Basta, whose biography will be presented in this article, is a Russian rapper, singer, actor and composer. Real name - Vakulenko Vasily Mikhailovich. His second creative pseudonym is Noganno. Former member of the United Caste group. Directed a number of paintings on the "Gazgolder".
First steps in turnip
Basta, whose biography is known to all his fans, was born in Rostov-on-Don in 1980. The boy's mother and father were military personnel. Although the parents were far from music, they noticed the creative impulses of their son and sent him to a music school. Vasily wrote his first composition in the style of rap when he was 15 years old.
Basta is a soloist whose biography is intricate, and the path to musical fame was rather thorny. Studying at the conductor's department at the school seemed very boring to Vasily. Therefore, he decided to leave there and came to grips with hip-hop. For a sample, the boy took the tracks of foreign rap artists. In addition, Basta listened to music of other genres and tried to create his own compositions. At seventeen, he wrote the track "City", and a year later - the hit "My Game", which instantly won the hearts of listeners from all over the south of Russia. According to Internet polls, "My Game" is still one of the ten most popular rap songs.
Glory
Thanks to the success that fell on his head, Bast (photo, biography of the artist are posted below) went on a concert tour of the cities of the North Caucasus and Russia. But after the speeches, his enthusiasm faded. Vasily decided to give up concerts. Music still interested him, but the young man was not sure that people needed and were interested in it.
A close friend of Vasily Yuri helped him organize a home studio. In 2002, the singer Basta, whose biography is often the subject of discussion in the yellow press, returned to songwriting. When the records were ready, the question arose before the young man: “How to release them now?” So that the fans do not forget the work of the rapper, Vasily resumed his concerts. It was not possible to release the records, so Basta, together with a friend, went to try his luck in the capital. Moscow received young people unfriendly. They had to wander and seek access to reputable recording studios. But all attempts were in vain. Remembering those hard times, Vasily even wrote a song about "lack of chances" and "dumb labels".
Debut album
But in the end, luck turned to face the rapper. His demos accidentally ended up with Bogdan Titomir. He supported the talented performer and helped him get into the creative association "Gazgolder". So the rapper was able to do what he loves. In addition to Vasily, the recording of the debut album "Basta 1" was attended by: producer Yuri Volos, DJ Beka and backing vocalist Rasta. The release took place in 2006 and caused disappointment among experienced turnip connoisseurs. But the broad masses accepted Basta's tracks with enthusiasm. According to Vasily himself, everyone recognized himself in his compositions. And then Basta and the team shot clips for several tracks and distributed them online. The album itself continued to sell successfully.
Second record
The success of the rapper attracted the attention of the Monolit company, which offered to record a second disc. The album "Basta 2" was perceived quite differently. The musical style has become more diverse, and the themes are much richer. But, despite the different design, the essence of the tracks has not changed. The album went on sale in August 2007. Moreover, there were no previous rotations on the radio and clips. In a couple of months, 50,000 copies were sold. Soon the third album of the group was released. His tracks were designed for a fairly wide audience. "Basta-3" included such hits as "Urban", "California", "The sun is not visible" and "Rostov".
The album "Dreams", which appeared in 2009, received warm recognition not only from rap fans. Basta also successfully collaborated with performers of other musical genres - the singer Maxim and the City 312 group.
At the end of 2012, Vasily recorded several covers of Mikhey's songs. Of particular note is the track "Mama", for which a video was shot. The rapper also took part in a concert dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the memory of Jumanji.
Aliases. Basta Oink
In 1997, Vasily joined the Psycholyric group. It was the very first cast. The hero of this article took the pseudonym Basta Khryu and wrote the track "City". This composition was included in the band's debut album called "First Strike".
Then Vasily suggested renaming the group. The new name "Casta" was liked by the leader of the team Vladi and was approved. The song "First Strike" was re-recorded and became the hallmark of the band.
In addition to Caste, Vasily had his own group - "Street Sounds". For her, the young rapper wrote his first composition "My City". Vasily's pseudonym was the same as in Caste - Basta Khryu. The young man explains his origin as follows: “Since childhood, I scattered things everywhere, which is why they called me Piggy.”
Basta
In 1998, Basta, whose biography is now known to the entire Russian rap community, wrote the track "My Game". Vasily's solo career began with him. Basta became very popular in his city. But he did not have star disease. Bullies, older friends and drugs appeared. Vasya recalls: “This song saved my life many times. It used to be that they wanted to kill, and when they found out that I was Basta, they left me alone.
This difficult and full of misfortunes life was rhymed by the rapper in his albums. In 2002, a friend of Vasily named Zhora bought a computer with his mother's money. On it, the guys made tracks for the first album. These compositions accidentally came to Bogdan Titomir, who suggested that the young rappers move to Moscow. Two years later, the album "Basta-1" appeared, and the clip "Autumn" was often played on TV. The Moscow life of the artist was closely connected with the "Gazgolder". Then this club was one of the most closed places in the capital. Yes, and Basta himself did not seek to join the local rap party. The first acquaintance of the rapper was Smokey Mo. And then Vasily crossed paths with Guf and recorded a cover version of "My Game" with him. Soon the singer received an offer from the Center group to star in their video City of Roads. The team was famous, which gave a chance to increase the popularity of the rapper. Basta took advantage of this chance. Biography, personal life of the artist has changed dramatically after the premiere of the video. The rapper has become popular not only in Russia, but also in the West.
Statuses, awards, prizes and nominations rained down on Vasily. The album "Basta-2", released in 2007, became the leader in sales. It sounded more varied and mature than the previous one. The artist recorded the third disc, already being the country's leading rapper. And in the interval between the albums, Vasily released two releases in the Noganno project.
Noganno
It is a hooligan project. Noganno is a bastard, a womanizer and a foul-mouthed man. "Immoral and asocial type" - this is how Vasily characterizes his hero.
Basta, whose biography is considered a role model for many rappers, came up with this project in 2007. At that time, Vasily was already reading both romantic and lyrical tracks. He only did it under the pseudonym Basta. After the release of the second album, the singer began to compose compositions for Noganno. He made him his alter ego. Vakulenko got inspiration, and the rapper wrote a lot of material. Noganno's tracks were distributed free of charge on the Internet. Then two albums were released: "Noganno Warm" and "Noganno First".
Nintendo
In 2008, the rapper Basta, whose biography periodically flashes in the media, came up with a minimalist project. Vasily himself characterizes it as a "cyber gang". This is brutal rap, the storyline of which is woven into the space of a video game (the scene is Rostov-on-Don in the 90s). Nintendo songs are distinguished by serious themes and a special style of performance. The musical component of the compositions is a synthesis of electronic samples, techno, break-beat and the southern direction of hip-hop. The name "Nintendo" was chosen because Vasily liked the translation of this word from Japanese - "We do quality work and are waiting for results." In October 2011, the first album was released.
Brothers Stereo
Since 2011, the performer Basta, whose biography is known to many foreign benchmarks, began work on a new project - Stereo Brothers. In addition to Vakulenko, many other musicians of various genres participate there. Together they play a mix of rock, hip-hop, techno, minimal, dub-step, house and other styles. In October 2013, iTunes premiered the band's first track, Supa Life. And on December 29, the debut album of the Stereo Brothers group was posted on the Gasholder website for free.
Personal life
Vasily met his future wife Elena Pinskaya in Moscow. This happened by accident. The rapper came with his girlfriend to a restaurant where Elena and her friend were sitting at the next table.
Pinskaya immediately recognized the artist, as she had long been interested in his work. Elena decided to take the initiative, and when Basta went outside to talk on the phone, the girl followed him to make a compliment. It was not an easy act, but it had rather pleasant consequences for Pinskaya.
From that moment, Elena firmly entered the life of Vasily. The girl was from a wealthy family. Her father is the head of a company selling elite wines, and her mother is a well-known journalist.
In 2009, the lovers got married. A few months later, Elena gave birth to a daughter, Maria, to the rapper. And four years later, the couple had a second daughter - Vasilisa. Basta has repeatedly said in an interview that the family is the greatest value for him. It is the daughters and the wife that motivate the artist to create new hits. Elena's mother considers her son-in-law to be very talented and sometimes offers him to write soundtracks for her documentaries.
Participation in foreign projects
In 2007, Basta (biography, personal life of the rapper are presented above) learned about the interest of Rockstar Games in his tracks. A year later, in the fourth part of the Grand Auto game, his composition “Mom” appeared.
- In some Russian cities, the rapper's performances were banned due to the content of the texts.
- The lead singer of the Basta group, whose biography is reviewed in the article, made his first tattoo at the age of 25. It was an inscription in Spanish "Follow with God."
- Vasily considers the elections a waste of time.
- Basta (wife, biography of the singer is always at the center of the gossip of the Moscow rep party) is not against sexual minorities. But he believes that they should not flaunt their own relationship.
- Vasily has a brother who has two higher educations. Now he designs railroads.
- Reper believes that the president of Russia should be a person with a humanitarian mindset.
Vasily Mikhailovich Vakulenko - he is Basta, he is Basta Khryu, he is Noggano, he is N1NT3ND0, he is also a popular rapper and mentor in the show “Voice. Reboot"
Date of Birth: April 20, 1980
Place of Birth: Rostov-on-Don, USSR
Zodiac sign: Aries
“I strive to write poetry, I love to write them. I have a few poems that I don't sing, but they are very, very weak. I know what good poetry is that one can talk about, so it's hard for me to call myself a poet. Still, I consider myself a musician.”
Biography of Basta
Vasya was born in the outskirts of the Rabochiy Gorodok district of Rostov-on-Don. All the men in the family - dad, grandfathers, uncles - were military men. By coincidence, Vasya saw his father, Mikhail Vakulenko, for the first time only at the age of 7. He was raised by his grandparents.
Mom, an economist by education, in order to somehow feed her family, in the 1990s was forced to sell yogurts in the market.
My father almost died after being hit by a car. He got out, but remained disabled.
Vasily also has an older brother (only 11 months older). He is an indisputable authority for the younger and a person Vasya is proud of.
When Vasily grew up and went to a comprehensive school, a caring grandmother took him to a musical school from the age of 6, they say, "this will come in handy in life." And she was right!
From childhood, the boy did not want to be either a pilot, or a fireman, or a military man, but only a musician. Vasya graduated from a music school in the accordion class. Then he even entered the music school at the conductor's department. True, he quickly got bored with his studies, and Vasya quit this business.
Carier start
Young Vasily, already at the age of 17, tries to compose rap, in 1997 he participates in the hip-hop group "Psycholyric", which in 1999 was renamed "Casta". At this time, he composes his first song "City". The song “My Game”, which he wrote at the age of 18, brings him even more popularity.
But soon Vasily drops out of the life of show business for several years. And in 2002, at the suggestion of a friend, Yuri Volos, the rapper begins a solo career, equips a studio at home and records songs in it.
The rapper continued to record new tracks, the producers would continue to refuse him if the demo disc did not fall into the hands of Bogdan Titomir. So Basta and his friends get into the Gazgolder production center.
Basta's life in the capital
From that moment on, Vakulenko begins to work seriously and productively, releasing an album a year: "Basta 1" (2006), "Basta 2" (2007), "First" (2008), "Warm" (2009), "Basta 3" (2010) and so on.
At the same time, Vasily is acting in films: “Ghetto”, “Tea Drunkard” (and in this film he is also a screenwriter, director and producer), “Moats”, “Prukha”, “13 District: Ultimatum”. By the way, Vasily Vakulenko has written music for only three films so far: the documentary “Spring in Florence” and two feature films: “Gasholder: Film” and “Gasholder. Klubara.
“I consider myself a rapper. Rap is a comfortable language for me. I live, adhering to the original concept of rap - this is a certain protest, a cry. This is a living genre. And it's cool too!"
Personal life
Vasily Vakulenko is married to Elena - "a girl from high society", the daughter of businessman Dmitry Pinsky, co-founder of the DP-Trad wine trade brand. And Elena's mother is Tatyana, a journalist.
Elena was already married, but unsuccessfully. In marriage with Vasily, two daughters were born: Maria (2009) and Vasilisa (2013).
Basta's song "Mama" sounds in the coolest to date three-dimensional computer game GTA IV.
Scandals
1. Several scandals are associated with the name of rapper Basta:
In 2014, Vasily began a long-term conflict with Kemerovo video bloggers from the Nemagia YouTube channel: Alexei Pskovitin and Mikhail Pechersky. The guys ridiculed the work of the rapper, in particular his film "Gazgolder". The rapper reacted negatively to such criticism.
2. And in 2016, the guys from Nemagia in the video, again making fun of Basta, compared his mother with a porn actress. This comparison, of course, offended Vasily, and he promised to meet the parents of video bloggers.
“I have long understood the images, and I use them for my own purposes. With my mother, wife, children - I am a loving and caring Basta, with friends, when you can not be shy about anything, I become Noggano. This is how I live.”
Real name:Vasily Vakulenko
Alias:Basta x Basta Khryu x Basta Bastilio x Noggano x N1NTENDO
Date of Birth: 20.04.1980
Zodiac sign: Aries/Taurus
City: Rostov-on-Don
Nationality: Russian
Height: 181 cm
Weight: 95 kg
Basta (Vasily Vakulenko) is a brand name that is familiar to every student,a simple hard worker, a big businessman and even a president. After all, all these people find their reflection in the multifaceted work of Basta.
Basta is a real musician, creative figure and caring mentor for all Russian hip-hop (Voice, Voice of the Streets, Gasgolder and so on).
For the reader who is still not familiar with creativityBasty , one has only to look at these two videos with honors of more than 20 years, and everything will immediately fall into place.Basta is a person who made perhaps the most significant contribution to the development of the genrewithout stopping for a second in front of difficulties.
In the first part of Basta's biography, the site will tell in detail about the busy period of lifeVasily Vakulenko before he met Evgeny Antimony (business partner) and became part of Gazgolder
Basta - Childhood / Basta's parents
On a warm April day, in a family of hereditary military men, a smallVasya Vakulenko (Basta) . Mom was 19 years old. At that time, Basta already had an older brother who overtook him by 11 months.
Interesting fact about Bast:
Admire his brother. A specialist with two red diplomas, an engineer on the railway.
Childhood Vasily Vakulenko could hardly be called good, he himself does not like that period very much, and has repeatedly stated thatreturn never go there would not want to.
Since the parents were divorced,Basta almost all the time lived with his grandparents,native Ukrainians from Kyiv and Krivoy Rog. And my mother, with two higher educations from Moscow State University with honors, was forced to work tirelessly, selling yogurts.
“I believe in people endlessly. As my mother used to say, “A thousand will deceive, the first thousand will become a friend!””
From an early age, Vasya was a great lover of the street,because there were no rules. The excellent, but conservative upbringing of grandparents infringed upon the freedom-loving nature of the rapper.Basta was not a big hooligan or scoundrel,but still he liked to play pranks. By virtue of practical freedom from parents,Basta nevertheless, he reports that he was never a “bastard”, but from early childhood he understood what strings to pull in order to get his benefit.
For unknown reasons,Basta met his fatheronly at the age of 7. Later, with Mikhail Vakulenko (Father of Basta), there was an accident in which he fell under the wheels of a car and becamedisabled person of the first group.At that time, he almost died, but still got out of the other world.
Interesting fact about Bast:
I wanted to be loved more in childhood. Lacked attention.
Dad was a big rock lover, and listened to different music, which is considered a classic to this day.In the house atBasty Deep Purple, Queen, Beatles and other stars played constantly.Basta himself was never a fan of them, but he treated them with great respect.
To this day, when creating music, he often recalls elements of those songs, using themas a subject of inspiration or sampling.
In addition, due to the military family, the rapper had to travel to different military camps, the name of which, for natural reasons, he does not mention.
“For me, a street is not just a street in the literal sense. For me, the street is the preservation of some rules, moral values, some code within myself, that's what I call the street.”
Basta School and Music College
At the age of 6, Vasya goes to secondary school No. 32 in Rostov, and a little later, his grandmother helps him enter a music school, where in the futureBasta mastered piano and accordion. young Noggano had to devote to playing instrumentsabout 4 hours a day
He is grateful to his grandmother for her perseverance, but he himself admitted that bothschools were a real test for the young rebel.
Interesting fact about Bast:
In addition, it has recently become known that Basta sang in the children's church choir, and even more than that - he was a sexton in charge of the bell and he has a spiritual dignity that allows him to wear a cassock and sing liturgies.
After 9th grade Vasily Vakulenko enters the music school as a conductorHowever, he left him due to poor academic performance and failed exams. Then rap gradually began to penetrate his life, which eventually turned it upside down.
Basta - First steps in rap / Basta's First Track
At the age of 15 Basta, together with their street friends, they passed the line of the “Gaza Strip” and began to listen to the stars of American rap. At the same age, grandmother givesBaste electronic synthesizer Yamaha 51.
The rapper confesses that he neverhad no talentand in his first texts, he made every effort to plot at least 4 lines. Exactlyaspiration and constant workover himself helped him excel in hip-hop.
Interesting fact:
I was afraid to disappoint my parents. He wants his children not to be afraid and to find their own way.
The first and indelible impression on Vasily, who previously preferred hardcore, was made by the groupOnyx . Then he began to play in tape recordersWu-Tang and Busta Rhimes (by the way, there is a theory thatBasta borrowed his pseudonym from him).
The boys started a bandBlack Tob and at the request of senior comrades, recorded their first song,talking about the local gym.
“Rap is a very convenient way of expressing thoughts. You can invest volume in a short period of time”
Due to the small, but, at that time, already powerful hip-hop party in Rostov,Basta is noticed by familiar guys from the group “Psycholyric”(first namecastes) and invite them over. He agrees.
Interesting fact:
Vladi recalls that Basta has always been the soul of the company.
1997 - Vasily Vakulenko (Basta)writes the trackCity”, which becomes a local hit. Listening to this song today is hardrecognize in him the current Bastubut that's when it all started.
“It's budget music, you don't need much talent to get started. Lighthouse tape recorder, Yamaha synthesizer, dad accumulated the whole thing and we started writing”
Basta - First Girl
It is interesting that the first love of such a charismatic guy today appearedonly at the age of 16. He does not give her name, but shares that he was a very shy teenager, showing signs of attention to her, he did not dare to take the first step.
The situation was saved by friends who were tired of hearing Vasya's daily “nagging”. They themselves talked to her, after which the girl herself invited Vasya to go for a walk.
Basta Khryu as part of "Psycholyric"
In the same year, the Psycholyric group released the album “First Impact”, which excited the whole of Rostov-on-Don. It included a solo track “City” and verses on other compositions. Rappers shared that this record was inspired by the soundwu tang clan. At that time, Basta bore the rather eccentric pseudonym Basta Khryu.
The first glory of Basta / Basta - My Game / “United Caste”
After some timeBasta offers the founder "Psycholyric ” Vladi change title to “Castu ', with which the former agrees.It's hard to believe, but in the future both of these performers will change the entire domestic hip-hop.
In 1998 Basta Oink writes his first hit "My game", which conquers the hearts of hundreds of thousands of people. Speaking with him at the Rostov Palace of Sports, the next dayBasta wakes up already local star.
“As a friend told me: “You chose a name with which no one would ever achieve anything in life.”
On the wave of success, he draws large crowds at his performances,conquering Rostov, Crimea and even regions of the Caucasuswith their tours. Such a wave of success turned the head of young Basta,and all the accompanying attributes appeared - alcohol and drugs.
Basta - Problems with Drugs
Vasily begins to have serious problems with heroin,which ruin all his work for several years.
Due to addiction, many comrades break ties with him, and he secretly leaves the team."Caste", remaining left only to the family.
And to this day Basta calls himself a very weak personwho learned to ask for help only recently.
But here, too, problems arise.The complex character makes Bastudo everything exactly the opposite of what he is advised. This feature, according to the artist, is inherent in him today.
Interesting fact:
In my youth, I often thought about suicide
Apart from intravenous heroin use, Basta tried all forbidden fruits.He got injured, lost consciousness and caught overdoses that completely deprive his memory.The rapper calls this time years of total hopelessness.
On this narcotic basis, Basta ends up in the 6th department of the psychiatric dispensary "Kovolevka", in Rostov.
“I have always been a fan of bright, new, adventurous sensations. And drugs are an adventure. A deadly sport.”
Basta - Creative crisis 4 years long
From 1998 to 2002 Basta was in drug-creative crisiswithout recording a single track.
“Somehow it was as if Balabanov (approx. - Russian director) wrote the fate of those years. I didn’t like to feel myself in this world, that’s why I found salvation there”
In the same year, an old friendVasily Yuri Volos (Zhora)practically savesBastu from the heroin trip, offering him his home studio so that Vasya could resume creativity.
“If then the death woman let me through, then now, probably, you shouldn’t be afraid anymore”
April 22, 2003 Bastacompletely abstinent from drugsafter which his affairs sharply rush uphill.He writes down old texts, creates new ones and resumes concerts.
The guys fail to attract the attention of Rostov producers, and they take a risky step -trip to Moscow. Hanging around looking for a contract and a releasing studioBastu is found by the famous author of the hit “MMM” Bogdan Titomir. He offers to buy some songs from Vasya, which he receives a sharp refusal.
“I just gave them to him. We must pay tribute to him, he has a flair for good songs - p ... c.
But after a short time, in 2005,Titomir comes to Basta againto introduce him to the producerEugene Antimony.He was just opening his club "gas holder”
Basta and Eugene Antimony
It is worth noting thatEugene Antimony was considered a former criminal elementand a raider involved in illegal fraud with gasoline and other people's property. Even then he was the owner of the club (not the studio yet)gas holder, which was built on the site of a former gas storage facility.
He liked the musicBasty and he helped him with money and connections, as it was with Titomir. It can be boldly stated thatno matter what moral qualities Evgeny possessed, without him there would be neither Basta nor Noggano.
In the premises of the former Moscow factory "arma"was open club"gas holder”, in which closed parties were held with the entire Russian underground beau monde.
A recording studio was also set up there.Basta disappeared for days and nights, preparing for the release of his debut album“Basta 1” , which revealed the legendary artist for the entire CIS.
“I do not divide people into criminal and non-criminal. There are only those who are worthy or not.”
Full name: Vasily Mikhailovich Vakulenko
Stage aliases: Basta, Basta Oink, Basta Bastillio, Noggano
Age: 38 years
Zodiac sign: ♈ Aries
Place of Birth: Russia, Rostov-on-Don
Nationality: Russian
Height: 181 cm
Family status: is married (Elena Vakulenko)
Children: Maria, Vasilisa
Activity: rapper, record producer, director, actor, TV presenter
Instagram:@bastaakanoggano
Biography of Basta
Musician Vasily Vakulenko, known to the general public as Basta or Noggano, is one of the most popular rappers in the country. A talented man actively manifests himself in producing, acting and directing.
The birthplace of Vasily Vakulenko is Rostov-on-Don
The birthplace of the famous artist is the city of Rostov-on-Don. Basta was born in 1980 on April 20. The future rapper lived in an ordinary family, and owes his success to his parents and grandparents.
Basta's parents
Vasily's father worked as a military man, did not see his son until he went to school. Some time after meeting with the child, Mikhail got into a terrible car accident, but survived and received a disability. He instilled in the boy a good attitude towards music, letting him listen to the recordings of the Beatles, Queen and Deep Purple.
Vasily Vakulenko with his brother
The rapper's mother is an intelligent woman with two higher educations. To feed the children (Basta has an older brother), she sold dairy products and worked as a cleaner. Visiting his hometown with concerts, Vasily always meets with his mother and shares new photos with her on the Web.
Basta with mom, 2016
Vasya was raised by his grandparents. It was his grandmother who took him to a music school, enrolled him in a church choir and bought an expensive Japanese synthesizer. The boy later received a church order and sang liturgies.
In the photo: on the left is a grandmother with a grandfather, on the right is Vasily in a church cassock
He gratefully remembers now his beloved "grandmother". In his interviews, the musician admits that he strives to give children all the parental warmth that he did not receive in his childhood.
Basta in childhood
Vasily from childhood was distinguished by a freedom-loving and wayward character. He got his nickname "Piggy" for sloppiness and participation in boyish fights. After the 9th grade, he left school, although teachers remember the boy with warmth. Vasya was an excellent KVN player and a real ringleader.
Vasya Vakulenko in childhood
At the age of fifteen, the future rapper, influenced by the work of the Wu-Tang Clan and Ol' Dirty Bastards, began to write the first rap texts. Vasily liked it, and he decided to develop in this direction.
Vasily Vakulenko, 1993
After school, Basta entered the local music school as a conductor. At the end of the first year, Vasily left the educational institution, deciding that this would not be useful to him in the implementation of his musical career.
Basta's musician career
At the age of 17, Vasily was already taken to the Psycholyric team, which was later renamed Caste. Then he becomes known as Basta Oink. The first debut track of the artist, which became famous, is called "City".
Group "Casta", 1998
At the age of 18, Basta wrote the track "My Game". Already thanks to the first compositions, Basta began to be recognized not only in his native city, but also beyond.
1998-2002: early career
Together with his friend, he goes on a tour of the Krasnodar Territory and the cities of the North Caucasus. Unfortunately, the artist's concerts were not always successful. A few months later, Basta decides to take a break from his career. IN At that time, he has serious problems with illegal drugs.
Vasily Vakulenko, 25 years old
In 2002, Basta again wants to make himself known. He sets up a recording studio at home and records new tracks. True, the rap artist has to face the fact that old fans have forgotten about him. And it was difficult for the artist to enlist the support of an authoritative producer.
2005-2006: moving to Moscow, album "Basta 1"
A lucky chance helped - Bogdan Titomir listened to the disc with Basta's compositions. The musician invited Basta and his colleague Yuri Volos to the capital and brought them to the creative association "Gazgolder". Aspiring rappers were accepted into the team. In the capital, Basta records many new tracks, which were included in his first albums.
Basta, "Mom"
In 2006, the artist's first successful album was released - "Basta 1" and his clips "Autumn" and "Once and For All". The compositions “Mom” and “My Game”, which are still loved by the artist’s fans, are becoming especially successful. "Mom" would later be included in the popular PC game "Grand Theft Auto IV".
2007-2010: "Basta 2", "City of roads" and "Basta 3"
Already in 2007, the artist's second album, Basta 2, was released, which included duets with the popular singer MakSim and rap artist Guf. Also in 2007, Basta released several clips - “So Spring Cries”, “Our Summer”, “Inner Fighter” and “Tea Drunkard”.
Album "Basta 2"
Basta received the greatest fame after participating in 2007 in the video "City of Roads" by the Centr group, their joint work in 2008 received the MTV Russia Music Awards.
Basta, Centr, "City of roads"
Vasily Vakulenko has a new alter ego - the artist takes the pseudonym "Noggano" and releases several albums that are radically different from his previous work: "First" (2008); "Warm" (2009); "Unreleased" (2010).
Basta and Guf, "We walk along the edge"
In the spring of 2010, his third solo album "Basta 3" was released, and in the fall of the same year, Basta recorded a joint album with another popular rap artist, Guf.
2011-2016: "N1NT3Do", "Basta 4" and "Basta 5"
In 2011, Vasily released another album, on behalf of the new Nintendo character, which includes compositions in the cyber-gang style. And in April 2013, the fourth “solo album” by Vakulenko “Basta 4” saw the light, rappers Smokey Mo and Rem Digga, as well as singer Tati, took part in it. According to the results of 2013, Basta is included in the list of 15 artists of the year, and his fourth solo album is in third place among the best-selling.
Basta, Nintendo
The singer is increasingly recording albums with other popular performers; in 2015, the result of his collaboration with rapper Smokey Mo was the album Basta / Smokey Mo, released under the label Gazgolder Records. In 2016, Vasily released the album "Basta 5" and the disc "Luxury" with tracks on behalf of Noggano.
2016-2018: show "Voice", new tracks
In 2016, the rapper became a mentor of the popular project on Channel One - the Voice show. The jury then also included Polina Gagarina, Alexander Gradsky and Grigory Leps. In the same year, the artist, together with Polina Gagarina, recorded the songs “The whole world is not enough for me without you”, “Voice” and “Angel of Faith”.
Now the artist often pleases fans with new tracks, and also produces young performers, as part of the Gazgolder association. Basta admits that he is always ready to lend a helping hand to talented rappers.
Personal life
The musician has always noted that his personal life is not as stormy as that of his colleagues in show business. In his youth, he was a shy guy, and, having matured, he met his true love - his wife Elena.
Basta's wife - Elena Vakulenko
Vasily met his future wife while performing in a private club. Elena Pinskaya came with her friends to relax, and was stunned by the fact that her idol was standing on the stage. After the performance, the girl approached Vakulenko to express her delight and thank him for the songs.
Vasily with his wife Elena
She did not pay attention to the unknown passion of Basta, who was sitting next to her. Vasily was amazed at Pinskaya's perseverance and independence and offered to accompany her home. And so began a stormy romance of young people.
Vasily Vakulenko and Elena at the wedding ceremony
No one believed in the seriousness of the relationship between the daring rapper and the sophisticated daughter of a journalist and winemaker. However, Vasily endeared himself to all of Lena's friends and parents, after which the couple decided to sign and get married.
Children of Basta
The couple's first child was born in 2009. They decided to name their daughter Maria. Now she is 9 years old and she is a schoolgirl. The girl is very similar to her father. At school he gets only fives, he sings well and plays the piano. Masha studies vocals with a teacher, and in her free time she plays tennis. At the age of 9, she managed to become the advertising face of the school collection of the H&M brand.
Basta's eldest daughter Maria
In 2013, the second daughter of Basta was born, who was given the name Vasilisa. "Princess", as her dad affectionately calls her, was named after him, and she is incredibly similar to Vasily. Now she is 5 years old, she is growing up as a very artistic girl.
The youngest daughter of Basta Vasilisa
The youngest daughter Vakulenko often appears at fashion shows for children's clothing. The girl is learning to play various musical instruments, is engaged in vocals and attends a creative studio.
Vasily Vakulenko with his daughters
Basta spends a lot of time with her daughters, they often go on trips and tours together. Vasilisa and Maria star in her father's videos, he composes musical compositions about them.
Basta conflicts
Basta quite often comes into conflict with representatives of show business. Most of them he manages to resolve peacefully.
2016: "Non-Magic"
In December 2016, Basta came into conflict with YouTube bloggers, the Nemagiya duet. According to the artist, bloggers spoke insultingly about his mother. Basta's answer was unexpected - he promised a reward to those who send an "extreme" photo with the participation of "Nemagiya".
Basta wanted to explain to the guys that they need to think about their statements so that they do not look tactless.
As a result, the bloggers apologized to the musician and stated that he initially misunderstood them. "Nemagia" did not have a goal to offend any of the artist's relatives.
2017: Guf
At the end of 2017, it became known about Basta's conflict with a former friend, rap artist Guf. The latter, during a video broadcast, accused Basta of not coming to his aid when Guf had problems with the abuse of illegal drugs. Basta could have sent him to a clinic for treatment, but chose not to interfere.
Basta and Guf do not mind cooperating
Basta replied that he had repeatedly tried to help Guf, but he asked not to interfere in his life. Vakulenko also said that he felt sorry for Guf. True, already at the beginning of 2018, Basta answered the fans that he was not opposed to recording a new album with Dolmatov.
2017: Decl
The artist also had a conflict with the rap artist Decl. Kirill Tolmatsky (real name Decl) did not like the fact that music was constantly playing loudly in the club near his house. The entertainment establishment belongs to Vasily Vakulenko, who did not tolerate comments.
The conflict between Decl and Basta went to court
Basta on the social network spoke rather sharply about Decl and his hairstyle. Tolmatsky sued Basta, demanding compensation for moral damages. Vakulenko did not admit his guilt - he does not believe that he insulted Decl. True, the court was on the side of the plaintiff.
2018: Sergey Shnurov
In October 2018, the artist's conflict broke out with another mentor of the Voice show - Sergey Shnurov. Surprisingly, these completely different musicians turned out to have similar tastes. Artists often wanted to get the same members on their team, and this led to a serious conflict.
Vasily considers Shnurov to be a non-professional and openly advises the participants not to choose this mentor, so as not to ruin their careers. During the Evening Urgant show, Basta emphasized his hostile attitude towards the leader of the Leningrad group, saying that he was "not a good fellow."
2018: CSKA fans
In April 2018, the press reported that before the start of the CSKA-Arsenal Europa League quarter-final match, CSKA fans were attacked by unknown people led by Vasily Vakulenko's bodyguards. And after some time, CSKA fans fought with supporters of the rap artist.
Basta is a fan of CSKA
Basta said that he considers himself an ordinary fan of CSKA. He doesn't go to matches to get into fights. According to the artist, his bodyguard did not fight with football fans, and the situation was deliberately "inflated" in the media.
How much does Basta earn?
Today Basta is not just a rap artist from Rostov. He is a successful music producer and businessman. Now Vasily Vakulenko is one of the highest paid artists in the country.
Financial condition according to Forbes
The artist has business projects that have nothing to do with creativity - he is a co-owner of a hotel chain in Moscow and Suzdal, the Legendas club in Vilnius. The artist also sells vapes and sports nutrition "Laboratory of Power", is engaged in the production of jewelry and watches "Gazgold".
Approximately 30% of this amount is spent on the creation of clips, staff salaries and rental of halls. In total, Vakulenko spends about 4 million rubles on the Gasholder every month, the amount reaches 50 million rubles a year. Basta invests a significant part of his income in the development of the label.
How much does Basta's concert cost?
Concerts are the artist's main source of income. The cost of Vasily Vakulenko's performances is not firmly fixed. It will depend on a number of factors - the date, city, venue and format of the event.
Concerts are Basta's main source of income
One performance brings Basta about 1-1.2 million rubles. Every year he gives 70-100 performances not only in Russia but also abroad. The amount for Basta's concert in the USA reaches $10,000.
Basta: height, weight, eye color
Basta has a strong physique. Vasily is 38 years old, but neither age nor a busy schedule of life prevent the performer from monitoring his appearance and playing sports.
Basta figure parameters:
- Age: 38 years (as of October 2018)
- Height: 181 cm
- Weight: 95 kg
- Foot size: 43
- Eye color: green
- Hair color: fair-haired
The rapper was never thin, his weight did not fall below 100 kg with a height of 181 cm. However, in 2018 Vakulenko surprised fans with his transformation. Thanks to hard training, he lost a lot of weight.
Vasily is actively involved in sports
The musician explains the sharp weight loss not only by regular sports (boxing and running in priority), but also by a busy work schedule. The man reports that due to concerts and long recordings in the studio, he sleeps 4 hours a day.
Basta has a busy work schedule
Vasily is a supporter of a healthy and active lifestyle. He eats wholesome foods. His weakness is natural cow's milk. In his interviews, he says that he orders the delivery of Kuban milk directly to his home. The rapper does not count calories, but prefers to eat protein foods, adds a lot of fruits and vegetables to the diet.
Basta looks good thanks to a healthy diet
He has been engaged in his body since his youth, and still believes that training in the gym helps him to be in good shape. But not only sports and healthy nutrition allow him to look great, Basta has incredible charm and knows how to win over anyone.
Basta today - latest news
In 2018, Basta continues to actively perform with concerts around the country, releasing new albums. In addition, he remains one of the most talked about artists on the web. For example, in September, Basta showed fans a new luxurious black Rolls-Royce car, worth over 26 million rubles.
"My new friend"
In October, the artist presented to the public his own feature film - "Klubar". In the picture, in addition to Basta himself, Evgeny Stychkin, Mikhail Bogdasarov, Evgeniya Shcherbakova, Ruslan Tarkinsky and residents of the Gas Holder play.
The film "Clubare" was released
Basta is an example of how an ordinary guy from a provincial town can achieve dizzying success. According to the artist, it's all about the love of creativity and the desire to develop, to overcome their own weaknesses and vices. That is why interest in his person, over time, does not fade away.
Photo: Instagram, youtube.com, artchange.ru, 24smi.org, cosmo.ru, starhit.ru
Basta (real name and surname - Vasily Mikhailovich Vakulenko) is a prominent representative of rap in Russia. Vasily Vakulenko - singer, actor, TV presenter, radio host, producer, director. In addition to the pseudonym Basta, the singer is known under the creative names of Noggano and Nintendo. Rapper Basta is also the owner of the Gazgolder label.
Childhood and education of Vasily Vakulenko
The biography on the Know Everything website reports that Basta's father was a military man.
Vasily's musical abilities were noticed by his parents in early childhood. At the initiative of his grandmother, the boy was sent to a music school. There, unlike an ordinary school, Vasily studied well and made obvious progress.
Basta's biography says that almost everyone in his family was a military man. Both grandfathers served in the armed forces - one in the artillery, the other in the civil defense forces. Vasily's father served in the missile forces, his uncle was a helicopter pilot and fought in Afghanistan. Another uncle served at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Even Vasily's mother worked as an economist in a military unit. But Vasily did not gravitate toward military service, the future rap star was drawn to creativity.
Having matured a little, the future rapper began to get involved in the Wu-Tang Clan, Ol "Dirty Bastards and Busta Rhymes. At the age of fifteen, the guy first tried to rap. He succeeded, and Basta began to improve in this direction, deciding to make a career as a rapper.
At the same time, Basta did not work out with a musical education. After school, Vasily Vakulenko entered the music school at the conductor's department. However, after the first course, he realized that this was not for him.
School No. 32, where Vasily Vakulenko studied, is located in a difficult area, between the Rabochy Gorodok and Nakhalovka, two well-known settlements in Rostov. “Basta's texts are vital, because they are saturated with their own experience and feelings. And yet - they are very patriotic towards Rostov, ”about Bast in the media.
In his youth, Vasily Vakulenko was also a sacristan, served at divine services and rang bells. Basta also began to sing in the temple - in the church choir. It was then that he met Mikhail Osyak, who is now Bishop Mitrofan of Gatchina and Luga. In 2016, the priest invited the rapper to the service in honor of his birthday, Vasily took part in the Divine Liturgy at the Pavlovsk Cathedral in Gatchina, before his concert in St. Petersburg.
Basta's career in show business
In 1997, Vasily Vakulenko came up with the pseudonym Basta Khryu. At this time, he became a member of the Psycholyric rap group, later renamed Casta. With the participation of Basta, the group recorded the album "First Strike" (1997). But a year later, Basta left the group.
When Basta was 18 years old, he wrote the song "My Game", which he considers the best in his work. Basta felt popular, after that Vasily 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.
In the photo: musician Vasily Vakulenko (Basta) during a performance at the international music festival KUBANA (Photo: Artem Geodakyan / TASS)
For some time Basta, he left the stage, but returned in 2002, when his friend Yuri Volos(aka Zhora) offered to create a home recording studio. But none of the producers dared to collaborate with little-known rappers. In search of a label that would take them under its wing, the young rappers moved to Moscow.
The singers are lucky. Demo CD of Basta (Vasily Vakulenko renamed himself Basta Bastilio) caught Bogdan Titomir.
The popular musician became the producer of Basta under the auspices of the Gas Holder. Under this label, Basta's first album, Basta 1, was released, which included 19 Vasily's solo tracks. The composition of the disc included "My Game", which Basta traditionally performs at every concert. Then Basta released the first clip "Autumn", then the video "Once and For All" appeared.
In subsequent years, Basta worked hard. In 2007, he released his second album "Basta 2", with which expressive video works appeared: "Our Summer", "So Spring Cries", "Inner Fighter". The LP sold out 50,000 copies in 90 days. In the same year, foreign computer game developers from Rockstar became interested in Basta, and Basta's song "Mama" sounded in Grand Theft Auto IV, released in April 2008.
Basta's biography on the Know Everything website says that Vakulenko became a co-owner of the Gazgolder label. Soon a new pseudonym appeared in his work - Noggano. Noggano's new tracks featured harder, bolder, and nihilistic hip hop. Noggano, according to Vasily Vakulenko himself, is “a hooligan project. This is a swindler, a womanizer and a bastard. Asocial and immoral type. Naturally, the audience of Basta and Noggano, although they are characters of the same person, is slightly different: Basta's is more decent, Noggano's is "tougher".
In 2008, Noggano shot a video for the song with the palindromic title "City of Roads" and received the MTV Russia Music Awards as "the best performer who came out of the Internet."
Under the new name, Vasily Vakulenko released three albums: "First" (2008), "Warm" (2009), "Unreleased" (2010).
In 2010, the joint work "Basta / Guf" appeared - a disc in a gray booklet and virtually without a name.
After some time, Vasily Vakulenko became interested in writing. He liked writing scripts. Basta actively took up a new business for him, and soon the audience saw his work called "Tales for Adults".
In 2010, Basta received the Muz-TV award for the song "Turn around", he was also awarded as "the best hip-hop project".
In the photo: musician Vasily Vakulenko (Basta), who won in the category "Best hip-hop project", at the annual national television award ceremony in the field of popular music "MUZ-TV" (Photo: Mikhail Dzhaparidze / TASS)
In 2011, Basta delighted his fans with the new Nintendo album, which struck with the unusual cyber-gang style.
In the same 2015, Vasily Vakulenko won the Best Hip-Hop Artist nomination at the First Russian National Music Award.
In the photo: musician Vasily Vakulenko (Basta) (right), who won the Best Hip-Hop Project nomination, at the First Russian National Music Award ceremony (Photo: Vyacheslav Prokofiev / TASS)
In 2016, it became known that Basta became one of the mentors of the fourth season of the Voice project, and he was accompanied by Polina Gagarina, Alexander Gradsky And Grigory Leps.
At the end of 2016, Basta became the main star of Rostov-on-Don, after the head of the administration of the Don capital Sergey Gorban solemnly he received two medals at once - "For services to the city of Rostov-on-Don" and "185 years of Baikov Andrey Matveyevich." These two new awards, initiated by Gorban, were established last year, exactly to the 266th anniversary of the city.
Vasily often performs with other representatives of Russian show business. Together with the group "Nerves" Basta released the video "With hope for wings." Basta's creative union with singer Polina Gagarina was also successful. The fans were impressed by the songs “The whole world is not enough for me without you” and “Voice”. In 2016, Basta and Polina Gagarina also created the composition "Angel of Faith".
In general, Basta never ceases to amaze his fans with the variety of themes of his concerts. Here he is with the singer Alena Omargalieva presented the listeners with the composition “I rise above the ground”, and suddenly surprised them with the performance of Soviet songs. Basta's original work was a cover version of the song "Dark Night", which at one time sounded in the film "Two Soldiers" performed by Mark Bernes.
The single "Master and Margarita" is one of Basta's last works, the song became the soundtrack to the feature film "Me and Uda. Redemption".
The album "Basta 5, Part 1", which, according to Vasily Vakulenko, included compositions composed by him over the past three years, appeared on the Apple Music service on April 19, 2016. As a media outlet, Basta took the top positions in both Russian iTunes ratings. The first place in the album chart was taken by his new album "Basta 5, Part 1". Among the compositions of the song chart, the first place was also taken by Basta's creation - the single "Voice", which Vasily Vakulenko recorded together with Polina Gagarina.
In April 2017, Basta presented a new video - "Samsara". The song itself was dedicated to family values, and rock musicians took part in its recording Diana Arbenina, Alexander Sklyar, Sergey Bobunets And Andrey Zaporozhets(Sunsay). The clip used real photos of little Basta and his friends.
Basta in the cinema
Basta often appears in films. Back in 2008, Basta tried himself as a screenwriter, director, producer and actor. This happened during the filming of his film "The Tea Drinker". Then there were cameos and small appearances in the films "Moats", "Pruha", dubbing. In 2013, Basta took part in the project “Vladimir Mayakovsky. Third wheel".
In 2014, the creative association "Gazgolder" released a full-length film of the same name, where Basta played the main role.
In 2015, Basta recorded the soundtrack for the film Petra Buslova"Motherland". This film tells about the fate of the Russians who ended up in the famous Indian resort of 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, it will crush itself, ”this is how Basta feels about a person living in a foreign land, but still yearning for his native Russian expanses.
In 2015, film news reported on the filming of the new film "Gasholder" - "Klubar". Basta wrote the music for the film and took part in the filming.
Vasily Vakulenko is the owner of the clothing brand "Gazgolder".
At the end of 2014, 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 Basta did not regret a very tidy sum. 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.
Basta's personal life
From the biography of Basta it is known that he met his wife Elena by accident. The initiative was shown by the girl herself - a longtime admirer of the rapper's work.
In the photo: Basta with his wife Elena (Photo: Sergey Bobylev / TASS)
Elena is the daughter of a famous journalist Tatyana Pinskaya living in France. At first, the future mother-in-law, seeing the brutal rapper in tattoos, was horrified, but after reading his texts, she changed her anger to mercy. The woman agreed that the guy is very talented. Basta wrote soundtracks for Pinskaya's documentaries about artists Erica Bulatov And Oscar Rabin. Father-in-law Basta, Dmitry Pinsky, runs the company DP-trade, dealing with expensive wines.
In 2009 Vasily Vakulenko and Elena Pinskaya legalized their relationship. On December 4, 2009, Vasily and Elena had their first daughter, Maria. Three years later, another daughter, Vasilisa, was born.
In the photo: Basta with her daughters (Photo: instagram.com/bastaakanoggano)
Basta loves and sings puer tea in songs.
Vasily Vakulenko often shares photos on Instagram, where he has over 2 million followers.
