Basta is a creative pseudonym, there are others: Noggano and N1NT3NDO. Who is he? First of all, a rapper. He is also known as a composer, broadcasts on radio and television, acts in films, writes scripts, produces, and has tried himself as a director.
Biography of Basta
The real name of the performer is Vasily Mikhailovich Vakulenko. Born in Rostov-on-Don in 1980 on April 20. My father was a military man. The parents had nothing to do with music, but still decided to send their son to music school. Decisive role grandmother’s persistence played a role.
All photos 8
The second step on the way to musical career should have been School of Music, where Vasily Vakulenko entered after school. A year of training as a conductor was enough to understand that this was not what he needed.
The first attempts to read and write his own rap were already at the age of fifteen. It was then that our own group was organized for the first time.
Later, when Vasily Vakulenko turned 17 years old, he joined the Psycholyric music team. Two years were not in vain: having gained a variety of experience in the field of music during this time, the talented young man remains faithful to his passion for rap. WITH light hand Vasily, the group “Psycholirik” received its new name - “Casta”.
It was during the period of work with the group “Casta” that the real ascent to the heights of popularity began. The most famous pseudonym, Basta, also appeared here. Vakulenko wrote his first song - “City”. It was included in the collection of the group “Casta”, called “First Strike”.
The song “My Game” became a hit; Vasily composed it at the age of 18. The musician talks about this as the most important creative stage in his musical career. This song brought Vakulenko wide fame as solo artist. The first time it was performed from the stage of the Sports Palace in hometown singer Then there were trips with concerts to the Krasnodar region and the Black Sea coast.
After the flash of fame, there was a temporary lull. Basta was hardly remembered. New round creative career started in 2002. The singer's friend and colleague Yuri Volos pushed him to the idea of starting an independent solo musical activity. For this purpose, we equipped our own recording studio at home. The performer quickly brought his forgotten songs, started writing new ones. The long break in activity raised doubts among the producers. Restoring its former glory was not so easy.
Not afraid unsuccessful attempts, friends went to conquer Moscow. They hoped to find studios that would agree to cooperate. Now everyone loves Basta, and remembering this difficult period, he later composed the composition “Terrible labels, no chances.”
Luck soon smiled on Vakulenko. A demodisc with recordings of Basta's songs was heard by Bogdan Titomir, who helped the talented performer further promote his work. Soon a club founded by Vasily appeared, as well as a label for his personal recording studio Gazgolder.
Under the leadership of the rapper, the studio received a second wind. Later, other rappers joined his party: Pika, Kupe, Guf. Today, the recording studio Gazgolder Records belongs to Vakulenko, Bogdan Titomir and Andrei Kobzon. The musician's first album was released in 2006 and immediately received public recognition. During the same period of time, the video for the song “Autumn” debuted, which was also a success. The following video for the song “Once and Forever” was distributed on the Internet via social media and YouTube.
“Basta-2” is the name of the artist’s second album, released in 2007. The collection's circulation was over 50,000 copies. All discs were sold out very quickly. This year turned out to be a fruitful year for the rapper's video works. Among them are the following: “Our Summer”, “Inner Fighter” and others.
Success followed on Vasily's heels. This time he becomes the conqueror of cyberspace: the song “Mom” became the soundtrack to one of the most popular games among gamers.
New stage name Noggano appeared with Vasily Vakulenko when subsequent collections were released: “First”, “Warm”, “Unpublished” (2008-2010).
The same creative period brought fresh laurels: the MTV Russia Music Awards for the video work for the song “City of Roads.” Vakulenko is trying to work in the film industry as a director, actor, producer and screenwriter, making his own movie (“The Tea Drunkard”). The screenwriter's work was to his liking, and the next script was written for the film Fairy Tales for Adults.
Basta's new pseudonym, Nintendo, also became the name of a new album, made in the extraordinary style of a cyber gang.
Today, Vakulenko continues to be actively involved in cinema: his creative background includes many acting roles, several scripts, as well as directing and producing activities.
The most recent event in Vasily’s work is participation in the popular project “The Voice” as a judge and teacher along with Grigory Leps, Polina Gagarina, Alexander Gradsky (late 2015).
Basta's personal life
Vasily Vakulenko is a wonderful father and husband. The family of the famous rap artist today consists of four people: himself, his wife and two daughters.
The musician’s other half is the charming Elena Pinskaya. Comes from a wealthy, intelligent family. Mom is engaged in journalism, dad runs a company that sells expensive wines. Lena was born in Moscow, has two higher education. Vasily’s wife devotes herself entirely to her husband and children, although before meeting this man she was going to continue her father’s work.
Fateful meeting happened to my future husband in a restaurant. Vasily had dinner there with a friend, and Elena attended a presentation that took place in this restaurant. The girl was familiar with the musician’s work firsthand, and she took advantage of the moment to get to know him better. Having chosen a convenient time, when the man was alone, Lena herself approached him and started a conversation. They gave each other cell phone numbers and started calling each other. The result of such communication was a marriage relationship that is happy to this day.
Basta, aka Vasily Mikhailovich Vakulenko, is also known under the creative names Noggano and Nintendo. He is a prominent representative of Russian rap culture, singer, actor, musician, television and radio host, producer and director, owner of the Gazgolder label.
Basta's childhood
Vasily was born on April 20, 1980 in the family of a military man from Rostov-on-Don. In addition to secondary school, the future rapper also graduated from music school, on his grandmother’s initiative. “Be patient, grandson, you will need this later,” she urged. 
At the age of 15, inspired by the work of Wu-Tang Clan, Ol' Dirty Bastards and Busta Rhymes, he tried to rap for the first time. The debut was successful, and he decided to move further in this direction.
After graduating from school, Vasily entered the music school to become a conductor, but left after the first course, realizing that the classes did not provide any practical value.
Carier start
In 1997, 17-year-old Vasily, who took the pseudonym Basta Hryu, joined the rap group “Psycholirik”, which, on his initiative, was soon renamed “Casta”. With his participation, the album “First Strike” was recorded in 1997 (tracks “City”, “First Strike” and “Just Jump Higher”). However, in 1998, the paths of “Casta” and Basta diverged. 
At the age of 18, "Basta" wrote his first hit - the song "My Game", which the author to this day considers one of the most important stages of your creative career. Rostovites were the first to hear the new composition at Basta’s performance at the local sports palace. Soon his work was heard by residents of the Black Sea region and Krasnodar Territory.
Basta – “My Game” (ft Guf)
Then the performer left the stage for some time, returning only in 2002, when his close friend Yuri Volos aka Zhora suggested making a home recording studio. But after a long break, none of the producers wanted to collaborate with young rappers, and in search of a label that would take them under their wing, Vasily and Yuri decided to move to Moscow. Later, Basta spoke about this time like this: “Terrible labels, no chances.”
Gas holder
Basta’s demo disc (at that time he began to call himself Basta Bastilio) came across Bogdan Titomir, who became the guy’s producer under the auspices of “Gazgolder”. It was on this label that Basta’s first album, “Basta 1,” was released, which included 19 solo tracks by the rapper, only two of which were recorded together with KRP. The album included “My Game,” which has become legendary - according to tradition, Basta performs it at every concert. In the same year, Basta released his first video, “Autumn,” which was included in wide TV rotation. The success inspired the rapper to quickly release the video “Once and Forever.”Basta – “Autumn”
Without exaggeration, 2007 was a turning point for Basta. Firstly, his second album “Basta 2” was released, and with it whole line bright video works: “Our Summer”, “So Spring Cries”, “Inner Fighter”. The 50,000th edition of the record was sold out in 90 days. Listeners were treated to 17 compositions, including a duet with Guf (“My Game”) and singer Maxim (“Our Summer”).
Secondly, foreign developers became interested in the performer computer games from Rockstar, and in the April 2008 release Grand Theft Auto IV" Basta's song "Mama" was played.
Basta: interesting facts
Thirdly, Basta became a co-owner of the Gazgolder label, and then opened new page creativity under the new pseudonym Noggano. In contrast to Basta's deeply lyrical tracks, Noggano delighted listeners with tougher, more daring and nihilistic hip-hop.
Under the new pseudonym, Vasily released the following three albums: “First” in 2008, “Warm” in 2009, “Unreleased” in 2010.
In 2008, the video filmed for the song “City of Roads” received the MTV Russia Music Awards. In addition to changing his pseudonym, in the same 2008, the rap artist tried his hand at different genres: screenwriter, director, producer and actor. This happened during the filming of his own film, “The Tea Drunkard.”
Vasily liked writing the script, so he began work, which viewers soon saw under the title “Fairy Tales for Adults.” In 2008, the video filmed for the song “City of Roads” received the MTV Russia Music Awards. In 2011, already under the new pseudonym “Nintendo”, Vasily again surprised everyone by releasing new album- “Nintendo”, which is performed in a style that is unusual for all admirers of creativity and the performer himself - “Cyber Gang”.
To date creative experience Basta in the “cinema” genre has a fairly solid list, namely acting roles in six films, the most popular of which is “Heat”, 4 film scripts, director and producer in two projects simultaneously.
In the fall of 2015, rap artist Basta became one of the judges and mentor worldwide famous project“Voice”, and his colleagues in the workshop became
Vasily Mikhailovich Vakulenko, better known as Basta. Also, his work has others, no less known aliases- Noggano and Nintendo.
Singer-rapper, musician, actor and radio host. He is actively involved in producing under his own brand Gazgolder.
Childhood and youth
The future representative of rap culture was born in Rostov-on-Don on April 20, 1980. His parents were military men.
His grandmother had a great influence on the boy. It was she who convinced Vasily to start studying at a music school.
There he first appeared on stage and realized that this is what he would like to do in life.
In childhood
As a teenager, I began to listen to the work of Ol’ Dirty Bastards, Busta Rhymes and Wu-Tang Clan.
It was they who inspired me to make my first debut in rapping at the age of 15.
It turned out to be successful, and Vasily decides to develop in this musical genre.
At the insistence of his family, after school he submits documents for admission to a music school.
He found it boring to comprehend the intricacies of the conducting profession. Having passed the summer session and having completed only 1 year, Vasily quits his studies.
He is attracted to rap culture, and at the age of 17 the young man is already creating his first track “City”.
The beginning of a creative journey
In 1997, Vasily Vakulenko (Basta) became a full-fledged member of the Psycholyric group.
After 2 years, this team, at Vasily’s suggestion, will be renamed “Casta”.
The track “City” was included in the group’s debut album, “First Strike”. At this time, Vasily takes the pseudonym Basta Oink.
The first popularity comes, but everyone knows him under an assumed name.
At the age of 18, Basta wrote a work that he considered the most important in his career - “My Game.”
He performed it at the local Sports Palace during some festive public event.
This brings him great success and recognition on the street. The inspired young man begins to work even more actively.
Having created concert program with Igor Zhelezka, begins to organize the first tours. First they perform at small venues in their native Rostov.
Seeing success and demand from the public, they give concerts throughout the Krasnodar region.
They began to be trusted with large venues where the group could gather up to 7 thousand people.
Then Basta took a break. For some time nothing was known about him. He retired from concert activities.
The history of the creation of the group "Basta"
In 2002, Vasily’s friend Yuri Volos suggested that he organize a home studio and record new tracks without leaving his home.
Yuri installed sound equipment and a computer, and Basta took up creativity again.
I started writing new compositions and restoring old tracks.
However, they failed to find producers to release and promote new songs. It was decided to try their luck in the capital.
Basta and Yu. Volos leave for Moscow with the hope of concluding a contract there with some recording studio.
However, things are not going very well. Then the young rapper KRP joins his friends.
Basta would subsequently write many joint compositions with him.
One of the rough versions of the record falls into the hands of Bogdan Titomir. It is he who brings the guys to the recording association “Gazgolder”.
In 2006, the first album of the group “Basta” was presented to the public. It was a great success. The entire circulation sold out in a few weeks.
Soon the musicians will shoot a video clip for the song “Autumn”. He immediately appears on the air of music channels.
In 2007, the Basta group completed work on the next album, Basta-2. You can hear it here joint tracks with KRP, Maxim, Lesya Verba.
A year later, the “City of Roads” video was awarded the prestigious MTV Russia Music Awards.
This provided additional incentive for further development in this area. In the spring of 2010, Basta presented the next album - “Basta 3”.
This year Vasily begins to work as a composer. He writes down musical accompaniment and film soundtracks.
Collaboration with Guf results in the new album ‘Basta/Guf’ (release date: 11/10/2010).
Participation in other projects
Basta has a unique ability to work. In addition to music, he does dubbing.
In 2009, he worked on the dubbing of the film “District 13: Ultimatum.” At the beginning of 2011, Basta creates new project with the name Bratia Stereo.
Coupe and other musicians also take part in it. Together they create a mix of a wide variety of musical genres.
Already in October, the album N1NT3ND0 (Nintendo) was released. In 2013 it was released documentary"Vladimir Mayakovsky. Third wheel".
In this picture, the poet’s poems are read by Vasily Vakulenko (Basta) himself. In September of this year, he wrote music for the film “Spring in Florence,” dedicated to the life of the artist E. Bulatov.
In 2014, Basta, together with the Gazgolder team, created his own feature film"Gas holder".
Here the rapper tries himself as a director, screenwriter and producer.
Moreover, he plays the main role in his film. The film failed at the box office and caused negative reaction from critics.
In 2015, he received invitations to participate as a mentor in the television project “The Voice”. Basta occupied the red chair for 4 months.
In 2017, a presentation of a new video for the song “Sansara” took place. In it, the singer focused on family values.
Childhood photos of Basta and his friends appear in the video.
Basta's personal life
Married to Elena Pinskaya. Their acquaintance happened by chance in one of the Moscow restaurants in November 2007.
Moreover, the initiative was taken by a girl who was there with a friend. The rapper also came to the restaurant not alone, but with a companion.
With Elena Pinskaya
Elena had previously been interested in Basta’s work, so she immediately recognized him as a famous person.
When the singer went outside, the girl followed him. She introduced herself first and expressed her admiration for the musician’s talent.
I left my phone number. Thus began their romance, which six months later turned into a civil marriage.
Vasily already realized that Elena would become his wife. He proposed to the girl several times, but received a polite refusal.
She was married in her youth, and this experience turned out to be negative. Elena was not ready to go to the registry office, as she was afraid of making a mistake again.
However, Basta persistently sought the girl’s hand. He also insisted on the wedding.
With kids
Only when Elena found out about the pregnancy were the young people able to sign. Official registration took place on June 11, 2009
The next day the couple got married. They didn’t organize a wedding celebration, they just went to the club to have fun in the evening.
A few months later, the family was replenished with a beautiful daughter, Maria. Elena and Vasily decided not to stop there.
4 years later Vasilisa was born. The musician considers his daughters and wife main value in life.
It is from his family that he draws strength and inspiration for new musical achievements. He had an excellent relationship with his mother-in-law.
Elena's mother lives in Paris and is a famous journalist. Sometimes she asks him to write music for her documentaries.
Basta has a rather busy schedule, and there is no time left for sports. He maintains his tone with the help of snowboarding and skating.
Basta now
Fans of Vasily Vakulenko’s work sometimes recall with slight nostalgia the image of a cheeky rapper, a shirtless guy who first appeared on stage.
IN Lately It is noticeable that in every sense he is a great artist, large, multi-genre and bright. The facets of his talent are so colorful that one gets the feeling that the artist is not enough of himself. Searches, tests, new projects against the backdrop of extraordinary ability to work are simply doomed to be successful and in demand.
Childhood and period of study Greetings to guests and regular readers of the site website. So, Vasily Mikhailovich Vakulenko, aka Basta, Noggano and Nintendo, first saw the light in Rostov-on-Don on April 20, 1980. Grew up with my older brother. The boy's parents were in the military. My grandmother took an active part in Vasya’s upbringing. At her insistence, Vakulenko, in parallel with secondary school, attended a music school. She assured her grandson that it would be useful to him in the future, and she was right.
Creation
As a fifteen-year-old teenager, Vasily begins to write rap and also creates his first group. Deciding to connect his life with music, he entered the school to master the profession of a conductor, but after just one academic year leaves school. Two years later, Vasya becomes the soloist of the group “Psycholirik”, which was later renamed “Casta”. At the same time, Vasily Vakulenko began to be called “Basta Oink” (later renamed to “Basta”) and released his first creation - the composition “City”, included in the album “First Strike”. At eighteen, Basta wrote the song “My Game,” after which he began to experience his first popularity. This is one of Vasya’s most recognizable songs, in which many listeners found themselves, because by game we mean real story performer's life. In 2007, a video clip was released for a rewritten version of this composition. Vakulenko began to actively engage in music and tour his native land. This was followed by a break in the musician’s activities for several years. In 2002, Vasily’s friend proposed the idea of creating his own studio. Basta again plunged into creativity, and for further development moves to Moscow. In the hope of signing a contract with some record label, the musician hands out his demo discs, one of which ends up with Bogdan Titomir. He helped to a young guy, at a time when he decides to create his own creative association "Gazgolder". In 2006, the singer’s video “Autumn” began to be broadcast on television, and the album “Basta 1” was also released, which immediately became in demand among listeners. It consists of 19 tracks, and the song “My Game” is still performed at every concert of the artist, having become his calling card.Basta - Autumn (2006)
This gives impetus to writing a second collection of hits. A year later, the album “Basta 2” was released, which contains joint tracks with such artists as MakSim, Alya and others. The release included 17 compositions that were appreciated by listeners: in two months the circulation of the album amounted to 50,000 copies .
Basta - Tea Drunkard (2007)
At the same time, Vakulenko begins to promote another personal project - Noggano. Young man success awaits again. In 2008, the album “First” was released, which consists of 16 tracks. Multiple humorous turns of phrase and a specific manner of narration lead to the public flocking to this kind of creative material with excitement.
Noggano - F**king Pump (2008)
In 2008, Vasya presented himself to the public in a new image and released material in the form of the N1nt3nd0 project (Nintendo). This, according to Vakulenko himself, is a cyber-gang, where the sound of the tracks differs from the usual tunes from Basta. In the same year, the hero of our biography marries his beloved woman, with whom, after a while, he has children. In 2008, he released the second album from Noggano, “Warm”. The record has 17 audio tracks, and guests include such performers as Sidr, Guf, Super Sonic, Kupe, Zhora "Papa". Thanks to hard work, the output was high-quality creative material.
Noggano ft. QP - Vodka (2009)
2010 is marked by the release of a joint album with Guf, as well as another solo album, “Basta 3”. The third solo release consists of 20 tracks, among which “The Sun is Not Visible,” “Love Without Memory,” “Turn Around,” and “Urban” deserve special attention. In May of the same year, the album took first position in the “Russia Top 25” release ranking and received gold status.
Basta ft. Guf - Accordingly (2010)
A year later, Vasily appears another attempt self-expression - Nintendo release. Vasily is distinguished by the fact that he is not a stranger to experiments with sound, thanks to which he reaches a very wide audience of listeners.
N1NT3ND0 - Give Mi Money (2011)
In 2013, the performer presented his fourth solo release, “Basta 4”. Such artists as Tati, Smokey Mo, the group "Nerves" and Green Gray, the choir "Adele" took part in the recording. In its sound and general atmosphere, it is somewhat gloomy, telling about serious and painful topics. But, despite this, it found a response among listeners, thanks to which Basta began to strengthen his position as a first-tier rap star.
Basta - This is More expensive than Money (2013)
A year later, Vakulenko and his team presented the full-length film "Gas Holder". The picture received not very flattering reviews on the Internet, but the portion of criticism only benefited Vasily, who took into account all his mistakes and later began new achievements with renewed efforts.
Gasholder: The Movie (2014)
In the fall of 2015, he became one of the mentors of the Channel One program “The Voice”. It was a bold step and such a risk was justified: television experience in a positive way affected the further creative development of the performer. In the same year, he presented a joint album with Smokey Mo, in the recording of which Elena Vaenga and.
Basta & Smokey Mo - Ice (2015)
In 2016, the rapper pleased his fans with the fifth solo album from Basta. It was released in two parts and included 11 and 12 compositions, respectively. Such performers as Tati, Smokey Mo, “Nerves”, Zmey, Jahmal TGK, Alena Omargalieva, Charusha took part in the recording. Such an arsenal contributed to the fact that a very large musical audience was covered, which only had a positive impact on Basta’s creative advancement.
Basta ft. Alena Omargalieva - I rise above the ground (2016)
It is worth noting Basta’s conflict with, which arose in August 2016 for the reason that the festival performers, under the auspices of Gazgolder, were unable to finish their performances before the allotted time. As a result, Kirill published a number of unpleasant statements on Twitter addressed to Basta, who did not remain silent and wrote: “Decl is a shaggy schmuck.” The result of this was a trial where charges were brought against Vasily. The court ordered Vasily to pay Kirill 50 thousand rubles in compensation for moral damage. But the conflict was not resolved: the rappers continued, whenever possible, to troll each other with or without reason. In addition, an unpleasant situation occurred with video bloggers. The latter reviewed the film "Gas Holder" and subsequently continued their mockery of Vasily, this time targeting his loved ones. The rapper couldn't just leave it like that and used it different methods conflict resolution: from an offer to apologize, to a desire to find the guys and talk to them more seriously. As a result, the conflict was temporarily resolved, but with such a reaction Vasily showed everyone that they need to watch their words. Also on December 31, 2016, fans were presented with a pleasant surprise from Noggano in the form of the album “Luxury”. The tracks were performed in a style typical for such an alter ego and were appreciated by the listeners.
Noggano - Rolex (2016)
Musician Vasily Vakulenko has extensive creative experience, recognition and respect in wide circles. But he is not going to stop there, as evidenced by Basta’s concert at the Olympic Stadium, which was attended by 36 thousand spectators. February 2018 was marked by the fact that Vasily became a mentor in the fifth season of the “Voice. Children” project. With his behavior and charisma, he endeared himself to many television viewers who began to sympathize with Basta. Basta did not want to stay away from fashion trends, and since April 2018 he has been launching his show Gazlive, where he interviews celebrities. The program is based on the fact that Vasily asks questions sent by the viewers themselves, and also organizes competitions - the invited guest appears before the audience from an extraordinary side. The presenter is helped by a charismatic person who has an abundance of jokes and a somewhat unconventional manner of speech. "Gasgolder. Clubare" is another film from the Gazgolder association, which was released in October 2018. Vasily took into account all the mistakes and shortcomings of the previous work, so this time the picture was appreciated.
Personal life
If we talk about his personal life, since July 2009 the hero of our biography has been married to Elena Pinskaya. The couple is happy together and from this marriage they have two children: Maria (born in December 2009) and Vasilisa (January 2013).Basta now
Basta is a popular Russian artist who has been in demand for many years. This became possible thanks to the perseverance and talent that Vasily possesses. He is not limited to one style of performing songs and experiments with sound, thanks to which he reaches a wide range of listeners. The multifaceted Basta is not going to stop there, as he has a lot in plans: participation in shows, release of new creative material and concert performances. All this is awaited by loyal fans who have remained faithful to their idol for many years.Preview:
: instagram.com/bastaakanoggano ( Official page on Instagram)
: youtube.com, still images
: "Channel One", still frames
Still from the film
Stills from music videos by Basta, Noggano, N1NT3ND0 from YouTube
Stills from Krapalec_hp videos from YouTube
Official website of the Gazgolder association - gazgolder.com
Personal archive of Vasily Vakulenko
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The article was prepared by the resource "How Celebrities Changed"