Basta(real name - Vasily Mikhailovich Vakulenko) (born April 20, 1980, Rostov-on-Don) - a popular Russian rap artist, composer, TV and radio host, actor, screenwriter, director and producer. Also known by aliases such as Noggano And N1NT3ND0.

Presenter on NEXT FM radio, also director of several films on gazgolder.com. Together with Coupe, he leads Hip Hop TV on the Gas Tank. Vasily founded the Gazgolder label in 2007 and is its owner.

The song "My Game", written under the pseudonym Basta Khryu in 1998, was the beginning of his solo career as a hip-hop artist.

As of February 2012, 7 albums were released: 3 numbered under the pseudonym "Basta" (plus a joint album with rapper Guf), 2 - from "Noggano", 1 - from "Nintendo" ("N1NT3ND0").

Vasily Mikhailovich Vakulenko was born in 1980 in Rostov, in a military family.

In addition to the general education school, he studied at the music school. He also studied at the music school at the conductor's department. While studying music, Basta became seriously interested in hip-hop. Since the age of 15, he has been writing and reading rap. On June 11, 2009 he married and on June 12, 2009 he married Elena Pinskaya. On December 4, 2009, their daughter Masha was born.

At the age of 16-17, I listened to a lot of different music, I tried to read it myself and at the age of 17 I recorded my first track, “City”. From that moment, the movement in music began. After the release of the song "My Game", Vasya began to use drugs because of the feeling that no one needed him. However, he was able to get out of the drug "pit", vowing that he would never fall on this rake again.

Basta Oink

Since 1997, he participated in the group "Psycholyric" (this was the original composition of the "Casta"). At the age of 17, he was known in the group as Basta Khryu and wrote the song “City” for her, which was included in the album of the Psycholyric group - “First Strike”.

It was Basta Khryu who came up with the idea to rename "Psycholyric" to "Caste". His friend Vladi, the leader of the group, warmly accepted this idea. The group re-recorded the song "First Strike", making this song the hallmark of the group. In 1998, Basta Khryu wrote a solo song "My Game".

Basta

Basta did not stay at the school at the conductor's department. By that time, and it was 1996, he had already written the first song "My City" and assembled a group called "Street Sounds" - Street sound. Vasily was listed in its composition under the name of Basta Khryu. “Since childhood, they called me Piggy, because I scattered everything in an incomprehensible place,” Basta explains.

Around the same time, the famous Rostov rap movement was born, which in the next decade became the leader in the country. Basta was a direct participant in the process. And he even participated with the track "First Strike" in a large and noisy association of young rappers - the Rostov Caste, which later became the Caste group.

Then Basta moved in his own, more lyrical direction. The track "My game" became one of the main ones in his biography. Vasya Vakulenko became famous throughout Rostov. "Star fever? No, it didn't. There were drugs and older friends, real hooligans,” recalls Vasya. “I can definitely say that this song saved me more than once. Sometimes they wanted to take my life, and when they found out that it was me, they left me alone.

All this hard and full of misfortunes life has become a story that is now rhymed in his albums. “In 2002, my friend Zhora extorted money from his mother and we bought a computer. Vadik QP reduced the first demo to the future album. These very tracks accidentally got to Bogdan Titomir and he suggested that the guys go to Moscow. It was 2004. And 2 years later, the album "Basta 1" was released and the clip "Autumn" began to be played on TV. Basta's Moscow life is inextricably linked with the Gas Holder. At that time, the club had just opened and had the status of the most closed institution in Moscow. But Basta stayed away from the local rap party. The first new acquaintance - her representative - was Smokey Mo, and later Vasya recognized Guf. “Once I approached Guf at a concert, he remembered “My Game”, we decided to make a cover version, which was released on the album “Basta 2,” says Vasya. But the real explosion happened immediately after that, when Basta took part in the clip of the Centr group “City of Roads”. After that, the glory of Basta went far beyond the borders of his native Rostov and Moscow.

Rained down nominations, prizes, awards and statuses. The second album "Basta 2" was released in 2007 and became a bestseller. It sounded older and more varied. Having released two releases between them under the pseudonym Noggano, Basta wrote the third disc already in the status of one of the country's leading rap artists. The new material is designed for a wider audience, and a selection of hits "Urban", "Rostov", "The Sun is not visible" and "California" is not the first time testing the strength of the largest venues in Moscow.

field must not be empty Basta was born in 1980 in Rostov, in a military family. In addition to the general education school, he studied at the music school. At the age of 15, he first tried to write rap, gathered his own group. Entered the school at the conductor's department. But, having completed the first year, he left, because it became clear that his sphere of interests lay far from the school program. Hip-hop has become the most vital and attractive for Basta. Then it was the Wu-tanc clan, Ol'dirty Bastard, Busta Rhymes and hip-hop stars of the time. At the age of 16-17, Basta listened to a lot of different music, he tried to read himself and at the age of 17 he recorded his first track, “City”. From that moment, the movement in music began. Here is what Basta himself says about his musical preferences: “I like direct music, of an honest nature. I listen to a lot of new things, friends and colleagues throw me up. Here is Mityai, he has such a collection of rap, such knowledge of the material and approach to choosing high-quality music - I bow." At the age of 18, Basta wrote the song "My Game", it became so popular that the whole of Rostov and the whole south of Russia listened to it. Until now, in the Internet charts, she takes places in the top ten, people remember her and listen to her. From that moment on, Basta began to work as a musician, gave concerts in Rostov and along the entire Black Sea coast, in the Krasnodar Territory, in the cities of the North Caucasus. The program was done together with a close friend, now deceased - Igor Zhelezka, and everyone still sang solo. They performed at small venues, at large ones, gathered 6-7 thousand people each, gave ordinary city concerts. Then Basta disappeared from large venues for several years. There was no interest in concerts, there were doubts that his music is normal music and people are interested in it, although there was no desire to do anything other than music. In 2002, Yuri Volos, one of his friends, suggested that Basta make a studio and write music at home. It was a turning point, when everything started all over again, from scratch. Yura installed a computer and sound equipment at home, and Basta restored old songs, wrote new lyrics, new melodies. But when the tracks were written, it turned out that it was not so easy to find a use for them - no one doubted Basta's talent, but few of the producers believed in him, although concert activity resumed - people did not forget about him. At that moment, it became obvious that a new round was needed. Basta, together with Yuri Volos, arrived in Moscow, wandered around and unsuccessfully looked for an opportunity to break into some record label. Later, Basta will write a song about this time - "stupid labels, no chance." However, the efforts were not in vain - one of the demo discs fell into the hands of Bogdan Titomir, who brought Basta and his associates to the Gazgolder Creative Association, where they got the opportunity to do what they love. Last spring, the album "Basta I" was released and is now preparing to release the second, with the working title "Basta 2", which is scheduled for release in the winter. The clip "Autumn" for the song from the first album was released on MuzTV in March, where it stood in the hit parade for 3.5 months, taking first place for half of this time. In the Da Charta parade, he still takes prizes (for more than six months). On the international interactive channel Music Box, the clip is constantly broadcast, which, given the voting system of the channel, indicates the popularity of the artist. Songs from the first album are successfully rotated on NEXT radio, Love FM, Popsa radio, D-fm and some others. In America, on the only 24-hour Russian radio station "Radio Vse" (87. 7 FM www. radiovse. com), in the daily music program "Hit Attack", where the top ten most popular performers in the US in Russian are determined, out of ten six places are occupied by Basta's songs from the first album "Basta I". Such an accumulation of songs by one artist in the hit parade at the same time is a fact that has no analogues in history. Basta is a famous rapper, but rap is just an organic form for speaking in modern language on eternal topics - about love, happiness, loss ... His songs do not fit into the rigid framework of some well-known direction, rather, they create a new , an immediately and unmistakably recognizable style, the bright features of which are the correct, beautiful Russian language, understandable to a listener from any stratum of society, and simple melodies, harmonious and pleasant. His songs conquer people who are far from traditional rap. In early December, the first big concert of Basta's tour will take place in Moscow. The concert will be held at the GazGallery, the show will be organized by the Moscow production center Gazgolder. Basta will sing accompanied by live musicians (bass, drums, solo guitars, keyboards) and a powerful light show. Viewers will hear all the songs from the first album and half of the songs from the second. Friends and colleagues of Basta will take part in the concert.

Vasily Mikhailovich Vakulenko, better known as Basta. Also, his work has other, no less famous pseudonyms - Noggano and Nintendo.

Singer-rapper, musician, actor and radio host. He is actively engaged in producing under his own brand Gazgolder.

Childhood and youth

The future representative of rap culture was born in Rostov-on-Don on April 20, 1980. His parents were military men.

The grandmother had a great influence on the boy. It was she who convinced Vasily to start studying at a music school.

There he first went on stage and realized that this is what he would like to do in life.

Vasily in childhood

As a teenager, he began to listen to the work of Ol' Dirty Bastards, Busta Rhymes and the Wu-Tang Clan.

It was they who inspired at the age of 15 to make his first debut in rap reading.

He turned out to be successful, and Vasily decides to develop in this particular musical genre.

At the insistence of the family, after school, he submits documents for admission to a music school.

It was boring for him to comprehend the intricacies of the conductor's profession. Having passed the summer session and having completed only 1 course, Vasily quits his studies.

He is attracted by rap culture, and at the age of 17 the young man is already creating his first track "City".

The beginning of the creative path

In 1997, Vasily Vakulenko (Basta) became a full-fledged member of the Psycholyric group.

After 2 years, this team, at the suggestion of Vasily, will be renamed "Casta".

The track "City" was included in the group's debut album - "First Strike". At this time, Vasily takes on the pseudonym Basta Khryu.

The first popularity comes, but everyone knows him under an assumed name.

At the age of 18, Basta writes the work that he considers the most important in his career - "My Game".

He performed it at the local Sports Palace during some festive mass event.

This brings him great success and recognition on the street. The inspired young man begins to work even more actively.

Having created a concert program with Igor Zhelezka, he begins to organize the first tour. At first they perform at small venues in their native Rostov.

Seeing the success and demand from the public, they give concerts throughout the Krasnodar Territory.

They began to be trusted with large venues where the group could gather up to 7 thousand people.

Then Basta took a breather. For some time nothing was known about him. He retired from concert activity.

The history of the creation of the Basta group

In 2002, Vasily's friend Yuri Volos suggested that he organize a home studio and record new tracks without leaving his home.

Yuri installed sound equipment and a computer, and Basta again took up creativity.

He began to write new compositions and restore old tracks.

However, they failed to find producers for the release and promotion of new songs. It was decided to try their luck in the capital.

Basta and Y. Volos leave for Moscow with the hope of signing a contract with some recording studio there.

However, everything is not going very well. Then a young rapper PKK joins the friends.

Basta will subsequently write many joint compositions with him.

One of the draft versions of the disc falls into the hands of Bogdan Titomir. It is he who brings the guys to the Gazgolder recording association.

In 2006, the first album of the Basta group was presented to the public. He had great success. The entire edition sold out in a few weeks.

Soon the musicians are shooting a video clip for the song "Autumn". He immediately appears on the air of music channels.

In 2007, the Basta group is finishing work on the next album, Basta-2. Here you can hear joint tracks with KRP, Maxim, Lesya Verba.

A year later, the clip "City of Roads" was awarded the prestigious MTV Russia Music Awards.

This gave an additional impetus to further development in this area. In the spring of 2010, Basta presents the next disc - "Basta 3".

This year, Vasily begins to work as a composer. He writes music scores and soundtracks for films.

Joint work with Guf results in a new album 'Basta / Guf' (release date: 11/10/2010).

Participation in other projects

Basta has a unique performance. In addition to music, he is engaged in dubbing.

In 2009, he worked on the soundtrack for the film District 13: Ultimatum. At the beginning of 2011, Basta creates a new project called Bratia Stereo.

Coupet and other musicians also participate in it. Together they create a mix of a variety of musical styles.

Already in October, the release of the album N1NT3ND0 (Nintendo) took place. In 2013, the documentary film “Vladimir Mayakovsky. Third wheel".

In this picture, Vasily Vakulenko (Basta) himself reads the poet's poems. In September of this year, he writes music for the film "Spring in Florence", dedicated to the life of the artist E. Bulatov.

In 2014, Basta, together with the Gazgolder team, creates his full-length film "Gazgolder".

Here the rapper tries himself as a director, screenwriter and producer.

Moreover, he plays the main role in his picture. The film was a box office failure and received a negative response from critics.

In 2015, he received invitations to participate as a mentor in the TV project "Voice". Basta occupied the red chair for 4 months.

In 2017, a presentation of a new video for the song "Samsara" took place. In it, the singer focused on family values.

Baby photos of Basta and his friends appear in the video.

Personal life

Married to Elena Pinskaya. Their acquaintance happened by chance in one of the Moscow restaurants in November 2007.

And the initiative was shown by the girl who was there with her friend. The rapper also came to the restaurant not alone, but with a companion.

With Elena Pinskaya

Elena had previously been interested in Basta's work, so she immediately recognized him as a famous person.

When the singer went outside, the girl followed him. She introduced herself first, and expressed her admiration for the musician's talent.

I left my phone number. Thus began their romance, which six months later turned into a civil marriage.

Vasily already understood that Elena would become his wife. He made proposals to the girl several times, but received a polite refusal.

She was married in her youth, and this experience turned out to be negative. Elena was not ready to go to the registry office, as she was afraid to make a mistake again.

However, Basta stubbornly sought the girl's hand. He also insisted on the wedding.

With kids

Only when Elena found out about the pregnancy, the young people were able to sign. Official registration took place on 11.06.2009.

Basta, aka Vakulenko Vasily Mikhailovich, is also known under the creative names of Noggano and Nintendo. He is a prominent representative of Russian rap culture, singer, actor, musician, TV and radio host, producer and director, owner of the Gazgolder label.

Basta's childhood

Vasily was born on April 20, 1980 in the family of a serviceman from Rostov-on-Don. In addition to the secondary school of the future rapper, he also graduated from the musical school, on his grandmother's initiative. “Be patient, granddaughter, then it will come in handy for you,” she urged.

At the age of 15, he, inspired by the work of the Wu-Tang Clan, Ol "Dirty Bastards and Busta Rhymes, tried to rap for the first time. The debut turned out to be successful, and he decided to move on in this direction.

After graduating from school, Vasily entered the music school as a conductor, but left after the first course, realizing that the classes did not carry any practical value.

Carier start

In 1997, 17-year-old Vasily, who took the pseudonym Basta Khryu, joined the Psycholyric rap group, which, on his initiative, was soon renamed Cast. With his participation in 1997, the album "First Strike" was recorded (tracks "City", "First Strike" and "Just Jump Higher"). However, in 1998, the paths of "Casta" and Basta diverged.

At the age of 18, "Basta" wrote his first hit - the song "My Game", which the author to this day considers one of the most important stages of his creative career. Rostovites were the first to hear the new composition at Basta's performance at the local sports palace. Soon, his work was heard by the inhabitants of the Black Sea region and the Krasnodar Territory.

Basta - "My game" (ft Guf)

Then, for some time, the performer left the stage, returning only in 2002, when his close friend Yuri Volos aka Zhora offered to make a home recording studio. But after a long break, none of the producers wanted to collaborate with young rappers, and in search of a label that would take them under its wing, Vasily and Yuri decided to move to Moscow. Later, about this time, Basta spoke like this: "Dumb labels, no chance."

gas holder

Basta's demo disc (at that time he began to call himself Basta Bastilio) fell to Bogdan Titomir, who became the producer of the guy under the auspices of the Gas Holder. It was on this label that Basta's first album, Basta 1, was released, which included 19 solo tracks by the rapper, only two of which were recorded together with the KRP. The composition of the disc included "My game", which has become legendary - according to tradition, Basta performs it at every concert. In the same year, Basta released the first clip "Autumn", which got into wide TV rotation. The success inspired the rapper to soon release the video "Once and For All".

Basta - "Autumn"

2007 was, without exaggeration, a turning point for Basta. Firstly, his second album "Basta 2" was released, and with it a number of bright video works: "Our Summer", "So Spring Cries", "Inner Fighter". The 50,000th edition of the disc was sold out in 90 days. Listeners were waiting for 17 songs, including a duet with Guf ("My Game") by singer Maxim ("Our Summer").

Secondly, foreign developers of computer games from Rockstar became interested in the performer, and in the Grand Theft Auto IV, released in April 2008, Basta's song "Mama" sounded.

Basta: interesting facts

Thirdly, Basta became a co-owner of the Gazgolder label, and then opened a new page of creativity under the new pseudonym Noggano. Unlike Basta's deeply lyrical tracks, Noggano delighted listeners with a tougher, bolder and nihilistic hip-hop.

Under the new pseudonym, Vasily released the following three albums: "First" in 2008, "Warm" in 2009, "Unreleased" in 2010.

In 2008, the video filmed for the song "City of Roads" received the MTV Russia Music Awards. In addition to changing his pseudonym, in the same 2008, the rap artist tried himself in different genres: screenwriter, director, producer and actor. It happened during the filming of his own film - "The Tea Drinker".

Vasily liked writing the script, so he began work, which the audience soon saw under the name "Tales for Adults." In 2008, the video filmed for the song "City of Roads" received the MTV Russia Music Awards. In 2011, already under the new pseudonym "Nintendo", Vasily again surprised everyone by releasing a new album - "Nintendo", which was performed in an unusual style for all admirers of creativity and the artist himself - "Cyber-geng".

To date, Bast's creative experience in the "cinema" genre has a fairly solid list, namely acting roles in six films, the most popular of which is "Heat", 4 scripts for films, director and producer simultaneously in two projects.

In the fall of 2015, the rap artist Basta became one of the judges and mentor of the world-famous Voice project, and his colleagues in the workshop became

Biography

Vasily Mikhailovich Vakulenko is a Russian musician (rap and other genres performer, beatmaker, composer), TV and radio host, actor, screenwriter, director and producer. Since 2007 - co-owner of the Gazgolder label.

Known under the creative pseudonyms and projects of Bast, Noggano, N1NT3ND0 (Nintendo); earlier - Basta Oink, Basta Bastillio. Co-founder and member of the Bratia Stereo team, former member of the Street Sounds (1996), Psycholyric (1997-1998), United Caste (1998-2000), Free Zone (2000-2001) bands.

Host of Gazgolder Live broadcasts on DFM radio station. Previously, he was a host on Next FM radio, a host of Hip-Hop TV on Gas Holder, a mentor in the fourth season of the TV show Voice.

Vasily Vakulenko was born into a military family. He studied at secondary school No. 32 in the city of Rostov-on-Don, in addition, he studied at a music school (where his grandmother determined him with the words: “You are now suffering, granddaughter, you play, and then you will grow up and it will come in handy for you”). At the age of 15, he first tried to write rap, gathered his own group. He entered the school at the conductor's department, but was expelled due to poor progress. Hip-hop became the most vital and attractive for Vasily (then it was Wu-tang clan, Ol'dirty Bastard, Busta Rhymes and hip-hop stars of that time).

First successes

At the age of 16-17, Vasily listened to a lot of different music, he himself tried to rap. In 1997, he became a member of the Psycholyric group (which in 1999, in accordance with Vasily's proposal, supported by the leader of the Vladi group, was renamed Casta). Now Vasily Vakulenko became known as Basta Khryu and the author of his first track - the song "City", which was included in the "First Strike" of the Psycholyric group.

From that moment on, Basta is an active participant in the Rostov rap movement; at the same time, he moves in his own direction, more lyrical and melodic. Here is what Basta himself said about his musical preferences: “I like direct music, of an honest nature. I listen to a lot of new things, friends and colleagues throw me up. Here is Mityai, he has such a collection of rap, such knowledge of the material and approach to choosing high-quality music - I bow."

At the age of 18, Basta wrote the song "My Game" (which he considers one of the main songs in his biography) and performed it during a large-scale event at the Rostov Palace of Sports; Subsequently, Basta noted that it was after this performance that he felt himself "famous." After this success, Basta began to work actively as a musician, gave concerts in Rostov and along the entire Black Sea coast, in the Krasnodar Territory, in the cities of the North Caucasus. The program was made together with a close friend Igor Zhelezka; they performed at small venues, at large ones, gathered 6-7 thousand people each, gave ordinary city concerts.

Then Basta disappeared from large venues for several years. In 2002, Yuri Volos, one of his friends, suggested that Basta make a studio and write music at home. Yura installed a computer and sound equipment at home, and Basta restored old songs, wrote new lyrics, new melodies. But when the tracks were written, it turned out that few of the producers believed in him, although the concert activity resumed. Then Basta, together with Yuri Volos, came to Moscow - in search of the possibility of cooperation with some record label (later Basta would write a song about this time - “stupid labels, no chance”). One of the demo discs fell into the hands of Bogdan Titomir, who brought Basta and his comrades to the Gazgolder creative association.

2006-2010

In 2006, the debut album "Basta 1" was released, the clip "Autumn" hit television. Basta kept aloof from the local Moscow rap party. Smokey Mo became the first new acquaintance from her, and later Vasya met Guf. The real fame for the performer came immediately after Basta took part in the clip of the Centr group “City of Roads”. In 2008, the joint video received the MTV Russia Music Awards.

The second album "Basta 2" was released in 2007 and became a bestseller.

In the same year, the character of Noggano appears in the work of Vakulenko. Then Vasily already performed under the pseudonym Basta and read lyrical, even romantic tracks. “Noggano is a hooligan project. This is a swindler, a womanizer and a bastard. An asocial and immoral type - this is exactly the characteristic that Vasily Vakulenko gives to his hero. - When Basta's second album came out, I started writing for Noggano. There was courage, on which I made a lot of material.

In 2008, the N1NT3ND0 project (Nintendo) appeared, the genre of which the performer himself characterizes as "cyber-gang", that is, extremely brutal rap, the action of which seems to take place in the space of a video game (Rostov-on-Don 90- x years). The lyrics of the project's songs have a serious theme with a special sound and a special manner of performance. The musical component is formed from the synthesis of break-beat, techno, electronic samples and a peculiar southern style of hip-hop (trap). The reason for the name of the project was the translation of the word "Nin-Ten-Do" from Japanese, broken down into syllables, which means "We do our job well and wait for results."

On September 1, 2009, Noggano's second album was released. In the first week, the disc took 1st place on the Russian sales chart.

In 2010, having already become one of the country's leading rap artists, Basta released his third solo album. The new material is designed for a wider audience, and a selection of hits "Urban", "Rostov", "The Sun is not visible" and "California" tests the strength of the largest venues in Moscow.

On November 10, 2010, the joint work "Basta / Guf" appears - a disc in a gray booklet and actually without a name.

2011-2014

In January 2011, the album "Eye" of the side project of the same name was released, the participants of which do not put names on the cover - but they do not conspire too much: it consisted of Basta, Coupe and 5 Pluh. However, no further details and specific information about the project followed.

Also in 2011, Vasily Vakulenko starts work on a new electronic project called Bratia Stereo. In addition to Vasily himself, Coupet and many other musicians are participating in the project, who together play a mix of house, dubstep, minimal, techno, hip-hop, rock and other very different musical styles.

On October 3, 2011, the album N1NT3ND0 was released. In parallel with this, there was a release on physical media.

On April 20, 2013, Basta released his fourth solo album, which was attended by singer Tati, rappers Smokey Mo and Rem Digga, Ukrainian groups Nerves and Green Grey, Adele Choir.

At the end of 2013, Basta entered the list of 15 Russian artists of the year according to Time Out magazine, and the album "Basta 4" took 3rd place among the best-selling albums according to the results of the Russian branch of iTunes, individually becoming the most successful hip-hop work.

On July 20, 2013, Channel One premiered the documentary Vladimir Mayakovsky. The third extra ”, in which Vasily took part, performing the poems of the poet. On September 5, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Erik Bulatov, the Kultura TV channel presented a documentary film about the artist Spring in Florence, the music for which was written by Vasily.

On October 21, 2013, the first Bratia Stereo track "Supa Life" was officially premiered on iTunes. The debut double album itself was released for free on the Gazgolder label website on December 29th.

On April 24, 2014, Basta, being a director, producer, screenwriter, composer and main character, and the Gazgolder team presented their own feature film "Gazgolder", which was released twice. The film received many negative reviews.

2015 - present time

Exactly at midnight on January 1, 2015, the joint work "Basta / Smokey Mo" appears on the public page of the Gazgolder Creative Association. The album set the bar for quality for the year ahead, showing a new sound. According to the results of the first week of digital sales, the album took first place in Russian iTunes and fourth place in Google Play.

On April 23, 2015, Basta, with a symphony orchestra, was the first of the Russian rappers to perform at the largest concert venue in Moscow - the Olimpiysky Stadium.

From September to December 2015, Basta was a mentor in the fourth season of the Voice TV show, where he assembled the most international team.

In September 2015, in a video interview with the Gazeta.Ru portal, Basta announced that the release of the Basta 5 album was scheduled for April 20, 2016. It was also announced that work on the second part of the film Gazgolder should begin in the near future. The first part of the album "Basta 5" appeared on Apple Music on April 20, 2016. The second part of the album appeared on May 13, 2016. The presentation of the album took place in the State Kremlin Palace.

In February 2016, a closed screening of the film "Ke-dy" directed by Sergei Solovyov took place at the Gazgolder club, in which Vakulenko participated as a military man. Basta recorded three songs for the film and shot two clips. Also, the list of soundtracks includes other compositions of Vasily.

Vasily Vakulenko, along with a number of other well-known musicians, in August 2016, after leaving the Russian Authors' Society in April 2016, joined the Council of the Russian Authors' Union, an organization created by musicians for the joint management of copyrights.

In 2016, Forbes estimated Basta's income at $1.8 million and put the musician in 17th place in the ranking of the main Russian celebrities in 2016. The compilation of the top was taken into account by such factors as income for the year, media attention and audience interest on the Internet.

On December 31, 2016, Vasily released the album "Luxury" on behalf of Noggano. The album's first single was "No Banditos". The second - "Bra-za-Bro", a joint track with Coupe. The third single of the album was the composition "Rolex". The album contains 35 tracks in total.

On April 22, 2017, Basta's concert at 360 ° gathered a full house at the site of the Olimpiysky sports complex - 30 thousand spectators.

Conflict with Decl

In August 2016, TO Gazgolder held a traditional open-air festival on the territory of the Arma plant. The performers could not meet the time frame set by the so-called “silence law”, after which Kirill Tolmatsky, a regular visitor to the Gazgolder club, better known as Decl, published a series of tweets on his Twitter with unflattering words about the association, and later complained to a loud sound at night from the club itself. Basta did not stand aside and reacted: "Decl is a shaggy schmuck."

On September 28, 2016, Decl sued Vasily Vakulenko for public insults inflicted on him. The lawsuit indicated the amount of 1 million rubles for causing moral damage, however, according to Tolmatsky, he does not need money - a public apology is enough. Basta said that he would not "apologise either publicly or in any other format."

The court session was held on December 7, 2016 in the Oktyabrsky Court of the city of Rostov-on-Don with the participation of the defendant and without the participation of the plaintiff. The court ruled: “to partially satisfy the compensation for moral damage, to recover compensation for moral damage in the amount of 50 thousand rubles. Reject the rest of the claim." Also, the linguistic commission determined that the definition of "schmuck" cannot be qualified as indecent.

In June 2017, Decl again spoke of the Gas Holder in a negative way, in particular, he walked through Scryptonite and called him a "guest worker from Uzbekistan." In his opinion, the success of the artist lies only in the well-coordinated work of SMM specialists, co-owner of the label Evgeny Antimony and tour managers, and that anyone could be in the place of Scryptonite. Basta, in response, began to troll Tolmatsky on Twitter. The first entry was “DTSLLHMTCHM” (that is, “Decl is a shaggy schmuck”), and after a while he considered that Kirill Tolmatsky was a hermaphrodite.

Decl filed four statements of claim to the court in the total amount of the required compensation for non-pecuniary damage - 4 million rubles. The first hearing was held on July 13, where it became known that Decl's representatives opposed the admission of the media to the meetings. "Gazgolder" is categorically against this: "We are for an open trial, for the press to be present in the hall, so that each journalist personally sees and hears what is happening in the courtroom, and does not receive information about the case from intermediaries who distort the facts." The next meeting will be held on August 15 in Rostov-on-Don.

Personal life

Since June 11, 2009, he has been married to Elena Pinskaya, has two children: Maria (born December 3, 2009) and Vasilisa (born January 21, 2013). Currently lives in Moscow, happens in Rostov-on-Don, where he gives concerts. He enjoys skating and snowboarding. In an interview with the Metro Moscow newspaper, he said that he was very attracted to curling: “This is hard work! ... Unusual, cool, fun and very spectacular.”