Meet Timati, the Russian Rap Star Doing Tracks With Snoop & Timbaland Posted by Nathan S. on 07/31/13 | Filed under Meet

As much as I try to be a cultured and learned hip-hop fan, I have to admit that I'm thoroughly nationalist. If it's not coming from America, I don't know about it. So that's why when I came across a piece on Russian Artists You Should Know, I paused to check it out. Russia's a big country, to put it mildly. For all I know there's some Russian rapper who's bigger there than Drake, and sure enough...

Meet Timati, as far as I can tell a man who's widely considered the biggest rapper in Russia (and by extension, a solid portion of Europe). In classic mainstream Euro fashion, the music's heavily electro-EMD/etc. influenced, which in some ways makes it ahead of its time. And Timati's not just Russian phenomenon, he's also done tracks with Busta, Diddy, Timbaland, Fat Joe, Xzibit, Mario Winans, Eve and Snoop (because of course Snoop):





I can't say I'm a fan, but regardless, it's fascinating to watch the ways hip-hop/rap/hip-pop gets translated in other countries (hey, remember that time Timbaland spent a day shooting a video in a Russian airplane hangar?). Until today, while I would have logically said there was rap in Russia, I'd never actually heard it. Well then, I can now consider my horizons broadened.

And if you're in the mood to do some more international music exploring, check out Pepsi's "Russian Artists You Should Know", which covers everything from Timati to rock to folk.

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