinema are fucking useless. That’s what should worry him.

— You mentioned Kirill Tolmatsky above. I, frankly, did not plan to ask you about him, because you have already formulated in one of your interviews your position - that a conflict between two people is one thing, and the death of a person who has a son left is another, it is a tragedy. You've known Kirill's son for a long time. Have you seen him since the death of his father?

- No, I haven't seen you.

- Do you communicate?

- No.

— Have you expressed condolences?

- No, I spoke on Instagram. And, of course, there were people who wrote unpleasant words in the spirit of "you'd better be dead." I did it for myself and I think it is right. If I can be of any help and help, I am always ready - for him and his mother.

I do not pretend to be holy, but within me there is a clear understanding of who I am, where and why I am going.

— Let's talk about your business. I know that you have opened a restaurant in Moscow - rib Frank. This is your first restaurant project, isn't it? How did you come up with the idea?

- First, yes. And I came to the idea like this: guys from St. Petersburg appeared who offered to create a project. We thought about everything for a very long time, figured out what was what, and in the end it became clear that this did not contradict my views. The story is interesting, for some reason I am sure of it, so we will “inflate” as much as possible: now there is talk about Rostov.

— Rostov-on-Don is one of the Russian gastronomic capitals now.

- Yes, there are a lot of good restaurants and, in general, kitchen traditions are rich: representatives of many nationalities live in one place, everything is mixed and mixed. Very interesting!

— What other businesses do you have outside of music now?

- Restaurant "Frank by Basta", audio equipment Z, jewelry custom agency - now we are just going to finish the collection. Well, and a few more mini-projects: for example, a sports club.

- We did this project with colleagues and have been preparing it for almost two years. Now it is getting closer to the start - soon we will introduce MusicDealer headphones and speakers. This is the first product line of Z. We have been choosing models, equipment, mechanisms for a very long time, looked at more than 400 form factors in order to choose the optimal ones. I hope that everything will work out, because both the headphones themselves and the sound they reproduce are of high quality, especially in relation to the price. In my opinion, this is a very worthy and competitive product.

— Are you planning to make money on it?

Let's see. Now the business is generally very long. To get paid, you have to either do big ad campaigns or just wait.

— About advertising campaigns. You have quite a few of them lately - KFC Battle, Head & Shoulders are advertising. They pay a lot of money in advertising, right?

- The sums, of course, are impressive, but I do commercials because they give me the opportunity to invest money in my main projects.

Georgy Kardava

— That is, it is done in order to have the funds to invest in music?

- Rather, in order to avoid unnecessary product placement. Let's say I shot an accompanying video for N1NT3ND0 songs worth 5 million rubles. If there was some kind of product placement, it would lose its meaning, the concept would crumble before our eyes. Therefore, partnerships are needed in order to be able to invest additional money somewhere else. In addition, Head & Shoulders shampoo was on my own in the rider.

— Do you really use it?

- Yes, I'm used to it. I'm not picky in this regard. I also eat chicken legs from KFC.

— Have you offered to advertise any of the very expensive things?

- No. I am too simple, and for me this is the best estimate of my level.

— In an interview, you said that you want to advertise Rolls-Royce.

- Who doesn't want to? But I am a realist and I understand: in order to advertise Rolls-Royce, you need to be a wonderful, serious, great actor. Well, or some super musician. And I'm not a super musician, I'm just a musician.

— But you are a show business figure, a big fish.

- Large crucian carp. No, I see that people come to concerts, listen to my music. And I could advertise planes too. But I would still turn the proceeds into some kind of product.

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— On the GazLive show, for example. What, by the way, will happen to him next? (YouTube removed episodes due to bookmaker advertisements. - RBC Style.)

- I am not sure, let see what will happen. To be honest, I want to end the year with the Songs project (a talent show on TNT, where Basta is a judge - RBC Style) and take up music: I spent a lot of energy on Golos, lived on a break and thought that I would go crazy. Now I am preparing two electronic albums for release, one is ambient. A lot of material was accumulated, which there was neither time nor energy to write down.

— Did you enjoy being the host of a YouTube show?

- I was very scared and very difficult: I understand that I am not Yuri Dud. For me, Yura is generally space. Of course, I know what journalism and professionalism are, but I have always soberly assessed my abilities - in this sense, quite average. But I am very grateful to GazLive for being liberated and learned not to be afraid to ask people uncomfortable questions. Although I still don't want to offend anyone.

— What's your favorite episode?

- I really liked the issue with Maxim Galkin: no matter what question we prepared, he understood everything, treated everything with humor and looked at us like children. With Philip Kirkorov he was very funny, with Bezrukov, with Leps excellent. And the most difficult - with Milonov.

— In general, GazLive had a lot of funny jokes and high-quality trolling.

- Thank you, I'm glad it was noticeable. True, no one understood the main trolling designed for Olya Buzova. I wrote her a song specifically for the show and shot my video, and then they wrote to me: “Why did you make a song with Buzova? How could you?!" By the way, my wife told me in advance: "Vasya, people will not guess that this is a banter." And so it happened in the end.

— Are you equally comfortable on YouTube and on TV?

- On TV it is more difficult: “Golos” is generally a major league, a very high level. In the seventh season, however, it was very easy, very funny, very real - thanks to Sery (Sergei Shnurov became one of the mentors of the seventh season of the show "The Voice". - RBC Style). We turned everything into a very cool game, but on "Songs" it's easier anyway.

Georgy Kardava

— Let's get back to the music, or rather, to your label "Gas Holder". You have a pretty productive organization with a lot of music coming out. Is it important for a hip-hop artist today to release material frequently and consistently?

- It all depends on the desire and understanding of oneself. We never press, "You need to release a song." The artist just comes and says that he has a new track, and he thinks that this is a hit.

— But can you imagine a situation in "Gas Holder" when a musician like Oxxxymiron hasn't released new albums since 2015?

- And it’s right that I didn’t let it out. What for? Oxxxymiron is a rock star figure. He not only recorded amazing music and can proudly sing his songs all his life, and he will always have fans. He is a big man in himself.

— Someone says that he has reached a creative dead end.

- I think this is his game. There are many artists in the history of music who, having released even one single or very few albums, still remained classics. There are those about whom fans generally think that their aliens have abducted. Oksimiron has his own, special way. How he fought with all Russian rap, how he proved his right to life, how he tore everyone apart, what he became. And together with him all this was experienced by his fans. I do not agree with him in everything, but he is very interesting to me.

— In what moments do you find it hard and sad?

- When stories like the one with the pension reform happen, and an attack begins on me. It was very difficult and bitter for me then. In my entire life I have not taken part in any political actions, but here one of my statements attracted so much aggression to me and caused so much pain. Now it has become easier, I have done some work. It was an important experience for me, because my people supported me very much, entered into skirmishes with these endless bots, commentators. Gradually it all disappeared. But I really experienced in the process as if I was beaten with a hammer. As an infantile child, I wanted to defend my truth and prove that I am not that kind of person.

— It's just that a lot of people thought it was more of an Internet duty, sorry.

- I understand how it looked. But I never thought it was dumb to apologize. If not right - sorry, it's not difficult for me. On the other hand, I cannot chase people, grovel, prove my case by shouting: “Guys, I swear to you, I was not paid, I just said my opinion, based on what I knew then. Forgive me!" We live in a new time, and in fact, you just have to go to your concerts and sing.

In recent years, the Russian rap scene has been on the rise - the popularity of battles is growing, new stars like Scryptonite and Pharaoh are emerging, and the Gazgolder label is experiencing another wave of success. However, we are still a long way from the American industry, focused on the cult of consumption and expensive cars, and rap artists, who are rightfully considered one of the richest people in the United States. But at the same battles, Russian rappers continue to accuse opponents of poverty, and in their songs they often focus on their lifestyle, either saying that they are dressed "like homeless people", then narrating about the unprecedented growth of wealth and the purchase of branded items.

The Village spoke with three young artists - Galat, Booker D. Fred and Redo, who have just recently given up boring jobs in favor of creative work, and learned how much you can earn from battles and why you should not come to the rap industry for money.

Galat (Vladimir)

I've been making music professionally for about three or four years, and started with street battles, which later reached some unrealistic proportions.
The whole of Russia is mired in them, they even talk about it on TV. Well, I am one of those who just gathered with the boys on the street in St. Petersburg and moved along this line.
In November I will release my first full-length album, and before that I mostly threw unprofessional releases and, again, battled.

I graduated from college to become a lawyer with a degree in Social Security Law Organization. Then I entered the university for correspondence courses, now in my last year. Most likely, I will receive a diploma, although there were, of course, thoughts to give up everything and devote myself only to music.

My first job happened at the age of 17 as an office manager in a law office. Mostly I sat on calls and helped with business. With this job, I was not particularly challenged because they considered me a full-time lawyer, even though I just graduated from college. I was instructed to check documents in front of the court, and, of course, I screwed up. As a result, the office got money, and they kicked me out. The funny thing is that I told them directly that I was not qualified enough. In short, they themselves are to blame.

Then he worked in all kinds of call-centers on cold calls, was engaged in the distribution of goods. Negotiated the delivery of frozen cutlets to supermarkets and stuff like that. He was an assistant to a printer, and then a printer - he applied prints to T-shirts, but this did not last longer than a month.

Ghostwriting brings me the most money- the prices are small, but there are really a lot of orders

And finally, there was the place where I stayed the longest: this is the company that issues building permits. It was opened by a friend who invited me to the position of a customer acquisition manager, and I did a good job: I made more than 100 thousand a month. He left because he went to the hospital and decided to devote himself entirely to music. Clients for ghostwriting just appeared (writing texts to order. - Ed.), and began to pay for battles. Of course, not all battle participants get money, but if the artist is famous, they pay him well. I battled in different ways - both paid and free. In any case, this is not sky-high money and not the main source of income.

Ghostwriting brings me the most money - the prices are small, but there are really a lot of orders. Mostly beginner rappers write, and the lyrics are ordered for both songs and battles. I also sell my tracks on iTunes - it brings something, but less than the same ghostwriting. Selling merchandise is more profitable. We try to make T-shirts in small batches so that they fly apart right away.

After I started making money only by rapping, my money became better, but this is an unstable income. It can be very good, and sometimes you have to chew for a week. But mostly I'm not complaining.

Concerts make good money. After the release of the album, I will have a tour all over Russia - probably quite profitable. I never wanted to work as a lawyer, I just had to. Making money with creativity is much more pleasant.

There is a huge difference in money between the American and Russian rap industries. There you can earn a lifetime with one track or cut money from views on YouTube. We have these transfers much less. Ghostwriting, merch, concerts - this is what rappers in Russia make money on.

The hype around money in lyrics is not close to me. I like reading about what really touches the soul, no matter how snotty it may sound. But many pick up American traditions and read about the amounts that they would like to earn, embellishing a little. In the USA, this is a normal practice, no one will tell you that they are homeless and eat instant noodles. Such a person will simply not be understood.

I had a lot of offers from labels, and they were all corny about the need to share money with them. Everything that Russian labels offer you can easily do yourself. I have a manager Vlad, the dude is only 19 years old, but he handles all organizational issues alone. If a manager has brains, no label is needed.

Booker (Fedor)

I started rapping at the age of 16, and at first I just wrote poems, like many teenagers. One day I looked at what the people around me were doing in this genre, and I thought I could kick my ass. Plus, there was some need for creativity and self-realization, and over time it transformed into a career as a rap artist. This career is what brings me money.

I graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy of St. Petersburg State University with a degree in Applied Ethics. Unfortunately, with such an education, you can only become a teacher. When I entered, they predicted mountains of jobs for us, but, of course, this turned out to be untrue.

I quit my regular job about two months ago and since then I have only been doing rap. Like any young man faced with the need to earn money after university, I had many different jobs. He was a waiter, a bartender, an administrator, and a salesman - these are quite accessible professions. But despite the fact that there were prospects for development and pleasant bands, I realized that if I give myself completely to music, I can earn more.

I tried to release tracks even before the battles, but battles became a powerful catalyst for me, because I participated in almost all such projects in Russia. I've seen 200 battles live and over 300 on video. For participation in some battles, they can pay from 15 to 50 thousand, but the money is not offered immediately, and this happens irregularly. This is unstable earnings, but such fees can help a lot at some point.

This October I had my first two solo concerts in Moscow and St. Petersburg. They went well, we gathered about 100-120 people in both cities. For most Russian rappers, it is concerts that become the main source of income, because our albums are not sold normally due to copyright problems. And for these two concerts I managed to earn a little less than 50 thousand rubles. But you can get much more. Concerts are bread and butter and caviar if you are a famous rap artist.

I graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy of St. Petersburg State University with a degree in Applied Ethics. Unfortunately, with such an education, you can only become a teacher.

I've never been able to make money from ghostwriting, which is sad. This is its own sphere with special laws, which had to be poured into a little earlier. But I know that a lot of guys write lyrics for very famous artists. For people who cannot tour constantly, this is the main source of income. In Russia, there is a special attitude to ghostwriting: supposedly it is something unworthy. In the West, huge teams of such people work with artists, and everyone knows about it, but they do not sharpen their attention.

There is a huge difference between the American and Russian mentality in rap. This kind of creativity is done by really average guys from ghettos and very poor families, even if you remember Desiigner with the track "Panda". Each such guy has a fix idea: to make a lot of money and show superiority over the environment. Hence these grills, heaps of gold jewelry, and so on. And the models of earnings themselves in Russian and American rap differ significantly. Because there are labels there that provide big money, and there are also bounty hunters who snatch young talented guys and help them develop.
In our country, 90% of rappers are self-made, they organize concerts themselves, do merch and stuff like that. Despite the fact that Russian rap has taken a big step forward in recent years, I still feel like part of a bunch of enthusiasts.

In the West, a huge number of tops of the richest rappers are compiled, which at the same time are respected. Who do we have? Timati? Basta still, maybe. But Basta is a folk musician with an image of a reserved person who does not flex on his income. Recently, he generally gives the impression of an exemplary family man, an uncle in a big jeep who solves business issues. This image of a simple Rostov guy is much closer to a Russian person.

Maybe I'm an idealist, but I think that you don't need to come to rap for money: it's creativity. If you want money, please go into business. The same Timati is not engaged in creativity, but in business, in my opinion. By starting a small business or selling drugs, you can earn much more than rapping.

Redo (Nikita)

I started making music six years ago, listening to Eminem and Tech N9ne. Then they told me about grime, and I just went crazy. There was a feeling that this is a professional rap league, where only the best of the best are taken. On one of the lists, the guys made me read the texts written on the table, and were very surprised that I still hadn't written it down. This is how it all began.

With my studies, I didn’t really work out: I studied to be a physicist, but I dropped out in my third year. My head was full of music, so I *** in my studies and really could not pay attention to other things. When you are constantly thinking about rap, it is difficult to decompose the triple integral at the same time. Plus, my university was not in Moscow, so there were problems with trains, which also led to truancy. But I only regret that I did not drop out after the first year - I do not see myself at all in this area.

It was necessary to earn a living somehow, so he turned around and worked as a bartender. I just thought I like booze and coffee. What else can I work with? I really wanted to learn how to make different cocktails - get confused, make money and put a mini-bar at home. People will come to register, and you are not offering them tea and coffee, but daiquiri with Long Island. But all the time I came across bitchy women-administrators who stood over my soul and interfered, so that I did not stay anywhere longer than two months. Once I poured a dude coffee, he thanked me.
And in the evening I open VKontakte, and there a dude without an avatar asks: “Che? Rap doesn't feed you anymore? " Well, I realized that further I needed to earn somehow more carelessly.

Then I started to design, but looking for clients and making a portfolio turned out to be difficult and time-consuming. Basically I made logos, business cards, brochures, landing pages, did a little merchandise. From time to time it was possible to disrupt large orders, for example, a design for the MEPhI baseball club - a logo, a uniform, and everything else. Then they offered to do the same for Moscow State University, but something did not work out. It brought in money, but it took a lot of time to find new orders. Then I decided to design only in the musical direction. As a result, something dropped, but we have a very poor industry, and they paid some 300 rubles for the cover of the track. However, the interest in this topic remained, so I make the covers for my releases myself.

I also searched for a job as a full-time designer for a very long time and eventually found a small office in which there was always one, which is very cool. And people usually came to make some lousy business card or announcement. Do you know what traditions are in Russian design? They came and asked to write something in red letters on a blue air conditioner. But there were people who came for business cards, and then ordered something to me in private. Small money, but enough to drink coffee.

And now only music feeds, and this is how I live for the last six months.

And in the evening I open VKontakte,
a there a dude without an avatar asks: “Che? Rap doesn't feed you anymore? "

Of course, this is not a regular income of 60 or 70 thousand rubles a month. But I am not chasing the sums and am content with a living wage, thanks to which I can have a roof over my head, put on something and feed myself. I rent a house on the outskirts of Moscow, this year I have already changed four houses - this is a very nomadic way of life, which has become boring. But then I have a huge layer of free time that I can spend on music. I don't want to run and look for an extra thousand.

I get all the money from concerts and raves. Previously, he performed at Smena, now - at parties "Four by four" and Grime Ting. You get from 5 to 15 thousand rubles for performances. Previously, raves were more frequent, about two or three shows a month, but they didn’t pay that much.
And now they pay more, but there are fewer offers. I remember when at the very beginning we came to the "Editorial Office", there were 20 people, and when we started reading, someone left. Now at a rave, you can safely gather 100 people, and everyone understands the topic, especially in St. Petersburg.

Now I'm waiting for money from iTunes: my album stayed in the top charts for three weeks, and then disappeared completely. But this is normal, because there were no news feeds. Merch fed me all year. When his first batch came out, I gave out a few T-shirts to fashionistas for other people to look at and buy. As a result, the clothes sold very well.

You can make money in Russian rap, but the amount of money depends on the general level of cultural development. Previously, everyone did not care about battles, and after videos with millions of views, many more people became interested in rap. Many performers complain that they used to collect 100 prosperous people, but now half a thousand of those who do not understand anything come, just for hype. Plus Restaurateur (Alexander "Restorator" Timartsev, organizer of the Versus battle. - Ed.) started paying for battles. Previously, this could only dream of. Five years ago, only a couple of musicians were chopping babos on rap, and now the low-level layer of hype boys gathers hundreds of people at concerts and also somehow makes money.

In Russia, it makes little sense to collaborate with labels. In fact, an uncle comes to you, who does not help, but simply asks for 60% of the profit. Now the label is not so much important as your booking team and manager. We've come close to a publishing structure in America where a writer has an agent. Although, of course, there are labels that open doors for you. Here Scryptonite got into the "Gas holder" and made a lot of progress. But before the label was a prerequisite for an artist, because it provided a huge number of opportunities: sales of discs, studios, recording, organizing concerts, clips. Now both the designer and the producer of the clips can be found on the Internet.

cover: Mitjushin / Courtesy of the artist

Photo: Gennady Gulyaev / Kommersant

On a Sunday evening on Novy Arbat it is not crowded. Passers-by walk lazily along the street until they bump into a local landmark - a line at the Black Star Burger. The restaurant opened in September 2016 and is in demand among fans of the brand, who are ready to wait for hours for a burger for 195 rubles. The queues are the most striking example of the hype that was caught by the founders of the Black Star label Timati (Timur Yunusov), Pavel Kuryanov (Pasha) and Walter Chassem.

The Black Star office in the center of Moscow has an ascetic design, no "luxury". At the reception there are two stacks of papers - "for Timati's signature" and "for Pasha's signature", in Pasha's office there is a mourning poster in memory of the deceased DJ Dlee (Alexei Tagantsev), a shelf with music awards, a portrait of his wife and a wooden chessboard. Kuryanov, 33, is the CEO of Black Star, and he defines the group's development strategy. The wall opposite his desk is lined with printouts of artist audience analytics. Current and future projects under the Black Star brand are written in a column next to them - only 15.

The label remains the driver of business growth, says Pasha in a conversation with RBC magazine. According to SPARK-Interfax, in 2015, the revenue of the music business jumped threefold, to 142 million rubles, and Black Star Clothing Lines (develops Black Star Wear stores and sells a franchise in Russia and the CIS countries) almost doubled. times, up to 385 million rubles. According to Pasu, revenues from both directions increased last year, with the label ahead of the Clothing Line. And in 2017, the Black Star Burger chain will become the financial champion of the holding, which will be replenished with at least two restaurants by the end of the year, promises Pasha.

The total revenue of the Black Star group of companies at the end of 2017 will exceed 1 billion rubles, RBC magazine calculated. In addition to music, clothing and burgers, the group includes the Global Star marketing communications agency, the developer of software for the music business Make It Music, the barbershop and tattoo studio 13 by Black Star, the Black Star Sport football agency, and the BS Gaming gaming company. At the launch stage - a virtual mobile operator, beverage production and other projects. The group employs about 600 people. Timati and Pasha own shares in almost all legal entities of the group.

Rapper Timati (Photo: TASS)

Hot Dog and Dr Pepper

Tens of millions of rubles are parked near the Black Star office - Ferrari, Bentley, Mercedes are huddled in a cramped area, gloomy bearded guards wander between them. The car park is partly owned by the founders of Black Star, partly by the owners of the building, the Rudyak family of developers. Across the street from the office is Rudyakov's main asset, the Atrium shopping mall near the Kursk railway station. The first Black Star clothing store was opened in it. Pasha and Timati are friends with Ernest Rudyak, who runs the family business (Rudyak left the question of relations with Black Star without comment).

The founders of Black Star have long learned how to turn dating for the benefit of business. Pasha and Timati became friends during their school years: they both drove on roller skates and skateboards on Manezhnaya Square. Timati grew up in a wealthy family, Pasha - in the family of a metro worker and a kindergarten teacher.

Timati's father is a non-public businessman Ildar Yunusov, presumably the co-owner of the Swiss investment company Stratus Trade & Finance and a member of the board of directors of the oil pump manufacturer Art Pumping Technologies. Talks that Yunusov Sr. sponsored the start of his son's career were repeatedly denied by Timati and Pasha. “His parents never gave him money. With my pocketbooks, we used to buy one hot dog and a can of Dr Pepper, ”recalls Pasha.

Business partner and best friend of Timati, rapper Pasha

As a child, Timati became interested in hip-hop and hooked a friend on him. Soon, both got a job in the team of producer Alexander Tolmatsky, who made a rap star Decl from his son Cyril. In the shadow of someone else's glory, the friends quickly got bored, their first independent project was the organization of parties in the Marika and Most clubs. Later they launched their own establishments as promoters - B-Club and Black October Bar. “Everyone around was relaxing, and Tim and Pasha were plowing. When someone laughed at the fact that the “majors” are doing business, I said: a little time will pass, and the guys will do everything, ”recalls a longtime acquaintance of the founders of Black Star, Sergei Dok, now managing barbershop and tattoo studio 13 by Black Star.

Organizing parties helped build connections. One of the new acquaintances, producer Evgeny Orlov, invited Yunusov to the "Star Factory 4". Thanks to the TV project, the whole country learned about Timati, he signed a contract with ARS Records of Igor Krutoy (musical director of the Factory season). Pasha stayed by his side - he helped with the organization of concerts, recording songs and other processes. In the mid-2000s, friends decided that hired work was hindering their development again. According to Pasha, they had to go into debt, but they bought the contract for a "fantastic" amount at that time - $ 1 million.

Life after Timati

Above the desk of Black Star COO Walter Chassem hangs a portrait of 50 Cent. Walter, too, was once "associated with criminal people," said Pasha in an interview with Rap.ru in 2006. Today, the native of Cameroon is the "soul" of the label, he has been with the company from the very beginning. At first, Chassem invested a lot in business development: he made up his capital on football transfers, Pasha recalled in an interview with Kompaniya magazine. In 2006, the aspiring label, created by three friends, shot Timati's debut solo album Black Star. “The image of a black star was born to me back in 2001, when I observed an eclipse,” recalls Timati. There were plans to diversify the business even then, but in the early years not all ideas could be implemented due to a lack of experience and funds, Pasha admits.

A graduate of the International University with a degree in finance and credit, he quickly assessed the futility of development according to the canons of Russian show business: “I recorded a song, went around the country with concerts, shoved money into my pockets - and that's it.” Pasha also understood that he needed to get away from the Black Star tie to Timati's personality and look for new artists. But until 2012, the label's turnover did not exceed $ 1 million, attempts to develop a non-musical direction failed, and of the artists only rapper Dzhigan was promoted (in 2014 he bought out the contract and left the label). “Pasha structured the processes, and I was involved in the artists and my own development,” says Timati. According to him, for the first three or four years he “dragged” the business on himself and reinvested 80% of the profits in the company.

Business partner Timati Walter Chassem (Photo: Arseniy Neskhodimov for RBC)

Consultant Ilya Kusakin helped Pasha to establish business processes (he still conducts trainings for Black Star employees). Together they cut costs and built a sales system for which the label is today praised even by competitors. Another acquaintance of Pasha and Timati from the world of big business - Evgeny Zubitsky, co-owner of the Industrial and Metallurgical Holding (No. 190 in the Russian Forbes rating, fortune - $ 500 million; the representative of Zubitsky left without comment on RBC magazine's questions) was attracted to the shareholders. The breakthrough happened in 2012: the label signed Yegor Creed and L'One and hired Viktor Abramov, one of the most experienced managers in the rap scene, as creative director.

"Trushny" label

“I’ll find someone spreading rumors - I’ll rip my ass off!” - the question of "cheating" views of Black Star videos on YouTube causes an explosion of emotions in the creative director of the label. Abramov was one of the producers of "Caste", launched Rap.ru and the TV show "Battle for Respect", the final of which was attended by Vladimir Putin. In 2012, Abramov agreed to come for an interview with Timati and Pasha - it was interesting how Black Star attracted the "true" artist Levan Goroziya (L'One): "Before that I was embarrassed by their commercial gloss." At a personal meeting, the producer made sure that his views coincided with the vision of Pasha.

The new creative director helped the label change its artist strategy. Today there are 13 artists on Black Star, three - Creed, L'One and Mot compete in popularity with Timati. The label is looking for newcomers through the casting "Young Blood", the final choice is always up to the founders. Black Star invests up to 15 million rubles in the promotion of the new recruit.

Chuika rarely lets Timati and Pasha down. For example, they considered Creed's potential three years before the artist shot with the song "The Most-Most". Partners persuaded Pasha to "drain" the artist, but he insisted on his own and hit the jackpot: in 2016, according to Forbes, Creed earned more than Timati - $ 3.6 million. True, Pasha calls these estimates "unreliable."

A more recent example of Black Star's flexible policy towards artists is singer Klava Koka. At the casting, she conquered Abramov with her vocals and the ability to play different instruments, and at first the label team came up with the type of “very pleasant artist” for her. But the project did not go along the rails of traditional show business: Klava's songs were wrapped up on radio stations with the wording “non-format”, Black Star had to urgently change its positioning. The producers drew attention to the popularity of Koki's broadcasts on Periscope and decided to experiment with the vlog format. As a result, in less than six months, the singer turned into a “fast-growing blogger” with 250 thousand subscribers. Abramov with a satisfied smile sends his “greetings” to Koki's critics: “Our Klava is good and not vindictive. Me not".

With the arrival of Abramov, an important element of Black Star's positioning has become a more "adult" image of Timati. I had to destroy the halo of "golden youth" and look for "really big" songs, Abramov explains. Progress is noticeable in concerts: if in 2012 Timati did not collect the 6,000th Crocus City Hall, then in November 2017 the 35,000th Olimpiyskiy will be storming. Abramov explains the growth in popularity by the quality of the show, sound, marketing and rejects claims of "non-market" methods of promotion. “To get money from advertisers [companies like Black Star] need a lot of subscribers. And if there is no organic growth, investing in social media is justified, ”says Kirill Lupinos, head of Effective Records.

Timati also determines the social and political reputation of the Black Star. Loyalty to Vladimir Putin, friendship with Ramzan Kadyrov, patriotism, healthy lifestyle - these patterns are firmly entrenched in the artist. Companions Timati either share his views, or refer to apoliticality. Healthy lifestyle propaganda interferes with the signing of promising youth based on less traditional values, for example, the rapper Pharaoh, notes Pasha.

Artist as an asset

Two young men with laptops are sitting on the couch next to the reception in the Black Star office. They non-stop calling concert venue owners to sell performances by Black Star artists. “We do not wait for someone to come to us. We come ourselves, ”explains Pasha. Artists are the core of the Black Star ecosystem and a highly monetized commodity, he says. The total audience of the label on social networks is 33.2 million users, mainly Instagram and VKontakte.

To realize the advertising potential of artists, Black Star launched the Global Star agency in 2015. It was headed by Pavel Bazhenov, ex-marketing director of the label. “All artists work in their niche. For example, L'One is about motivation; in promoting it, we focused on the sports component. Now he is the top rapper among footballers and other athletes, ”says the head of Global Star. Gorozia already has contracts with Nike and VTB United League. L "One himself believes that the label manages to strike a balance between the artist's interests and advertising activity." Nobody forces you to subscribe to uncomfortable projects, "says the rapper.

“For trial”, according to Bazhenov, advertisers often choose product placement in clips. When integrating the brand into the videos, the agency uses all the marketing resources associated with the artist. Given the power of "social capital", Global Star can guarantee, for example, 2-3 million views per month. The most striking projects of Global Star are Timati and a meme song for Tantum Verde Forte, Creed as the face of Garnier's multichannel campaign, branding of Timati and L'One's tour with Vyatsky Kvass, L'One's collaboration with KFC. About 70% of the agency's projects in 2016 are Black Star contracts; Global Star receives a commission for mediation, its size is not disclosed, as well as the agency's revenue. According to Pasha, advertising accounts for up to 30% of Black Star's revenues.

Other stars are already turning to Global Star: the agency has introduced the brands Mercedes-Benz and R.O.C.S. in Valeria's video. The producer of the singer Iosif Prigogine was pleased: "The guys are progressive and talented." True, it "seemed" to him that the agency fee was a little overstated: the amount exceeded 20% of the advertiser's budget. Bazhenov plans to increase the volume of third-party orders of Global Star to 50% already in 2017, primarily through contracts in the sports industry.

Veins of gold

Pasha decided to create clothes under the Black Star Wear brand back in the mid-2000s: “I started this direction myself, invested all my savings, about 6 million rubles, in the delivery of the first product, and the batch turned out to be 90% defective”. As a result, it took almost ten years to establish the business: I had to go into debt (“they paid off only last year”), use my connections (the first store opened in the Atrium shopping center Rudyakov) and get big on production abroad. When the ruble devalued in 2014, Pasha decided to move the capacity to Russia: now almost the entire assortment is sewn at a factory near the center of Moscow. The Black Star Wear network has grown to 40 points (own and franchise), some of them in the CIS countries. The label's artists are involved in the clothing business: in stores you can buy collections in the development of which Timati and Mot participated, L'One is also working on its own line.

Pasha is sure that at the end of 2017 both the music business and retail will be overtaken by a new "gold mine" - Black Star Burger (BS Burger). Since the fall of 2016, the company has opened two restaurants - on Novy Arbat and Tsvetnoy Boulevard, both of which have had a hype effect. “This is the second queue in public catering in 25 years, after McDonald’s,” laughs Abramov. The first point was invested 20 million rubles. (the money was recaptured in three months), in the second - 25 million rubles. On peak days, one restaurant prepares 3,000 burgers.

Two years ago, ex-shareholder of the First Republican Bank Yuri Levitas came to Black Star with the idea of ​​a fast food chain. He developed a "unique" recipe for cooking meat for burgers and asked Pasha for a long time to meet with Timati. He gave up on the condition that there would be a vegetarian burger on the menu. According to legend, Levitas brought a grill to the Black Star office for the first meeting and prepared a burger for Timati there.

One of the reasons for the success of BS Burger is a secret recipe, Levitas is sure, other "ingredients" of the hype are speed (order in four minutes) and price. BS Burger occupies a niche between McDonald’s and more expensive burgers: Levitas calculated the cost of a cheeseburger so that the product was 100 rubles. cheaper than competitors, and slightly more expensive than the world's most popular fast food. “For you, these hundred rubles are nothing, but for many they are of great importance,” he says. With the cost of a burger 195 rubles. average check - 700-800 rubles. In 2017, up to five new restaurants will open in Moscow and one in Grozny. The last BS Burger will be developed jointly with the developer Movsadi Alviev, co-investor of the Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation. Levitas dreams of opening a restaurant in all major cities of the country.

The bet on the label's audience worked: Timati regularly makes a burger promo on Instagram. “It’s not surprising that people come after he lovingly removes videos, how he eats, and the juice flows through his beard and hands in black gloves,” Abramov said. Timati calls BS Burger his favorite project. “We're not going to stop at burgers,” he says. The chain will grow into the Black Star Foods division. It will include ice cream parlors, coffee shops and a steak house, Timati lists.

It is impossible to calculate the hype: this phenomenon has no mathematical formula, Levitas admits. The label's artists often come to BS Burger, Black Star Radio plays in the halls, clips and photos from Instagram with the burger hashtag on the plasmas. The queues are a consequence of the wide audience of Black Star artists, dreaming of joining the brand's values ​​at a reasonable price, says Maxim Livesey, co-owner of Brisket BBQ and Ferma Burger restaurants: "Their client bites off a burger, screwing up his eyes, and presents himself on an 80-foot yacht." ...

When Yegor Creed has a haircut at 13 by Black Star, he writes on the social network already at the exit from the salon. “Otherwise, there will be a line of 500 girls here,” laughs the manager Sergei Dok. The studio is one of Black Star's initiatives claiming the next business explosion.

The salon, which opened at the end of 2016, is fully loaded: about 60 people come to the haircut every day, the appointment with the tattooists is filled for several days in advance. Ex-co-owner of the Tattoo 3000 network Doc has long dreamed of doing business with Timati and Pasha. But the matter did not go beyond discussion for a long time: there was no suitable point. Ernest Rudyak, who had vacated premises on Bolshaya Dmitrovka, helped. "Everyone should think: how did they manage to sit on the street where the boutiques Prada and Louis Vuitton are located?" - explains Doc. He assures that the rental price is "market"; about 2 million rubles per month (at a rate of 85 thousand per 1 sq. m.), the commercial real estate consultant JLL cites data.

The cost of haircuts at 13 by Black Star is about 15% higher than the market average. The most popular is a men's haircut for 2 thousand rubles. Star masters were lured away from competitors. The co-founder of the Boy Cut network Nazim Zeynalov, from whom several employees were taken away from Black Star, believes that the audience of 13 by Black Star differs from the audience of the label's artists: “The main audience of the artists is young guys who are not ready to pay so much. But they are processing the audience from Dmitrovka, surrounded by the offices of large companies. "

Tattooed from head to toe, Doc notes that the tattoo workshop located on the second floor of the studio is more of an "image story" for Black Star. But you can also make money on it: the cost of an hour session is 30% higher than the market average (5 thousand rubles per hour). Doc wants to bring the studio's revenue to 10 million rubles. per month. He does not disclose the current volume of income, but specifies that for five months of work, the investments "fought back". Doc is preparing to open a barber academy to help replicate the business. The plans include a salon for a female audience.

Another ambitious Black Star project is a football agency led by Yuri Stromberger. This is a project at the intersection of sports and celebrity marketing: Black Star Sport (BS Sport) plans to conclude contracts with young footballers and turn them into stars for subsequent sale. BS Sport is advised by the RFU Vice-President Sergey Anokhin. The footballers will train at the base of FC Strogino, the head of the board of trustees of which is Anokhin, and the head coach is Stromberger's father. The BS Sport budget includes up to 15 million rubles. in year. The agency could grow into a full-fledged football club, says Stromberger.

By the end of 2017, the holding is to be replenished with the virtual operator Stars Mobile, with plans for the production of soft drinks, gyms and a boutique hotel. Pashu is inspired by the stories of Sam Walton and Sergei Galitsky and follows the growth of the rapper Jay-Z's business empire.
“Our strategy is this: we have to make a cool product and try to grow the market, not a share in it. It is better to have 10% of the market of 100 billion rubles than 80% of the market of 100 million rubles, ”sums up Pasha. None of the analysts have ever evaluated the Black Star brand. In response to the question of RBC magazine, what kind of capitalization they dream of in the label, Pasha thinks for a second and either jokingly or seriously gives out: “50 billion. Not rubles, of course. "