Hookah Rap, or Shisha Rap, is a genre of Russian modern Hip-Hop music, which popularized in mid 2010s across the post-Soviet countries: North Caucasus (of Russia), Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, etc.

Hookah Rap is closely connected to aesthetics of the Near East and Central Asia, and intersecting with the production style of modern genres: Hip-Hop, House, Raggamuffin, and Dancehall.

The first tracks date back to 2014 from the Kazakh rapper Jah Khalib—his tracks were characterised by hedonistic Drake-like lyrics with a melodic immersive music (see “Leyla” or “Medina” for instance). Other notable examples are MiyaGi & Endspeil’s “I Got Love” (2016) and HammAli & Navai’s “Pryatki” (2019).

According to the journalist of the Kommersant newspaper Boris Barabanov, Hookah Rap was one of the most popular styles in Russia in 2019.

Artists

Modern

• Gunwest
• Rauf & Faik
• Ramil’

Classic

• Jah Khalib
• MiyaGi & Endspiel
• HammAli & Navai