Kalush (; stylised in

all caps In typography, text or font in all caps (short for "all capitals") contains capital letters without any lowercase letters. For example: All-caps text can be seen in legal documents, advertisements, newspaper headlines, and the titles on book co ...

) is a Ukrainian rap group founded in 2019 by rapper

Oleh Psiuk Oleh Romanovych Psiuk (; born 16 May 1994), also known by his stage name Psiuchyi Syn ( – a portmanteau of his family name and ''suchyi syn'', ), is a Ukrainian rapper and songwriter, who is the founder and frontman of the rap group Kalush (r ...

and music producer Vanyok Klymenko. In early 2021, the group launched the

side project In popular music, a side project is a project undertaken by one or more people already known for their involvement in another band. It can also be an artist or a band temporarily switching to a different style. Usually these projects emphasize ...

Kalush Orchestra Kalush Orchestra is a Ukrainian folk-hip hop group founded in 2021 as a side project of Kalush (rap group), Kalush, performing hip-hop music in the Ukrainian language. They Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, represented Ukraine in the ...

. Unlike the original line-up, Kalush Orchestra focuses on

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

blended with folk motifs and elements from Ukrainian traditional music. On 15 May 2022, Kalush Orchestra won the

Eurovision Song Contest 2022 The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 was the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Turin, Italy, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by Måneskin. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and h ...

with the song "

Stefania ''Stefania'' is a genus of frogs in the family Hemiphractidae. They are native to the highlands of the Guiana Shield in southern Venezuela, Guyana, and adjacent far northern Brazil. Most are restricted to the tepui highlands, but '' S. evansi'' ...

History

Kalush was formed in 2019 through the collaborative efforts of rapper Oleh Psiuk, also known as Psiuchyi Syn, and music producer Vanyok Klymenko. The band’s name was inspired by Oleh’s stories about his hometown of Kalush, which led to the choice. Oleh found multi-instrumentalist Ihor Didenchuk online after responding to his call on Facebook, among 20

sopilka Sopilka (, ) is a name applied to a variety of woodwind instruments of the end-blown flute family used by Ukrainian folk instrumentalists. ''Sopilka'' most commonly refers to a fife made of a variety of materials (but traditionally out of elderb ...

players, and chose Ihor. The third member of the group was the mysterious MC Kylymmen ('Carpetman'), a virtual person, behind whose mask can be any person. Since the creation of the group, more than 70 people have taken on the role of MC Kylymmen, and in each song, a new person appears behind the mask of MC Kylymmen. The group’s first music video for the song "Ne marynui" was released on their official YouTube channel on 17 October 2019. The video was filmed on the streets of the band’s hometown of Kalush. After releasing their second music video, "Ty honysh", in November 2019, Kalush signed a collaboration agreement with the American hip-hop label Def Jam, part of Universal Music Group. On 9 December the video for the song "Hory" was released, which the band performed together with

Alyona Alyona Aliona Olehivna Savranenko (; born 14 June 1991), better known by her stage name Alyona Alyona (; stylized in all lowercase), is a Ukrainian rapper, singer, and songwriter. She released her debut album, ''Pushka'' (), in 2019, followed by an ex ...

. In 12 days, the video gained 1.2 million views on YouTube. In 2021, according to TopHit, Kalush had 424,949 radio airplays on Ukrainian radio stations and garnered 37,318,425 views on YouTube. In January 2021, Kalush, together with Skofka, released the joint track "Otaman". In May, another collaboration, "Dodomu", was released, which made it to the YouTube trends, Shazam charts, Spotify, and iTunes top charts. With this song, the artists decided to support the "Oko za Oko" project by the

OKKO ''Okko'' is a comic book written and illustrated by Humbert Chabuel, who goes by the pen name Hub, with colors done by Hub and Stephan Pecayo. It was originally published in French as a series of books starting in 2005. An English translation by ...

gas station network and the "Povernysʹ zhyvym" foundation. The project's goal was to raise funds for purchasing 25 Shark drone systems. On 19 February 2021 the band released their debut album ''Hotin''. On 23 July 2021, Kalush and Skofka released a joint mini-album "Yo-Yo" and a new track, "Ne naprygaysya". On 22 March 2024, Kalush and Kola released two songs, "Pamyatai" and "Upiimai moie sertse", along with their music videos. One of the videos was released on Kalush's YouTube channel, and the other on Kola's YouTube channel simultaneously. On 14 June 2024, Kalush released their third album, ''Dlia dushi''.

Artistry

The leader and founder of the band Kalush, Oleh Psiuk, has long been known for wearing a pink

bucket hat A bucket hat (variations of which include the fisherman's hat, Irish country hat and session hat) is a hat with a narrow, downward-sloping Brim (hat), brim. Typically, the hat is made from heavy-duty cotton fabric such as denim or canvas, or h ...

. The singer bought his first bucket hat at a second-hand store for the filming of the music video for the song "Ne marynui". Since then, the pink bucket hat has become not only Oleh Psiuk's trademark but also a symbol of the entire Kalush band, and later the Kalush Orchestra, which is a spinoff of the original project. It has also become a significant symbol, as it is actively sold at auctions worldwide, raising funds to support Ukraine during the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

Members

Current members

(2019–present)

rap Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...

* MC Kylymmen (2022–present)

breakdance Breakdancing or breaking, also called b-boying (when performed by men) or b-girling (women), is a style of street dance originated by African Americans and Puerto Ricans in The Bronx borough of New York City. Breakdancing consists mainly ...

Past members

* (2019–2023)instrumentals

Discography

Albums

Singles

As featured artist

Non-single album appearances

Awards and nominations

References

{{Authority control 2019 establishments in Ukraine Def Jam Recordings artists Musical groups established in 2019 Pop-rap groups Ukrainian hip-hop groups Eurovision Song Contest entrants