Little Big are a Russian

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mu ...

band founded in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

in 2013.Official page of the group Little Big
on

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...

"Little Big – Russian pop group, founded in 2013 in St. Petersburg" The band currently consists of Ilya "Ilich" Prusikin and Sonya Tayurskaya.LISSOV VLOG – Backstage LITTLE BIG April 2 STEREO HALL (MSCs)
'' «ANTHONY LISSOV (LISSOFF) Voice of JANE AIR, Clown from LITTLE BIG» '' Their first full-length album, ''With Russia from Love'', was released on 17 March 2014. The group has released a total of four albums and nine

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

. The band is currently based out of

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, following the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. A ...

History

The band was formed by musician

Ilya Prusikin Ilya Vladimirovich Prusikin (russian: Илья́ Влади́мирович Пруси́кин, born 8 April 1985), is a Russian musician, singer, record producer, vlogger, video director and screenwriter. He is best known as the front person ...

and videomaker Alina Pasok and made their debut on 1 April

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

, releasing their first video "Every Day I'm Drinking".LITTLE BIG – Everyday I'm drinking
/ref> They made their first public appearance on 2 July 2013 at the club A2, opening for

Die Antwoord Die Antwoord (, Afrikaans for "The Answer") is a South African alternative hip hop group formed in Cape Town in 2008. The group comprises rappers Watkin Tudor "Ninja" Jones and Anri "Yolandi Visser" du Toit, a male/female duo, and producers ...

. They have toured in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

, and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

.Interview , Ilya Prusikin: «Little Big – a musical reflection of society»
Rock Cult "This music is really in demand. We have not invested a single penny, just shot video, and became known in Europe",

said in an interview with UTV. On 19 December 2015, the band released their second album, ''Funeral Rave''. It was 8th on the Russian

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

chart for the 52nd week of 2015. On 21 May 2016, videos for the songs "Give Me Your Money" and "Big Dick" received a prize at the

Berlin Music Video Awards The Berlin Music Video Awards (BMVA) is a festival and networking event for filmmakers, directors, artists, musicians, and music video fans held annually in Berlin, Germany. The four-day event consists of music video marathons, live performances, ...

2016. "Big Dick" won Most Trashy,Berlin Music Video Awards on facebook
List of FINALISTS * and "Give Me Your Money" won third place for Best Performer. "Big Dick", with over 70 million views, is full of sexual imagery and overtones. "We just want to show people that they own their lives. Countries and governments are not as important as they think, a person can deal with what he wants", said frontman Ilya Prusikin on the purpose of the band in an interview with ''Noisey''. The band has its own label "Little Big Family", which includes Little Big (2016–present), The Hatters (2016–present), Tatarka (2016–present), (2017–present), and (2018–present). In April 2018, Olympia Ivleva decided to leave the band. Later that year, she stated her "burnout after five years of doing the same job", combined with intention to start her own non-musical businesses (chocolate paste and lingerie), were the reasons behind her exit. Little Big achieved viral success with the release of the video for "

Skibidi "Skibidi" is a dance song by Russian rave band Little Big. It was released on 5 October 2018 along with their album ''Antipositive, Pt. 2'' on Warner Music Russia. Ilya Prusikin and the media producer of the group 'Khleb", Lyubim Khomchuk we ...

" on 5 October 2018. The video features a dance that became popular when others tried to imitate it as part of the "Skibidi Challenge". Little Big took the first prize in the Most Trashy category at the

2018 for their music video ''

Lolly Bomb "Lolly Bomb" is a song by the Russian punk-pop-rave group Little Big. It was released on 8 December 2017 as the lead single from the group's third studio album 'Antipositive part one'. History In an interview with Knife, the directors said th ...

'', and their music video ''Skibidi'' won the first place in the Best Concept category in the festival's 2019 edition. In March 2020, Little Big were announced as Russia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, where they would have performed " Uno". The music video for the song, released at the same time, features Yuri Muzychenko from The Hatters and Florida Chanturia from

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, both of whom were to join the band on stage during the contest. However, on 18 March 2020, the event was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. In 2020, the band won the Most Trashy category with their video ''Go Bananas'' at the

. The same year, they also placed third for the Best Music Video. In October 2020, Little Big's cover version of "

Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" is a hit song by C+C Music Factory. It was released in late 1990 as the debut and lead single from their first album, ''Gonna Make You Sweat'' (1990). The song is sung by singer Martha Wash and rapper ...

" was used over both the trailer and the closing credits of ''

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm ''Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan'' (or simply ''Borat Subsequent Moviefilm'' or ''Borat 2'') is a 2020 mockumentary black comedy film directed by Ja ...

''.On 30 December 2020, the group performed the song "Mamma Maria" on the ''Evening Urgant'' New Year's special, ''Ciao, 2020!'', under the name Piccolo Grandi. On 1 March 2021, Little Big announced on Instagram that founding member Anna Kast had died. On 8 March 2021, Little Big released a new single, "Sex Machine," along with a video which referenced the video to "Uno" the year prior. However, they subsequently posted on Instagram, "We are not going to Eurovision 2021. We think that Russia has many talented and unique artists, each one of them deserves the chance to be seen out there." Little Big was nominated for Best Art Director with their music video ''S*ck My D*ck 2020'' at the

2021. On 24 November 2021, Little Big released the video "“LITTLE BIG NFT SURPRISEN EGG” episode 1" ''(sic)'' to announce that the band was making

NFTs The National Film and Television School (NFTS) is a film, television and games school established in 1971 and based at Beaconsfield Studios in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England. It is featured in the 2021 ranking by ''The Hollywood Repor ...

. On 1 December 2021, people could buy 1 of 1000 unique surprise eggs which would hatch a week later, revealing one of the designs. Ilya Prusikin stated that they were inspired by Kinder Surprise Eggs, which are popular in Russia. On 11 February 2022, the single 'Ebobo' by Glukoza was 'Inspired and Evilized by Little Big'. Members of the group can be seen in the music video and on the cover art for the single. Following the

, the two leaders of the band, Prusikin and Tayurskaya, relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

on 2 March. They stated that they were on a government

blacklist Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, ...

, and aren't allowed to perform any shows in Russia. When asked about a possible return to Russia, they stated that it will be possible "when

Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

leaves". On 24 June, the band released the single " Generation Cancellation", which carried a pacifist message that was regarded by Ukrainians as rather anti-American and anti-West rather than anti-Russian or even anti-war. This caused their show in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...

, that was supposed to take place 12th of November, to be cancelled. The band plans to release a fifth studio album in the year. Prusikin noted that "We are a band that likes to work in so many styles: pop, rave, punk and hardcore. And (now) we embody our ambition and love for different genres in the (new) album. It will be different".

Musical style

The team calls itself a satirical art collaboration, which relies on the music, visuals, and the show. Little Big mocks various national stereotypes about Russia. All the videos are filmed by co-founder Alina Pasok. The band shoots and produces all of their music videos. Since the first concert took place as the opening act for

, the band was dubbed "The Russian Die Antwoord", and is often compared with this band. ''Vice'' also called Little Big "a Russian mental patient's answer to Die Antwoord". Other critics point out that while Little Big has an

identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), an ...

of its own, it also exposes the listener to

Russian folk songs Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries * Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and pe ...

and

Russian culture Russian culture (russian: Культура России, Kul'tura Rossii) has been formed by the nation's history, its geographical location and its vast expanse, religious and social traditions, and Western influence. Russian writers and ph ...

. The band was influenced by a variety of musicians from

Cannibal Corpse Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band formed in Buffalo, New York in 1988, now based out of Tampa, Florida. The band has released fifteen studio albums, two box sets, four video albums, and two live albums. The band has had little radi ...

NOFX NOFX () is an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1983. Vocalist/bassist Fat Mike, guitarist Eric Melvin and drummer Erik Sandin are original founding and longest-serving members of the band, who have appeared on ever ...

Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates elements of alternative rock, funk ...

Rammstein Rammstein (, "ramming stone") is a German Neue Deutsche Härte band formed in Berlin in 1994. The band's lineup—consisting of lead vocalist Till Lindemann, lead guitarist Richard Kruspe, rhythm guitarist Paul Landers, bassist Oliver Riedel, ...

, and

The Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboard player and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured dancer and singer Keith Flint and dancer and occasional ...

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

and

Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widesprea ...

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

Extended plays

Singles

Participation

* 2014 - Noize MC - «Капитан Америка (Не берёт трубу)» * 2016 - The Hatters - «Russian Style» *2017 -

Electric Callboy Electric Callboy (formerly known as Eskimo Callboy) is a German electronicore band formed in Castrop-Rauxel in 2010. They take a more relaxed approach to the genre, and are known for their comedic songs, live shows and videos. History Early r ...

- "Nightlife" * 2018 - The Hatters - «Forever Young Forever Drunk» (feat. Just Femi) * 2019 - Animal ДжаZ - «Чувства» * 2019 - Злой Малой - «В долгий путь» (1 раунд 17ib) * 2020 - Finch Asozial - «Rave Religion» *2021 - The Hatters - «Everyday I'm Drinking (feat. Little Big) - Live 2021

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Little Big
profile on Warner Music Russia * * {{Authority control Musical groups established in 2013 2013 establishments in Russia Russian electronic music groups Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2020 Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Russia Musical groups from Saint Petersburg Russian hip hop groups Russian activists against the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine