Don't let the festive melodies, jaunty beats and plush keyboard settings deceive you—Mikhail Krug's chanson is some of the grittiest songwriting out there. An unassuming truck driver who took first place in a song competition and became a singer, Krug is armed with a voice that sounds nonchalant, but his songs are anything but. Teeming with the seedy details of life in the Russian underworld, his music circulated widely on the black market, and the vocalist capitalised on his criminal appeal by touring prisons. Consider Krug's brazen chansons the Russian version of gangsta rap.