Ragapop — Syasya (2020)

If you somehow missed the debut mini-album from the Ragapop project, here are some reasons why you still should listen to it.

When it comes to the past, the approach to it can be different. Since the early age, we all used to the idea of past to be solid unchanging matter that we can only learn some lessons from. Quite a boring way of perception, as for me. Also, as we already know today, our memory doesn`t function this way. Actually, we recollect our memories each time somewhat differently from the last time. Memories can be altered not only by detailes, but also by the role they play in our lives. Relationship between Ukrainian music and memory is indeed a vast and many-sided subject. Relatively speaking, if Veryovka Folk Choir will always try to represent the attitude to folk memory of Soviet times, then we’ll say pop singers are given a little more freedom. For instance, take Dakh Daughters or DakhaBrakha, who mix folk music with cabaret, hip-hop, punk and who knows what else and are already known in Paris, in USA, beside their own homeland.

Songs based on classic Ukrainian poems, however, form a stand-alone subject. Ukrainian rock musicians like to use the lyrics of Taras Shevchenko, Vasyl Symonenko, Vasyl Stus, sometimes even Bohdan-Ihor Antonych. Maria Burmaka, who actualized guitar folk with a Celtic sound in our area in the nineties, has written many songs based on poems by Oleksandr Oles`. Один в Каное band has based their song "Човен"("Boat") on Ivan Franko's poem and it turned to be one of their biggest hits. However, most of these performers followed the "party line" and built the traditional lyrical mood, adjusting to the expectations of the audience. New Dakh Theater-based project named Ragapop, which includes members of the aforementioned Dakh Daughters, did the opposite and did it differently.

In general, Ragapop looks and presents itself as the very playful project that does not take itself too seriously, although it aspires to fulfil some deep innovative tasks. The word Ragapop, which was accidentally invented by Ruslana Hazipova, initially served as a tag for the photo project on Instagram, but when Ruslana and Anna Nikitina met Anton Ocheretyany, it appeared to be the best match for their joint creative experiments. Anton, who is also Hazipova's husband, creates most of the music in Ragapop, and plays guitar on live performances.

The first release of the project, which is named Syasya, came out on the 1st of July. It consists of three electronic tracks which are based on three totally different lyrics by Ivan Franko. The poem of the same name "Syasya" tells us the story of an elderly sex worker who feels for a young client and listens to his personal tragedy. For this song Ragapop, together with director Maxim Kotsky, shot the almost literal dynamic music video in the same black and red scale as Rammstein`s "Deutschland" video. Hazipova performs the main vocals, changing the tone and tempo for several times, which allows you to fully experience the narrated story and personal drama of both characters.

The poem "Fevrosia" had its historical context when was written by Franko: his heroine embodied the spirit of Galicia back in the day. Though we see more litaral meaning in the track "Fevrosia" and there are no new senses in it, but Hazipova's vocals against some slow dubstep beat have the same charisma as always. The final point of this mini-release is the track "Gordosti" ("Pride"), which was released as the single back in May. The excerpt from Franko's translation of Sophocles' "Oedipus the King" became the lyrics of it. Musically this track gives you a feel of dark abstract hip-hop. The combination of electronic bassline and guitar is the most successful musical solution of this small music creation. A "quarantine" video was shot for this song, where you can see Ruslana's face, surrounded by darkness and stroboscopic light.

Compared to previous girls' Dakh-based projects, Ragapop is better at creating its own groove and mood, which allows the listener to sometimes forget about intellectual games and mixing genres and just indulge in the emotional component of these tracks. Traveling through the electronic worlds somewhere between dubstep and IDM, the trio discreetly promotes their vision of Ivan Franko’s three sensitive texts, blurring the boundaries of the social and the existential. We hope that their creative search will continue to be just as ingenious as it is now.

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Ragapop band was created at the end of 2018, it began with a photo project by Ruslana Hazipova and Anna Nikitina, members of Dakh Daughters, on Instagram. Later, guitarist Anton Ocheretyany joined the band. The discography includes one mini-album and two videos.

Ragapop in social networks:

https://www.instagram.com/ragapopnow/
https://www.facebook.com/ragapopnow/
https://ragapop.bandcamp.com/album/siasya