This article is about the Russian rap group. For the Assembly constituency, see Kasta (Assembly constituency). For the Russian radar system, see Kasta 2E.
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Kasta (Russian: Каста, Russian for caste) is a Russian rap group from Rostov-on-Don, well-known to Russian-speaking audiences in post-Soviet countries. The group's members are Vlady (MC and producer), Shym, Hamil and Zmey. Kasta has been notably influenced by New York City rap tradition. Kasta publicly condemned the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
History
Vlady, Shym and Hamil all started listening to rap at a very young age. Vlady created his first song when he was just 13 years old. In 1995, he and his friend Tidan (Тидан) made a group Psycholyric (Russian: Психолирик). One year after that Shym joined Psycholyric. In 1997, Psycholyric and other rappers from Rostov-on-Don made a group with the new name Kasta, the successor of Psycholyric (The name Kasta was created by one of the new participants, Basta, who soon left the group and started the solo career). Shortly afterwards, Tidan left the group. In 1999, Hamil joined Kasta. Kasta then created a group called Объединенная Каста (Obiedenennaya Kasta) which means United Kasta, due to the fact that the original group was becoming too large.
Their first show was in Rostov's famous rap club Duncan and Comanchero.
Present
Kasta is still a major group in the Russian-speaking rap scene. The group is well-known in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and in all countries of the former Soviet Union and countries where immigrants from these countries live. Six thousand people have been gathering for their concerts.
Kasta publicly condemned the Russian army's invasion of Ukraine on the very first day of the war and continues to express an anti-war stance. Kasta was included in the unofficial list of banned artists in Russia. The authorities have canceled all the band's concerts. The members of the group (Vlady, Shym, Hamil, Zmey) have emigrated from Russia and have been continuing to work abroad.
In 2022, Vlady released his album "February Lasts," the first Russian-language album dedicated to the condemnation of the war. The album was marked by a large amount of press and attracted wide attention.
Kasta Concert in Munich on 8 February 2024
Formation
Vlady (Влади) — Leshkevich Vladislav, born December 17, 1978, in Rostov-on-Don
Shym (Шым) — Epifanov Mikhail, born January 25, 1979, in Rostov-on-Don
Hamil (Хамиль) — Pacechny Andrey, born October 19, 1979, in Rostov-on-Don
Zmey (Змей) — Mishenin Anton, born January 21, 1982, Rostov-on-Don. In 2005, he left the group Grani after the release of the album Kipesh and joined Kasta.
Discography
Albums
2002: Громче воды, выше травы ("Gromche vody, tishe travy", "Louder than Water, Taller than Grass")
2002: Что нам делать в Греции? ("Chto nam delat' v Gretzii", "What do we do in Greece?") [by Vlady]
2004: Феникс ("Fenix", "Dank Kush") [by Hamil]
2006: По-приколу ("Po-prikolu", "For fun")
2008: Быль в глаза ("Byl' v glaza", "Facts to the Eyes")
