Band "Casta": art, composition, albums

"There are things an order of magnitude higher ..."

The "Casta" group originates from the glorious Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, which was known as the criminal capital of the Russian Federation.

History of creation

Nineties are considered to be the original flourishing of Russian hip-hop culture. In response to a turning point in the life of Russian society, musical hip-hop collectives begin to appear that describe in their lyrics the life that surrounded them without hints of any exaggerations, in general, the usual provincial life. And the group "PsychoLirik", founded in 1995 by two friends of Vladi and Tidan, is no exception. It is from the creation of this group that "Casta" begins. Provincial then the guys begin to try to compose their first texts, which were truly courtyard. Soon they are joined by Shimon.

"Caste" (band). The participants

1997-1999 was marked for the collective by the birth of the so-called conglomerate of hip-hop movement of that time. It consisted of such groups as "Psycho Lirik", "Basta Khryu", "Western Sector", "Sand People". As a result, a more or less permanent composition of the rap association is formed and a cult album "Three-dimensional rhymes" is born. Surely everyone remembers the song "We take it in the streets", which becomes the hallmark of the band. If we describe this album in more detail, we can say that he still absorbs the echoes of youthful maximalism under the style of New York hip-hop of that time. By mid-1999, from a kind of conglomerate called "Casta", three people came to the fore, which later became the basis of the group - Shimon, Khamil and Vladi.

United "Caste"

In 2000, the band gradually gaining momentum, filming the first clip for the already sensational song "We take it in the streets." In 2001, the single "On the order above" was released, and later listeners could watch the video for this song, which already then ranked first in the MTV charts. The next work is the album "Louder than the water, above the grass" (2002), with the release of which the group went on a tour of the Russian Federation. One of the main achievements is a powerful concert of the band "Casta" on one platform together with the band Bomfunk MC's.

Formation of musical style. Chronology of events

The music of the "Casta" band of this period is already becoming clearly pronounced. In their texts, the guys talk not only about their life position, but, perhaps, the whole "generation of Pepsi", performing steep rhymes from the remote places, the lyrics of which are permeated with the spirit of domestic rap. During this period, Vladi and Hamil are engaged in a solo career. In November 2002, Vlad's album "What We Do in Greece".

Having listened to the album, it is possible to say with certainty that Vladi is a master of his craft: excellent reading technique, smooth transitions, and most importantly, sense in lyrics. Songs to the album was written by him. There is little about love, a little bit about Moscow through the eyes of a man from the backwoods, there is also a fine line of politics and thoughts about the modern structure of Russia.

In 2004, Hamil's solo album "Phoenix" was released. About his offspring Andrew said that he was imbued with the spirit of "Caste" in the rhythms, the stylistics of the texts turned out to be quite tough and harsh, but with lyrical digressions in several places. At listening it will be possible and to cry in the literal sense of the word, and to laugh.

In 2006, fans can contemplate a new creation - the album "By the way", in which the group "Casta" will start talking about rap differently. After listening to the album, in which only six tracks, you can talk about the new style that has arisen. This is judged on such songs as "Trash", "For fun" (the second version of this song sounds brighter and steeper thanks to the live sound). The presence of electric guitar, piano, percussion is a good addition to this story.

In 2007, the band "Casta" decides to continue experimenting with a live sound, and the first DVD with a concert of the band together with a symphony orchestra is released. Yes, that's what the guys decided to do, that no one had done before them before. The "Casta" band, whose songs were not previously arranged, gave them a lively sound thanks to bass guitar, keyboard and wind instruments.

The new cast of "Casta"

A year later, the group includes the Serpent, the ex-member of the "Frontiers". The renewed cast of "Casta" releases a full-length album "Byl in the Eyes", songs from which were heard on the air of the most popular radio stations. After a while, clips on all the already favorite tracks from the album "Around the Noise", "Radio Signals" come out. This album does not look much like the old Casta. As the guys say, there is no main idea in it, it identifies the very essence of reality, which they create, and expressing all the pros and cons. It contains many ideas, thematic sketches, relationships between parents and children, thoughts about human masks, the quality of pop music of that period, and female psychology. This album is more mature than the previous one. In it, you can not find texts about the youth of the Rostov courtyards, there are no street motives. "Byl in the eye" is considered the peak of the creative activity of the collective. By the way, he came out on the label Respect Production, the leadership of which took the guys, and was awarded the "Muz TV" award "Best Album".

The tenth anniversary of the group

In 2009, the guys decided to sum up the ten-year work, publishing a record of their best songs called Best hits. The clip on the well-known theme "Around the Noise" is the second prize of the "Best National Clip" award following the results of the music portal "rap.ru". Hamil and Snake begin work on recording their album, which will later be called "HZ". This album was able to please the listener with excellent sound quality, rhythmic melody and meaningful filling.

In 2012, following Hamil and Serpent, the third member of the band, Vladi, publishes his solo album titled "Clear!". "And again he announced himself," the music critics said, on the whole thanks to him for the new quality of music, for the complete rejection of street "patsan rap." This proof is the track "Write dreams", in which there are a lot of lyrics and experiences of the author, a comparison of the past life with this one, hope for a better future ("... make up dreams, there are millions of chances that soon everything will come true ...").

The modern "Casta"

2013-2015 Were marked by a number of performances of the group in the countries of the near abroad and not only, there were released many releases, participants try themselves in cinematography, I work on solo activity, their label is actively developing. This year, the third solo album of Vladi "Nesusvetnoe" was released, in plans - to remove several clips. By the way, if we talk about the cover of this album, then it is very symbolic. It depicts the author himself in the guise of a monk holding a glowing ball in his hand . And it's not just that. The very filling of the album is permeated with kindness, spiritual calmness and a sense of happiness, for which Vlad himself has been going for a long time.

Conclusion

If we sum up the creativity of the guys, then we can say that the "Casta" band, whose songs have been sounded for fifteen years, deserves an honorable place on the domestic hip-hop scene along with the famous Bad Balance, "Legal Business $$", "Yu G" , Dolphin. And they can not even be compared, because the creative association "Casta" is a group whose members have their own special style, their fans, their souls and, finally, their rap ... They are the ancestors of Rostov hip-hop. Now the guys are building whole stadiums. Coming to their concert, you will hear not only new compositions, but also beloved old ones. At many at sounding of their songs on the face there is a smile and people involuntarily start to recollect the childhood and songs of "Caste" on which have grown.