For those drawn to creation and connection

We speak with Uzbek rapper, producer, and entrepreneur Massa at his store in Tashkent about blending Eastern and Western sounds, building a career from scratch in a country with no real music industry to speak of, and why rap and business have always gone hand in hand for him. Active in the Uzbek music scene since 2018, Massa has built a name through hard-hitting rap tracks, massive YouTube views, and a constant stream of collaborations with artists across the region. He's pr

Image by @arthurkennet Almaty, the so-called cultural capital of Kazakhstan, sits at the base of the Tian Shan Mountains, thousands of kilometres from Berlin, from London, from the clubs that most of the world uses as reference points for "the scene." That distance shows up everywhere here: in the cost of flying a DJ in from Europe, in the years the city spent with almost no dancefloor at all, and in the specific, hard-won flavour of what's been built since. To understand Alm

We speak with Tashkent-based hip hop artist Shokir about building a sound between tradition and modern rap, representing Uzbekistan on a global stage, and what it means to become the face of Pepsi in his home country. From starting to release music on Spotify in 2020 to gaining millions of views online, Shokir has quickly become one of the most recognisable names in the Uzbek hip hop scene. His music blends contemporary hip hop with traditional Uzbek sounds, while his lyrics

What began as a childhood fascination with a Michael Jackson VCD in a small town in southwest China has evolved into an unexpected global star fueled by rhythm and soul. Master Wen is an artist who understands that while technique is the essential tool, emotion is the "flavor" that ensures a performance is never forgotten. The Chongqing-born singer opens up about the "obsessive repetition" required to find his voice, his upcoming transition from a viral cover artist to an ori