The music videos by this fearless rising artist have over 75 million views on YouTube and more than one million monthly listeners on Spotify, despite the streaming platform not being particularly popular in his homeland. From Ufa, the capital of the Russian Republic of Bashkortostan, Dryomin has made enemies 724 miles away in Moscow, thanks to a confrontational take on trap music – a Southern US rap subgenre built on trunk-rattling bass and raw raps that frame inner-city drug-dealers as superheroes.
He grew up worshipping trap stars such as Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Gucci Mane and Young Jeezy, something reflected in early Face songs such as Burger, in which Dryomin boasted about wearing luxury designer clothes and being a hustler. Dryomin admits his life experiences are worlds away from what his black rap idols experienced growing up amid gangs in America’s inner cities. In trap, however, he found a style of music that celebrated those who made something out of nothing – a feeling to which he could relate.
“My friend does a 9-5 and only earns $200 a month. The salaries in Russia are so poor and there is little opportunity. People feel lost. Therefore, the rap artists who talk about their depression and overcoming being poor are always going to be very successful here.”
He explains further: “Maybe our crime isn’t all in the street like it is in America, but we have organised crime at the heart of our government. Someone can be a criminal and tomorrow the same guy is a deputy in the police. The US rappers talk about the ghetto mentality in their songs, but it feels like our whole country is one big ghetto.”
Face released his debut album, Hate Love, in 2017. As his star has risen in his native country, his sound has developed into something darker and more introspective. He tells me that he recently stopped wearing designer clothing, taking on a less materialistic mindset that reflects a mission to speak up for those with nothing in their pockets.
The lyrics in his songs have also evolved to become more socially conscious. “I was offered money that was covered in our blood to promote those who drowned us in it / those who took it, I won’t shake their hand,” he breathlessly raps, amid menacing World War Three sirens, on the thrilling Stolen Air – a song seemingly about how Putin tried to put the artist in his pocket. It’s an apocalyptic-sounding song that savages musicians who are subservient to the Russian president. On 2019’s satirical Humorist, Dryomin talks about being put on a government blacklist, presciently rapping the line: “If Santa Claus is Russian, then he will bring the war.”
