Courtesy of Pussy Riot.
Today marks the arrival of CYKA, the debut album of Pussy Riot and it’s founder Nadya Tolokonnikova, was always destined to make: fourteen years of protest, imprisonment, surveillance, exile, and sheer survival crystallized distilled into one single, searing record.
This album might sound sad at times, because it is. 2026: Russia is the world’s largest exporter of death and destruction. It’s the fifth year of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Nadya Tolokonnikova says: “Me and my countrymen could have prevented it, we just had to fight harder for our dream of a peaceful democratic Russia. I live in exile, like a rat. Everything I loved was taken from me; my entire country was stolen. My mother died of cancer in Moscow, and I couldn’t be there to say goodbye. The father of my daughter nearly died after being poisoned with a nerve agent by the FSB. My friend Alexey Navalny was murdered in jail. And I no longer know whether I’ll ever be able to let people get close to me again - being torn away from everyone I loved cost too much. Vengeance is what forces my eyes open in the morning, and what keeps me going. “OUTRO” is dedicated to my mother and my love to her.
Vladimir Putin is even listed as a contributor on the album (please check the DSP liner notes) and make of that what you will.
Pussy Riot launched their debut album with an explosive protest at the Venice Biennale, the so-called "Olympics of the art world", timed deliberately to coincide with Russia's controversial return to the event. The stunt made headlines globally and sent exactly the message intended: we see you, we hate it, we brought cameras, and we declare “DISOBEY”.
Nadya explains the album further, on the opening song “GODSLEFT”, she adds: “As I've been writing and producing the song, had in mind a vision of a world three years after a nuclear war, as scarse remnants of humanity surviving a nuclear winter: "третий год небо в ночной пелене, все что любила утопло в огне" (English: "For the third year, the sky is shrouded in a nocturnal veil; everything I loved has drowned in fire"). Its a song about how god left this world to find a new one, as they were feeling hopeless about humanity. It’s a cry for hope maybe one day we will find a new world, but the current one feels destroyed beyond repair. My dreams travel far beyond my death - I know i will die before all these probelsm are fixed, but at least I can hope in something else - maybe even in the darkness. When I wrote "my dreams travel far beyond my death", I was thinking of all my colleagues and friends I lost in this seemingly endless fight with Putin. The chorus is meant to be a first-person confession of this crying child, who lost everything in the fire ("плачет ребенок в далеком селе плач его глохнет в пустой тишине, все что любил он исчезло в огне, голос его запомнился мнe..."; English: "A child weeps in a distant village; his cries are stifled by the empty silence. All that he loved has vanished in the flames, yet his voice remains etched in my memory...")
Traditional Siberian song is sampled - filled with a typical for our land sense of stoicism in the face of dread. I'm hugely inspired by the "Ghost in the Shell: Innocence"'s "The Ballad of the Puppets", with lines loosely translated from Japanese as "The blossoms beseech the gods: Even though in this world we may know grief and suffering, Our dreams shall never die". The song's imagery inspired by a British movie "Threads" about a nuclear war descending on humanity, perhaps the darkest movie ever produced. And by Akira Kurosawa's "Dreams" - specifically chapters "Mount Fuji in Red" (nuclear disaster) and "The Weeping Demon" (nuclear aftermath). One of the synth themes in the chorus is based on Alla Pugacheva's - a Soviet-era diva who's vehemently anti-Putin and lives in exile now - track "Жизнь невозможно повернуть назад, И время ни на миг не остановишь" ("Life cannot be turned back, and time cannot be stopped—not even for a moment.") This song is a spiritual sequel to "Black Snow", released in 2019.
“PAIN” is about our stolen childhood and the country that eats its own babies alive. I was thinking about Masha Moskaleva, a school girl who drew a Ukrainian flag at the lesson, the teacher compained to the police, and Masha's dad was jailed.
On “NOTHING TO LOSE”: I am very hated in russia, but maybe not what you think, not just Kremlin stooges - also the liberal intelligentsia. Once I started being outspoken about supporting Ukraine’s military, I crossed some rubicon (in their minds) and they all just hate me. Often times what comes from the kremlin and what comes from liberal russian opposition in relation to me sounds about the same. It bothered me for a little, but there is a liberation in having nothing to lose. I said that in my prison sentencing speech - I am more free than those charging me, I can say what I want, and they are forced to say only things that are allowed. It is a bit similar - like Janis said, freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose. I have a certain moral clarity now - one that I create myself, I’m not beholden to anyone.
“CYKA” is like a diss track towards Ekaterina MIzulina, who is essentially the state censor of russia. She is the one in charge of making sure rap songs dont have bad words, that teh LGBT movement is considered criminal, and she happens to be married to the biggest disgusting propagandist cringe fest SHAMAN. But its also about the rappers inside russia who claim to be hard, and talk about AKs and how street they are, but they cave to this woman and make sure to erase out bad words - the whole thing is just so cringe and stupid.
In my TED talk a couple years ago, I actually studied hip hop diss tracks, and I used my moment to address Putin to his face “one criminal to another”. The state of despair and hopelessness for any type of future in russia is just so far gone, I guess on occasion it’s fun to just say fuck you and call this censor, and all the rappers inside russia who listen to her bitches.”
About “GORE” ft Cypress Hill’s B-Real: “When I was performing my POLICE STATE exhibit at MOCA last year, the ICE raids and riots kicked off hard in LA, actually directly outside my exhibit - forcing us to close down. It was surreal - that the POLICE STATE was closed due to the coming of the police state. We got asked by Tom Morello to do a concert for immigrant rights groups called DEFEND LA at the Echo in LA, and we showed up. It was here where I connected to B-Real, who was also performing there.
There is a universality to street wisdom - don’t trust cops, don’t cross people, things like that - and its fun that these can transcend country of origin, background, and honest people can look at what is happening in America, especially with this ICE shit and collaborate. Everyone would consider B-Real like LA royalty, I’m humbled to get to collaborate with him.”
“CANDY DOPAMINE (ft Avenged Sevenfold)”: “This song is kind of a love & hate song to prescription and designer drug culture. It started with my dependence on anti depressants, but it’s also looking at everyone now mentalhealthmaxxing and looksmaxxing via pills and injections. It’s not a judgement, it’s just an observation and my personal experience with these things is that I have to be in a long term relationship with them for my PTSD and depression.”
“FACELESS PIGS”: “Again with the ICE stuff - this was my song specifically about the masked faceless pigs. We performed it in LA live when the shit was happening and people seemed to like the old school pussy riot punk vibe. Theres always some tongue in cheek nods with punk I do - the Oi Oi Oi, like no one is gonna nominate me for a nobel prize for oi oi oi , but I like it, I like performing it, and like the punk folk background of things like this. Pussy Riot was created as a fake punk band in 2011, we recorded our first song in my friends stairwell on a tape recorder using shitty old punk. The DIY aspect has always stuck with me about the Punk movement, even though I will actively (and confusingly) tell you I’m not a punk musician.
I did want to to play around a bit with the punk genre though, I went with electric drums instead of traditional drumset on this - a little more modern I guess or unique and fitting the rest of the album.
“UTOPIA ft Salem Ilese”: “Salem has the voice of an angel - every time I do a collaboration with her I hear her voice and am in love. I don’t really know what else to say about it, she’s one in a million.”
“DISOBEY”: This was the track I did in regards to the Venice Biennale - a whole melodrama of fighting the return of the Russian propagandists back to the heart of European culture - while they send their kremlin stooges and state approved artists to Venice, they also send their shahid drones and ballistic missiles to Ukraine. It’s disgusting and I wanted to just be as loud as possible. No one is coming to help you - and it’s a message to myself as well as everyone else - the art institutions failed us, politicians failed us, artists themselves were too scared to take our side - so we showed up and were loud, and drowned out the media spotlight from their cringe little event, and pointed the collective spotlight toward their war crimes and hypocrisy.
The video was done in classic Pussy Riot fashion, we staged the action on May 6, 2026, and the video was released that night - done by Pussy Riot’s OG video team Tasya and Vasya. They did all the OG videos, were with us before pussy riot during our first collective VOINA. It was lovely to work with them, and this time they brought their 8 year old daughter Unna - who has a GoPro and actively navigates the mosh pits and smoke and police and gets amazing footage. A true prideful moment to see the next generation of Pussy Riot growing, a literal 8 year old genius following in her mom’s footsteps. You can see her footage in the video.
As for the meaning of the song - get up off your couch and fight, disobey. It’s to everyone. People inside russia, outside, inside the US, inside Europe. I snuck in a little meta self reflection too - I’m not your fucking jesus christ - stop looking to me to be this voice against putin and the rise of authoritarianism. Everyone has their opinions about me, about this action in Venice, most of the loudest ones never did anything themselves though.
“GOD LOVES THE FIERCE”: Working with Chris Greatti is always my happy place. We did “Panic Attack” and “Rage” together as well, he just is a magical guy.
“CANCEL ME”: Similar to “NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE”, I use music instead of therapy I guess. When I appeared on Maddow in December just after Pussy Riot was deemed an extremist orginization, she asked if I had any advice to the west, to america to fight the descent into authoritarianism. My answer was to stop cancelling each other - build big coalitions. The russian opposition spends most of its time talking shit about each other and undermining it’s own allies, it’s almost like putin doesn’t even have to put his propagandists on this job. Learn from that I guess, don’t do that. We find our allies and we fight alongside them against a common enemy.
There is a moral clarity you get when you spend time in Ukraine, you’ll notice people aren't picking apart regrettable words used in old tweets, or disagreements on political topics - they have a common enemy and fight shoulder to shoulder, for the survival of their homeland and their people. Then you come to the west and see a constant fucking comptetion of who can complain more about what should probably be their allies - it’s how trump is just bulldozing his way to more and more power while everyone complains and shit talks each other. Go look whats happening with Hasan or even Bernie or AOC, just ridiculous. Anyways I don’t get it.
About “BLIZZARD”, she says: “My school friend Masha committed suicide ten years ago. It’s a letter to her. We grew up in such a hopeless shitty country - she saw no future, and she took her own life. I struggle with mental health, depression, PTSD after jail, and always bring back this concept of feeling crazy in an insane world. What is the normal response to being born into a country where the only thing it exports are oil, rape and murder. Where the state literally is aimed at destroying any hope or individuality you have.
I don’t know - loss is part of this album, I lost my home, my hope for a better country, my friends along the way. I don’t want anything for it, I just want revenge, and justice for the people this regime has killed and destroyed. I still think it can come, Ukraine’s victory the precursor to this.”
“OUTRO”: “My mom died last year, It’s a song to her. I wasn’t able to visit her when she went on hospice - because I’d go to jail if I went back to russia. So i had to say bye to her on zoom. People like saying im heroic or to keep it up, but they don’t remember im a human , a daughter, a mom, sometimes.There are consequences when you decide to pit yourself against an entire apparatus of a nation state. Im not the only one, but my life, my home, my family, is all essentially destroyed by this regime, this country, and this album is a sort of reckoning with all those feelings - sadness, rage, and maybe even some far off hope.”
Next, Pussy Riot will bring the apocalypse live to Paris at the BEYOND THE STREETS exhibit in Grande Halle de la Villette on Saturday, June 20th. More live shows to be announced.
Pussy Riot declares: All these old men ruining the world right now act tough - but we see thru their fragile egos - and I’m not afraid to call them out. They are, in fact, pussies. While the world is waiting for the UFC Freedom 250 on June 14 at the White House, I challenge President Putin to a cage match. He thinks he’s so tough, but afraid of a girl? Let’s see. He loses? He gets the fuck out of Ukraine. The world can watch him lose to a girl, even with all his judo training. He can’t even URA anymore, but he throws the world into despair.
Just like Brener in 1995 when they bombed Chechnya, and he challenged Yeltsin, now they bomb Ukraine, and I challenge Putin. “Putin! Come here!”
Pussy Riot - CYKA tracklist:
01. GODS LEFT
02. PAIN / БОЛЬ
03. NOTHING TO LOSE
04. CYKA ft Vladimir Putin
05. MURKA
06. GORE ft B-Real
07. CANDY DOPAMINE ft Avenged Sevenfold
08. FACELESS PIGS
09. UTOPIA ft salem ilese
10. DISOBEY
11. GOD LOVES THE FIERCE / БОГ ЛЮБИТ ЛЮТЫХ
12. CANCEL ME
13. BLIZZARD
14. OUTRO
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