Rap is one of the most popular youth musical trends. It has firmly entered Russian culture since the late 80s - early 90s of the last century.
It's no secret that the most famous foreign artists of this style, such as Eminem, 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Diddy, Jay-Z, earn tens of millions of dollars a year, and, far from always, directly from their musical activities. .
But what are the annual earnings of domestic rappers? Let's look into this issue.
Most of all, among Russian rappers, of course, Timati (Timur Yunusov) earns, probably the most promoted and well-known domestic rap artist to the mass public, moreover, to the public, even very far from this musical style.
In 2014, he earned $1.5 million, which, however, is a whole million dollars less than the previous year.
In addition to the proceeds from concerts and sales of discs, he also has income from his own production center. Although not all rap fans consider Timati a real rapper, arguing that for the right to be called that, he has too pop repertoire.
The next largest income for Timati is the rapper Basta, aka Vasily Vakulenko, aka Noggano, aka N1NT3ND0.
But not only on rap you can earn money today. There are many effective ways and described in detail.
As for the fact that Basta is a 100% rapper, no one has any doubts. In 2013, he earned $ 2 million, which is 500 thousand less than Timati's earnings. Basta, like Timati, in addition to performing rap, is engaged in production activities.
He also takes part in the filming of films, both as an actor and acting as a director, producer and screenwriter.
Sufficiently high popularity among fans of Russian rap, and, accordingly, high earnings from their activities, have such performers and groups as Guf (Alexey Dolmatov), "Casta", "CENTR", "Krec", but their exact annual income, unfortunately not known.
On the other hand, we can look at the approximate amounts that Russian musicians and bands performing rap songs receive for one concert.
- Basta (Vasily Vakulenko) - 300,000 rubles.
- Guf (Alexey Dolmatov) - 300,000 rubles.
- "Casta" - 240,000 rubles.
- "Krec" - 200,000 rubles.
- Noize MC (Ivan Alekseev) - 170,000 rubles.
- "CENTR" - 160,000 rubles.
- "AK-47" - 120,000 rubles.
- Smokey Mo (Alexander Tsikhov) - 100,000 rubles.
- "Bad Balance" - 100,000 rubles.
As you can see, the amount of earnings for one ordinary concert of Russian rappers does not exceed 300 thousand rubles. Although, of course, there are exceptions, when the amount of the fee can reach 500 thousand or more.
For comparison, let's take a look at the annual income of the leading foreign rappers. So, Dr. Dre (Andre Young) earns $620 million, Jay-Z (Sean Corey Carter) and Diddy (Sean John Combs) each earn $60 million, and Eminem (Marshall Bruce Mathers III) earns $18 million a year.
If we talk about fees for one concert, then, for example, the famous American rapper 50 Cent (Curtis Jackson) has at least $ 250,000 for one performance.
That is, foreign rappers earn tens and hundreds of times more than domestic ones.
Of course, there are objective explanations for this. Firstly, the culture of rap in the West, and more precisely in the USA, is much more developed than ours, and has deep roots. Secondly, the American market is much larger and more saturated than the Russian one, and much more significant amounts of money are turned around there.
Nevertheless, the rapper movement in Russia is gaining momentum, and the leading Russian rappers are quite wealthy, and one might even say rich people, although in terms of income they are still significantly behind their overseas counterparts. But time does not stand still, and it is quite possible that a period will come when the situation will change dramatically.
To foreign rappers, ours, frankly, is still far away in all respects. Even the top resident of Black Star in terms of income cannot compete with some Busta Rhimes. In fairness, among Western rappers, few can outrun Rhimes.
Our guys open burgers, sign contracts with sportswear companies and advertise rates, and we watch, sigh, and start counting other people's money again.
Timati
Income: 201.7 million rubles
Over the past year, Timati has earned over 200 million rubles, and most of this amount is not income from concerts, but income from companies he co-owns, in particular from a burger.
Things are going well for him: a large metropolitan demand for burgers from Timati and good revenue have become a reason to open restaurants in other cities of Russia. So very soon it will be possible to stand in kilometer-long queues for a roll and black gloves not only in Moscow.
Basta
Income: 189.7 million rubles
Music is not Basta's only source of income: he not only gives concerts at major venues in Russia, but also produces other guys, acts in films and tries himself as a director. Apparently, things are going well: Basta's income is about to break through the mark of 200 million rubles.
L'One
Income: 115.8 million rubles
Oxxxymiron
Income: 113.5 million rubles
The wave of hype that Miron rode on his board a few years ago put him on the list of the richest rappers in Russia.
Fully sold out tickets for his concerts across the country, income from the sale of merchandise and a contract with Reebok - and bam, Oksimiron's income has exceeded 100 million. Here you are, grandmother, and the city under the sole.
Photo: Gennady Gulyaev / Kommersant
Sunday evening on Novy Arbat is not crowded. Passers-by lazily walk down the street until they run into a local landmark - a line at the Black Star Burger. The restaurant opened in September 2016 and is in demand among brand fans who are ready to wait for hours for a burger for 195 rubles. 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”. There are two piles of papers at the reception - “for Timati's signature” and “for Pasha's signature”, in Pasha's office - a mourning poster in memory of the deceased DJ Dlee (Aleksey Tagantsev), a shelf with musical awards, a portrait of his wife and a wooden chess board. 33-year-old Kuryanov is the CEO of Black Star, he determines the group's development strategy. The wall opposite his desk is covered with printouts of artist audience analytics. Nearby, current and future projects under the Black Star brand are listed in a column - 15 in total.
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 tripled, to 142 million rubles, and Black Star Clothing Lines (which 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 Pashu, last year the revenues of both directions grew, and the label was ahead of the Clothing Line. And in 2017, the holding's financial champion will be the Black Star Burger chain, which will be replenished with at least two restaurants by the end of the year, Pasha promises.
The total revenue of the Black Star group of companies in 2017 will exceed 1 billion rubles, RBC magazine calculated. In addition to music, clothes and burgers, the group includes the Global Star marketing communications agency, the Make It Music software developer for the music business, the 13 by Black Star barbershop and tattoo studio, the Black Star Sport football agency, and the BS Gaming gaming company. The launch stage includes 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 outside the Black Star office - Ferraris, Bentleys, Mercedes are huddled in a cramped area, gloomy bearded security guards roam between them. The fleet 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 the main asset of the Rudyakovs, the Atrium shopping complex near the Kursk railway station. The first Black Star clothing store was opened in it at one time. Pasha and Timati are friends with Ernest Rudyak, who manages the family business (Rudyak left the question of relations with Black Star without comment).
The founders of Black Star have long learned to turn acquaintances to the benefit of business. Pasha and Timati became friends during their school years: both were rollerblading and skateboarding 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, allegedly a co-owner of the Swiss investment company Stratus Trade & Finance and a member of the board of directors of Art Pumping Technologies, an oil pump manufacturer. The talk that Yunusov Sr. sponsored the start of his son's career, Timati and Pasha was repeatedly refuted. “My parents never gave him money. With my pocket money, we bought one hot dog for two and a can of Dr Pepper, ”recalls Pasha.
Business partner and best friend of Timati rapper Pasha
Timati became interested in hip-hop as a child and hooked a friend on him. Soon both got a job in the team of producer Alexander Tolmatsky, who made the rap star Decl out of his son Cyril. In the shadow of someone else's glory, friends quickly got bored, their first independent project was the organization of parties in the clubs "Marika" and "Most". Later, they launched their own establishments as promoters - B-Club and Black October Bar. “Everyone was relaxing around, and Tim and Pasha were plowed. When someone laughed at the fact that the “majors” are doing business, I said: it will take a little time, and the guys will do everything, ”recalls Sergey Dok, a longtime acquaintance of the founders of Black Star, who now manages the barbershop and tattoo studio 13 by Black Star.
Partying helped make connections. One of the new acquaintances, producer Yevgeny Orlov, invited Yunusov to Star Factory 4. Thanks to the TV project, the whole country learned about Timati, he signed a contract with Igor Krutoy's ARS Records (musical director of the Factory season). Pasha remained nearby - he helped with the organization of concerts, recording songs and other processes. In the mid-2000s, friends decided that hired work again hindered their development. According to Pasha, they had to go into debt, but they bought the contract for a "fantastic" amount for those times - $ 1 million.
Life after Timati
A portrait of 50 Cent hangs above the desk of Black Star COO Walter Chassem. Walter was also once “connected with criminal people,” Pasha said 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 his capital on football transfers, Pasha recalled in an interview with Kompaniya magazine. In 2006, a start-up label created by three friends fired Timati's debut solo album Black Star. “The image of a black star was born to me back in 2001, when I observed the eclipse,” recalls Timati. Plans to diversify the business were already there, 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 developing according to the canons of Russian show business: “I recorded a song, traveled around the country with concerts, shoved money into my pockets - and that’s it.” Pasha also understood that it was necessary to move away from the binding of Black Star 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 only rapper Dzhigan was able to promote the artists (in 2014 he bought out the contract and left the label). “Pasha structured the processes, and I took care of the artists and my 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 of 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 now praised even by competitors. They managed to attract another acquaintance of Pasha and Timati from the world of big business to the shareholder structure - Evgeny Zubitsky, co-owner of the Industrial and Metallurgical Holding (No. 190 in the Russian Forbes rating, fortune - $ 500 million; Zubitsky's representative left questions from RBC magazine without comment). The breakthrough happened in 2012: the label signed Yegor Creed and L'One and hired Viktor Abramov, one of the most experienced managers on the rap scene, as creative director.
"Trush" label
“If I find who spreads rumors, I’ll tear off my ass!” - the question of "cheating" views of Black Star clips 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 “truly” artist Levan Gorozia (L’One): “Before that, I was embarrassed by their commercial gloss.” At a personal meeting, the producer was convinced that his views coincided with the vision of Pasha.
A 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 Young Blood casting, the final choice is always with the founders. Black Star invests up to 15 million rubles in the promotion of a recruit.
"Chuika" rarely fails Timati and Pasha. For example, they considered Creed's potential three years before the artist shot with the song "The Best". The partners urged Pasha to "leak" 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 "inaccurate."
A more recent example of Black Star's flexible artist policy is singer Klava Koka. At the casting, she captivated Abramov with her vocals and the ability to play various instruments, and at first the label team came up with the type of “very nice 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 noticed the popularity of Koki's Periscope broadcasts 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 250,000 subscribers. Abramov, with a satisfied smile, sends “hello” to Koki’s critics: “Klava is good and not vengeful. Me not".
Timati's more "adult" image has also become an important element in the positioning of Black Star with the arrival of Abramov. I had to destroy the halo of "golden youth" and look for "really big" songs, explains Abramov. Progress is noticeable in concerts: if in 2012 Timati did not gather the six thousandth Crocus City Hall, then in November 2017 the 35 thousandth Olimpiysky will storm. Abramov explains the growth in popularity with the quality of the show, sound, marketing and rejects claims in "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, investments in social media are justified, ”says Kirill Lupinos, head of the Effective Records label.
Timati also determines the socio-political reputation of Black Star. Loyalty to Vladimir Putin, friendship with Ramzan Kadyrov, patriotism, healthy lifestyle - these patterns are firmly entrenched in the artist. Timati's associates either share his views, or refer to apoliticality. HLS propaganda interferes, except perhaps in signing promising young people based on less traditional values, such as rapper Pharaoh, Pasha notes.
The artist as an asset
Two young men with laptops are sitting on the couch next to the reception desk in the Black Star office. They call the venue owners non-stop to sell performances by Black Star artists. “We don't wait for people to come to us. We come ourselves, ”explains Pasha. Artists are the core of Black Star's "ecosystem" and a highly monetized commodity, he says. The total audience of the label in social networks is 33.2 million users, mainly Instagram and VKontakte.
To realize the advertising potential of Black Star artists, in 2015 he launched the Global Star agency. It was headed by Pavel Bazhenov, ex-label marketing director. “All artists work in their niche. For example, L’One is about motivation, we focused on the sports component in its promotion. Now he is a top rapper among football players 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 interests of the artist and advertising activity. "No one forces you to subscribe to uncomfortable projects," says the rapper.
"For the test," according to Bazhenov, advertisers often choose product placement in clips. When integrating a brand into videos, the agency uses all 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 brightest Global Star projects are Timati and the meme song for Tantum Verde Forte, Creed as the face of the Garnier multi-channel campaign, Timati and L’One’s Vyatskiy Kvass branding of the tour, 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 Pashu, advertising accounts for up to 30% of Black Star's revenue.
Global Star is already approached by other stars: the agency has introduced the brands Mercedes-Benz and R.O.C.S. in the clip of Valeria. The producer of the singer, Iosif Prigogine, was pleased: "The guys are advanced and talented." True, he "felt" that the agency fee was a bit overpriced: the amount exceeded 20% of the advertiser's budget. Bazhenov plans to increase the volume of third-party orders from 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 supply 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 get into debt (“they only paid off last year”), use my connections (the first store opened in the Atrium shopping center Rudyakov) and fill bumps in production abroad. When the ruble devalued in 2014, Pasha decided to move the capacities to Russia: now almost the entire range is made at a factory near the center of Moscow. The Black Star Wear network has grown to 40 outlets (own and franchised), some of them in the CIS countries. The label’s artists are involved in the clothing business: in stores you can buy collections that Timati and Mot participated in the development of, and L’One is also working on its own line.
Pasha is sure that at the end of 2017, both the music business and retail in terms of revenue 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, in both of which the hype effect worked. “This is the second queue for catering in 25 years, after McDonald’s,” Abramov laughs. 20 million rubles were invested in the first point. (the money was recaptured in three months), in the second - 25 million rubles. On peak days, one restaurant prepares 3,000 burgers each.
Ex-shareholder of the First Republican Bank Yury Levitas came to Black Star with the idea of a fast food chain two years ago. He developed a "unique" recipe for cooking meat for burgers and asked Pasha for a long time to meet Timati. He gave up on the condition that a veggie burger be on the menu. According to legend, Levitas brought a grill to the first meeting at the Black Star office and cooked a burger for Timati there.
One of the reasons for the success of BS Burger is the 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 the competition and slightly more expensive than the most popular fast food in the world. “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 developer Movsadi Alviyev, 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 is not surprising that people come after he lovingly shoots videos of 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 won’t stop at burgers,” he says. The chain will grow into the Black Star Foods division. It will include an ice cream parlor, coffee shops and a steakhouse, lists Timati.
It is impossible to calculate the hype: this phenomenon has no mathematical formula, Levitas admits. Artists of the label often visit BS Burger, Black Star Radio plays in the halls, clips and photos from Instagram with the burger hashtag are on plasmas. The queues are a consequence of a wide audience of Black Star artists who dream of joining the brand’s values for a feasible amount, says Maxim Livsi, co-owner of Brisket BBQ and Ferma Burger restaurants: “Their client bites off a burger, squinting his eyes, and imagines himself on an 80-foot yacht” .
When Yegor Creed gets his hair cut at 13 by Black Star, he writes on the social network already at the exit from the salon. “Otherwise, a queue of 500 girls will line up here,” laughs the manager Sergey Dok. The studio is one of the Black Star initiatives vying for the next business explosion.
The salon, opened at the end of 2016, is fully loaded: about 60 people come for a haircut every day, the appointment with the tattooists is filled for several days in advance. The 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. Helped Ernest Rudyak, who vacated a room on Bolshaya Dmitrovka. “Everyone must think: how did they manage to sit on the street where Prada and Louis Vuitton boutiques are located?” Doc explains. He assures that the cost of rent is "market"; about 2 million rubles. per month (at a rate of 85 thousand per 1 sq. m), data is provided by the commercial real estate consultant JLL.
The cost of haircuts at 13 by Black Star is about 15% higher than the average on the market. The most popular is a men's haircut for 2 thousand rubles. Star masters were lured from competitors. Boy Cut co-founder Nazim Zeynalov, who had several employees taken away by Black Star, believes that the audience of 13 by Black Star is different from the listeners of the label's artists: “The main audience for artists is young guys who are not ready to pay so much. But they are processing an audience from Dmitrovka, surrounded by offices of large companies.”
Tattooed from head to toe, Doc notes that the tattoo shop 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 he clarifies that in the five months of work, investments have “rebuffed”. Doc is preparing to open a barber academy to help replicate the business. There are plans for a salon for a female audience.
Another ambitious project of Black Star is a football agency led by Yuri Shtromberger. This is a project at the intersection of sports and celebrity marketing: Black Star Sport (BS Sport) plans to sign contracts with young football players and turn them into stars for subsequent sale. BS Sport is advised by RFU vice-president Sergey Anokhin. Football players will train at the base of FC Strogino, the head of the board of trustees of which is Anokhin, and the head coach is Shtromberger's father. The budget of BS Sport includes up to 15 million rubles. in year. The agency can grow into a full-fledged football club, says Stromberger.
By the end of 2017, the holding is to be replenished with the Stars Mobile virtual operator, plans include the production of soft drinks, gyms and a boutique hotel. Pashu is inspired by the stories of Sam Walton and Sergey Galitsky and follows the growth of rapper Jay-Z's business empire.
“Our strategy is this: we should make a cool product and try to grow the market, not share in it. It is better to have 10% in a market of 100 billion rubles than 80% in a market of 100 million rubles,” sums up Pasha. None of the analysts has ever evaluated the Black Star brand. In response to the question of RBC magazine, what capitalization do they dream of in the label, Pasha thinks for a second and either jokingly or seriously gives out: “50 billion. Not rubles, of course.
Rapper Basta, which is already at the top of the Russian "musical Olympus", has made further achievements. The 35-year-old native of Rostov-on-Don, whose fate and path to the world of show business we already wrote about, was recognized as the performer of the year in mobile applications according to Yandex. Music".
Star year for Basta
Vasily Vakulenko, as Bastu is actually called, became the most popular domestic hip-hop artist. By the way, two weeks earlier, on December 10, Vasily Vakulenko won the Best Hip-Hop Artist nomination at the First Russian National Music Awards. Basta managed to get around other stars of Russian rap, among which are his fellow countrymen the Casta group, Timati, and Dzhigan. “Thank you to all our people for their faith and support. Thanks to all members of the Gazgolder team. BandaGaza is a family, a team, ”the musician’s associates in the Gasholder project wrote on the social network.
It seems that 2015 has become a truly stellar year for the rapper. No wonder - after all, this year Basta not only recorded another album - jointly with Smokey Mo, as well as the soundtrack for the film "Motherland" by Pyotr Buslov, but was also noted for the appearance in the jury of the "Voice" project on Russian television. When Rostov-on-Don celebrated the next City Day, Basta became, without exaggeration, the main person of the festive evening, giving a concert on the Theater Square of the city. At least 100 thousand Rostovites and guests of the city gathered to listen to the star countryman.
Where is my black Cadillac
The end of autumn was also marked by Basta's "automobile" successes. So, in early December, it became known that Vasily Vakulenko purchased a black Cadillac Escalade. One of the most famous and expensive American jeeps fell in love with the Rostov rapper so much that he did not regret a very tidy sum. According to some reports, the price of such a car in the top configuration can reach up to 11 million rubles. The photo of the "boar Kadi", as Basta dubbed his new acquisition, gained tens of thousands of likes on the musician's page on the social network. Well - Basta is a well-to-do person in order to allow such luxurious gifts to be made to himself.
Basta is no stranger to social topics. First of all, the one that worries him as a driver. So, on November 5, Vasily Vakulenko got stuck in one of the Moscow traffic jams. And then the musician had an interesting idea - to shoot a series of reports about Moscow traffic jams. The rapper filmed what was happening on a mobile phone camera, giving advice to drivers and passengers of cars about the desired behavior during forced downtime on the Moscow streets. Bast began to upload the footage to the Internet.
The first rapper in Russian "Forbes»
It is known that Vasily Vakulenko is included in the list of "fifty celebrities" of Forbes magazine. This rating includes Russian stars of music, cinema, sports. In 2015, according to the magazine, Basta's income was $3.3 million. In the prestigious list, Vasily Vakulenko occupies the 26th position. The three main criteria on the basis of which the rating is compiled are the interest in the celebrity among the users of the "global web", the level of total income for the year, and the media attention to the celebrity. Something, but Vasily Vakulenko's income, despite the crisis, has really grown. So, in 2012, when Basta got on the Forbes list, his income was only 0.5 million dollars, and in 2013 it rose to 2 million dollars. However, not only income, but also "exposure" in the media play an important role in compiling the rating. So, Nikita Mikhalkov, Ksenia Sobchak, Polina Gagarina, Kristina Orbakaite received incomes much less than Basta, but at the same time they significantly exceed him in terms of popularity.
Of the fifty Russian top celebrities, Basta is exactly “in the middle” - in 26th place. Of course, he is inferior to such figures as Maria Sharapova ($29.7 million), Philip Kirkorov ($10.4 million), Grigory Leps, but among Russian rappers he is the only one who managed to get into the elite list. Considering that Basta's condition and interest in his person among Internet users are growing every year, it is possible that in the coming 2016 he will be able to take even higher positions in the Forbes list.
Do not forget that musical activity is far from the only sphere of interest of a public person. So, Vasily Vakulenko acts as a producer, director and actor. Back in 2014, the creative association "Gazgolder" created by Basta presented the film of the same name, in which Vasily Vakulenko played the main role. The tape collected 1.8 million dollars in domestic film distribution - this is a million less than the film's budget. In addition, Vasily Vakulenko is the owner of the Gazgolder clothing brand.
A little earlier, in October 2015, Basta filmed the soundtrack for Pyotr Buslov's film Motherland. This film tells about the fate of the Russians who ended up in the famous Indian resort of Goa. The topic, by the way, is relevant - it is known that a large number of Russian citizens live in Goa. “The Russian share, we have every right to this share in the share.
The motherland will not let go, it gave birth to itself, and it will crush itself, ”this is how Basta conveys the feelings of a person living in a foreign land, but still yearning for his native Russian expanses. By the way, Basta's new song was very fond of the Russian audience, especially in the wake of the upsurge of patriotic feelings observed in connection with well-known foreign policy events. So, there is nothing unusual in Basta's success as a musical artist.
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 appearing, the Gazgolder label is experiencing another wave of success. However, we are still far from the American industry focused on the cult of consumerism and expensive cars, and rap artists, who are rightfully considered one of the richest people in the US. But at the same battles, Russian rappers continue to accuse their opponents of poverty, and in songs they often focus on their lifestyle, either saying that they are dressed “like homeless people”, or talking about an unprecedented increase in wealth and buying branded items.
The Village spoke with three young artists - Galat, Booker D. Fred and Redo, who have only recently abandoned boring jobs in favor of creative earnings, and found out how much you can earn from battles and why you should not come to the rap industry for money.
Galat (Vladimir)
I have been making music professionally for about three or four years, and I 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'm one of those who just got together with the boys on the street in St. Petersburg and moved along this line.
In November, I will release the first full-length album, and before that, I mostly threw non-professional releases and, again, battled.
I went to college to become a lawyer with a degree in Social Security Law. Then he entered the university as a part-time student, now in his last year. Most likely, I will receive a diploma, although, of course, there were thoughts of quitting everything and devoting myself only to music.
My first job happened at the age of 17 as an office manager in a law firm. Mostly sat on calls and helped to conduct business. I didn't have much success with this job, because they considered me a staff lawyer, even though I had just graduated from college. I was assigned to check the documents before the court, and, of course, I screwed up. As a result, the office got the money, and I was kicked out. The funny thing is that I told them directly that I was not qualified enough. In short, they are to blame.
Then he worked in all sorts of call-centers on cold calls, was engaged in the distribution of goods. Arranged about the delivery of frozen cutlets to supermarkets and stuff like that. He was an assistant 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.- rates are low but there are 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 customer acquisition manager, and I got up pretty well: more than 100 thousand a month. He left there because he went to the hospital and decided to devote himself entirely to music. Just appeared clients for ghostwriting (writing texts to order. - Approx. ed.), and they began to pay for battles. Of course, not all participants in the battles receive money, but if the artist is famous, they pay him well. I battled in different ways - both for a fee and for 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 texts are ordered for both songs and battles. I also sell my tracks on iTunes - it brings something, but less than the same ghostwriting. Selling merch is more profitable. We try to make T-shirts in small batches so that they fly apart immediately.
After I started earning only by rapping, the money got better, but this is an unstable income. It happens quite well, and sometimes you have to be homeless for a week. But mostly I don't complain.
Concerts bring good money. After the release of the album, I will have a tour throughout Russia - probably quite profitable. I never wanted to be a lawyer, I just had to. Creativity makes money 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 down money from YouTube views. Our listings are much smaller. Ghostwriting, merch, concerts - this is what rappers earn in Russia.
I'm not close to the hype around money in texts. I like to read about something that 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 somewhat. In the USA, this is a normal practice, no one will tell that they are homeless and eat instant noodles. Such a person simply will not be understood.
I had a lot of offers from labels, and all of them were trite about the need to share money with them. Everything that Russian labels offer can be easily done by yourself. I have a manager Vlad, the dude is only 19 years old, but he manages all organizational issues alone. If the manager has brains, no label is needed.
Booker (Fyodor)
I started rapping at the age of 16, and at first I just wrote poems, like many teenagers. One day I looked at what people around me were doing in this genre, and I thought that I could kick ass. Plus, there was some kind of need for creativity and self-realization, and over time, it transformed into a career as a rap artist. This career 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, one 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 been doing only rap. I, like any young person who is faced with the need to earn money after university, had many different jobs. He was a waiter, and a bartender, and an administrator, and a seller - such quite affordable professions. But despite the fact that there were prospects for development, and nice teams, I realized that if I give myself completely to music, I can earn more.
I tried to release tracks even before the battles, but it was the battles that became a powerful catalyst for me, because I participated in almost all such projects in Russia. I saw 200 battles live and more than 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 an unstable income, 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 albums do not sell well here due to copyright problems. And for these two concerts, they 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, one can only become a teacher.
I've never been able to make a living as a ghostwriter, and that's sad. This is its own sphere with special laws, into which it was necessary to join a little earlier. But I know that many guys write lyrics for very famous artists. For people who cannot constantly tour, this is the main source of income. In Russia, there is a special attitude towards 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 focus attention.
There is a huge difference between the American and Russian mentalities in the rap field. Really average guys from the ghetto and very poor families are engaged in this kind of creativity, even if you remember Desiigner with the track “Panda”. Each such guy has a fixed idea: to earn a lot of money and show superiority over the environment. Hence these grills, heaps of gold jewelry and so on. Yes, and the models of earnings in Russian and American rap are significantly different. Because there are labels that provide a lot of money, and there are also bounty hunters who pick up young talented guys and help them develop.
In our country, 90% of rappers are self-made, they organize concerts themselves, make 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, who at the same time are respected. And 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: this is creativity. If you want money, please go into business. The same Timati is not engaged in creativity, but in business, in my opinion. 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. At one of the appointments, the guys made me read the texts written on the table, and they were very surprised that I had not written it down yet. That's how it all started.
I didn’t have much luck with my studies: I studied as a physical chemist, but I flew out in my third year. My head was filled with music, so I was *** on study and really could not pay attention to other things. When you think about rap all the time, it's hard to do the triple integral at the same time. Plus, my university was not in Moscow, so there were problems with trains, which also led to absenteeism. But I only regret that I didn’t drop out after the first year - I don’t see myself in this area at all.
I had to earn a living somehow, so I turned around and worked as a bartender. I just thought I liked booze and coffee. Where else can I work? I really wanted to learn how to make different cocktails - get confused, earn money and put a mini-bar at home. People will come to check-in, and you offer them not tea and coffee, but a daiquiri with Long Island. But all the time I came across bitchy administrators who stood above my soul and interfered, so I never stayed anywhere for more than two months. Once I poured coffee for one dude, he thanked me.
And in the evening I open VKontakte, and there a dude without an avatar asks: “What? Rap doesn't feed you anymore? Well, I realized that further I need to earn somehow more painlessly.
Then he began to deal with design, but it turned out to be difficult and time-consuming to look for clients and make a portfolio. I mainly made logos, business cards, brochures, landing pages, did some merchandising. 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. This brought in money, but it was necessary to ruin a lot of time looking for new orders. Then I decided to design only in the musical direction. As a result, something fell, but we have a very poor industry, and for the cover of the track they paid some 300 rubles. However, interest in this topic has remained, so I do the covers for my releases myself.
I was also looking for a job as an in-house designer for a very long time and eventually found a small office where 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 the blue air conditioner. But there were people who came for business cards, and then ordered something for me already in private. Not much money, but enough to drink coffee.
And now only music feeds me, and this is how I have been living for the last six months.
And in the evening I open VKontakte,
A there a dude without an avatar asks: “What? 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 sums and am content with a living wage, thanks to which I can have a roof over my head, put something on myself and feed myself. I rent housing on the outskirts of Moscow, this year I have already changed four huts - this is a very nomadic way of life, which is rather 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 the Change, now at the Four by Four and Grime Ting parties. You get from 5 to 15 thousand rubles for performances. Raves used to be more frequent, maybe two or three performances 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 there, and when we started reading, someone left. Now at a rave you can easily 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 informational reasons. And all year I was fed by merch. 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 out very well.
You can earn money in Russian rap, but the amount of money depends on the general level of cultural development. Previously, everyone didn’t care about battles, but after videos with millions of views, much more people became interested in rap. Many performers complain that they used to gather 100 knowledgeable people, and now half a thousand of those who do not understand anything come, just for the hype. Plus Restaurateur (Alexander "Restaurateur" Timartsev, organizer of the battle Versus. - Approx. ed.) began to pay for battles. Previously, this could only be dreamed of. Five years ago, only a couple of musicians cut babos on rap, and now a low-level layer of hype boys gathers hundreds of people at concerts and also somehow earns.
In Russia it doesn't make much sense to collaborate with labels. In fact, an uncle comes to you who does not help, but simply asks for 60% of the profit. It's not so much the label that matters now, but your booking team and manager. We have approached the publishing structure in America, where the writer has an agent. Although, of course, there are labels that open doors for you. Here Scryptonite got into the "Gazgolder" and made a lot of progress. But before the label was a prerequisite for the artist, because it provided a huge number of opportunities: sales of discs, studios, recording, organization of concerts, clips. Now both the designer and the producer of the clips can be found via the Internet.
cover: Mitjushin / courtesy of the artist
