Ukrainian rapper Freel, best known as a member of the hip-hop group 'Na Vidminu Vid', has returned to an active release cycle after a long hiatus. The artist's first new work is the single 'Meni kazaly', which he himself called his personal comeback. According to the musician, the track grew out of personal experience and situations in which he compromised with himself, listening to the advice of friends, family, and society instead of following his own vision. 'Every time I compromised with myself, listening not to my own heart and brain but to friends, family, and society, it turned out in the end that I had simply wasted time and should have done what I wanted from the very start. "Meni kazaly" is my attempt to make my comeback the way I see it myself,' the rapper explained. Sound producer Stas Chernyi worked on the single, and multi-instrumentalist Serhiy Sydorenko took part in recording the live instruments.
Saying goodbye to the group: the song 'Na Vidminu Vid'
Freel dedicated his next release to the collective with which one of the most notable stages of his career began. The song was titled 'Na Vidminu Vid' and became a kind of retrospective of the group's journey — from the first years after the move to Kyiv to the moment when the collective ceased to exist. The artist recalls those years with nostalgia and gratitude: 'Twenty years ago, two Andriys moved from Cherkasy to Kyiv, where, in the breaks between two jobs, they managed to write songs that people still love and listen to today.' At the same time, Freel admits that the group stopped 'right on the verge of great success': 'On the one hand, we stopped a step away from truly big success. On the other hand, perhaps that is how it was meant to be, and at this point I would not change anything.'
Archival music video and the decision to 'turn the page'
Along with the track 'Na Vidminu Vid', the artist presented a music video built on archival footage from different periods of the collective's history. Sound producer Stas Chernyi worked on the song, just as he had on the previous single 'Meni kazaly'. Freel also confessed that for a long time he had not ruled out the possibility of the group reuniting, but now he understands that it is time to 'turn this page for good' and focus on his own path. Thus, the artist is building his new release cycle as a conscious transition from a shared past to a personal musical statement.
Context of the solo career
Freel is a former member of the rap group 'Na Vidminu Vid', which became prominent in the 2000s. The artist later moved to a solo career and released his debut album 'Spalakh', which won music awards. In 2022 he recorded the song 'Koli zakinchat'sya viiny' with Jamala and also joined the Ukrainer project 'Khorobri mista', presenting the composition 'Luhansk. Abrykosovyi tsvit'. The new comeback cycle, which began with 'Meni kazaly' and continued with 'Na Vidminu Vid', can be seen as the artist's attempt to regain an active presence on the Ukrainian music scene after a multi-year break.
Contradictory data
The provided sources contain a minor inconsistency regarding which release should be considered the first after the hiatus. The main material names the track 'Meni kazaly' as the first comeback single, while one of the sources (gazeta.ua) mentions a music video for the song 'Zmeia' and describes it as the first single from the new album. This may refer to different stages of a single album cycle or to an earlier/later release; however, the sources do not provide an exact chronology or release dates for the tracks. Therefore, the order and status of the releases ('Meni kazaly', 'Na Vidminu Vid', 'Zmeia') should be treated with a caveat until the artist's official discography is published.
