A raconteur fearlessly carving the identity of Ukrainian hip-hop, alyona alyona is accustomed to going against the grain. Spitting bars in her local language rather than following more widespread global hip-hop trends, she leads a new generation of rappers with empowering wordplay that draws on everyday feminist and sociopolitical issues. She's also a swaggering ambassador for body positivity. Releasing her debut album “Pushka” in 2019, she provides an outlet for a rising chorus of voices from the streets of Kyiv — and all the way to Ukraine’s most under-represented communities.