Shaman (singer)
Yaroslav Yuryevich Dronov (; born November 22, 1991), better known by his stage name Shaman, is a Russian singer-songwriter and music producer. He is well known for writing and producing pop and rock music. His style mixes contemporary music, ethnic singing and unique vocal techniques. Shaman was voted the second best Russian singer of 2022 in a poll by the state-owned Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM). Career
He performed on Faktor A (the Russian version of The X Factor) in 2013 and the Russian version of The Voice in 2014. Dronov took on the stage name Shaman in 2020. The blonde-haired singer formerly wore his hair as dreadlocks, which he described as a "Russian folk hairstyle, because they look like ears of corn". On 23 February 2022, Shaman released  "Rise Up" (Russian: Встанем; romanized: Vstanem) for Defender of the Fatherland Day, a song celebrating soldiers who died, which was also on the eve of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In an interview with Russia-1, he said that he held the belief that the song was "dictated to me from above." His single amassed 46 million views on YouTube and was featured on the Russian state channel Russia-1. The song was dedicated to Russian war heroes of the Great Patriotic War. Later in 2022, he released "" (). The song became a pop-culture phenomenon in Russia as it has more than 42 million views but was ridiculed on Russian social media. Music critic and journalist Otar Kushanashvili called the parody “I’m narrow” unfunny: “it’s useless and has no sense of humor” Pavel Rudchenko noted that "the song encourages pride ourselve to be a Russian, to be a part of Russia", which explains the popularity of this composition. Shaman supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and was invited to speak and perform at government-organized events. In November 2022, he was criticized by the head of the Russian Media Group for not performing in occupied territories in Ukraine, and in January 2023 he played for Russian soldiers in Luhansk and Mariupol. In July 2023, Shaman released a clip from his song "My Fight" (); the clip received over a million views in its first 24 hours. While it was praised by Russian news outlets, it was criticized on Russian social media by many, including journalist Artemy Troitsky, for its perceived references to Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf. The German translation of "My Fight" is Mein Kampf. See also
Baja Mali Knindža, a similar Serbian singer

References

1991 births
Living people
People from Novomoskovsk
Russian male singer-songwriters
Russian nationalists
Russian propagandists
Russian record producers
Russian singer-songwriters
Anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Russia