A song by AIGEL, an electronic hip-hop duo from Russia’s republic of Tatarstan, has secured the No. 2 spot on Shazam’s global top 200 chart this week.
The success of “Pyala” (“Glass” in the Tatar language) marks the first time in history that a song in Tatar — a Turkic language spoken by Russia’s largest non-Slavic indigenous community — has topped a major global song chart.
“Pyala” was initially released in 2020 on AIGEL’s fourth studio album of the same name.
Its present-day resurgence comes after it was featured in “Spit Shake: Blood on the Pavement,” a TV series recently released across several Russian streaming services.
“Spit Shake: Blood on the Pavement” is a criminal drama by Russian director Zhora Kryzhovnikov, which tells the story of gangs that operated on the streets of Tatarstan’s capital Kazan between the 1970s and 2010s and were widely known by the term “Kazan phenomenon.”
“Pyala” is currently ranked No. 1 on Shazam’s country charts in Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, and is the second-most Shazamed song in Ukraine.
AIGEL’s members Aigel Gaysina and Ilya Baramia are among the many Russian musicians who have openly condemned the Kremlin’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
The duo was forced to relocate outside Russia shortly after their concerts were blacklisted by the authorities.
