In this file photo taken on January 16, 2020 Ukrainian rap singer Alyona Alyona poses during a photo session at the Eurosonic festival in Groningen. — AFP picFor a start, the former kindergarten teacher tries never to swear in her songs.
The rapper, whose real name is Alyona Savranenko, has put body positivity, bullying and female empowerment in songs that defy the stereotype of what hip-hop should be. “She is super-good, technically great, sassy, what can I say?” added music journalist Eloise Bouton, who founded the Madame Rap website.
“The video got so many views that journalists started to come to see me” in the tiny village nursery school near Kiev where she taught.Alyona realised if she was going to get serious about her musical career, she would have to give up her job.is about women who have piercings, tattoos or strange coloured hair, or a body that is not seen as normal,” the singer said.
Hip-hop is hardly known as a hotbed of feminist thinking, and Alyona has had to put up with some zingers.