Iva Sativa

About

" Paganism, motherhood and fashion "

Iva Sativa – Belarusian rapper and singer-songwriter – unapologetically brings all the feminine power of her native pagan roots into a sauce of drum and bass, hip hop and ethno music based on local folk motifs. That imaginative mixture feels still more eclectic due to the mix of languages Iva uses to write songs – Belarusian, Russian and English. Coming from a bilingual country with conservative politics, she stands out as a foxy daredevil switching in a split of a second from traditional costumes to a sport suit that belongs to the suburbs, or – suddenly – flexing in an authentic outfit by a local designer.

Yana Smalyaga, aka Iva Sativa, released her first single ‘Ture Soha’ in 2019. The necessity of being home most of the time due to motherhood boosted her songwriting career. In 2021, she won the People’s Choice Award at the Jager Music Awards. In 2022, the prize money she garnered from the win was used to promote her debut EP ‘MZZK’, the abbreviation of which stands for “Muse of Zek”. “Zek” is slang for prisoner: since August 2020, Iva’s husband had been in prison as a political prisoner after the presidential election in Belarus. She released another EP, ‘Kanapel’, later that year, even though she typically prefers releasing about five singles a year, saying: “I don’t know if people actually need albums these days”.

Music video ‘Segodnya Ya Tvoya’, released in February 2023 marks a new, independent,  chapter in her career after she finished a collaboration with her regular producer. All in all, Iva weaves together dreaminess, rave, melodrama and reflection on current social events in Belarus (in ‘Калыханка/Lullaby’, ‘Dadomu’). On her ongoing musical journey, Iva Sativa remains a captivating artist who fuses her Belarusian heritage with contemporary sounds, offering a refreshing perspective on both culture and life, and proving that music transcends boundaries.