Skofka

Real name – Volodymyr Volodymyrovych Samolyuk
Date of birth – February 21, 1994
City – Rivne (Ukraine)
Language – Ukrainian
Genre – rap, hip-hop

The path to a musical career

Skofka (real name – Volodymyr Samolyuk) is a Ukrainian rap artist originally from Rivne. However, the formation of the star of the modern scene took place in the city of Zdolbuniv, where Volodymyr spent his childhood and graduated from high school. It was there that the musical tastes of the future rapper were formed. The guy was fond of music since childhood. He especially liked French and American performers.

Volodymyr's father worked in the police. So he was not connected with the creative sphere and did not immediately take his son's passion for music seriously. A chance incident helped to change his mind: his sister turned on one of the songs created by Volodymyr at the beginning of his creative path. What he heard pleasantly impressed his father. However, the family continued to see their son's future in some more serious role.

In 2011, Samolyuk entered the Rivne Institute of Slavic Studies at the Kyiv Slavic University and received a diploma in «Commodity Studies and Trade Entrepreneurship». But the talented artist with bright charisma realized himself in a completely different field.

Creative path

Recognition and popularity came to the artist in 2021. Then in January, Skofka, in collaboration with the leader of the KALUSH band Oleg Psyuk, released the song Otaman. And in May of the same year, another track «Dodomu» collected over 91 million views on YouTube and hit the Shazam, Spotify and iTunes trends. The composition became a real anthem for Ukrainians who were forced to leave their native places due to the full-scale Russian invasion.

In the summer of 2021, Kalush and Skofka presented a joint mini-album «Yo-Yo» and the single «Ne naryagaysya». In early autumn, Skofka signed a contract with the ENKO label. However, a few years later, he stopped collaborating with the team. Volodymyr noted: he continues to interact with the label. But on a different level. At the same time, there were no conflicts with the producer or creative team.

In 2022, the rapper released the songs «We Will Not Forget and Forgive» and «Hear the Anthem». He dedicated the latter to his friend Valentin Konovadov, who died defending Ukraine from Russian invaders. As of June 2025, the video clip for the hit has collected 68 million views and continues to trend on YouTube. Skofka noted that such a number of views indicates that Ukrainian music is able to compete with foreign music. The listening audience has learned to appreciate their own, and the artists have learned to create a truly high-quality product with a professional sound and catchy lyrics.

Style and development of the performer

Skofka's tracks, full of deep meanings and professional sound, are quickly gaining popularity, conquering new fans and going viral. The artist is convinced that for success it is important to create quality music, and not just to have a big budget. The rapper writes about real life and boldly experiments with styles and sound. He independently writes songs, arranges them, and mixes tracks. Sometimes he even takes on the role of a video producer.

Evidence of Volodymyr Samolyuk's success in creativity is the constant expansion of the army of fans. The artist is making ambitious plans. In particular, the preparation of new releases continues. Concerts are being organized. For a while, Skofka took a creative break. But he returned to the stage again to give powerful live performances to loyal fans.

Among the rapper's most popular releases are the singles:

«Kruzak»;
«Fort Boyar»;
«Po barabanu»;
«V dorogu»;
«Ne zabudem i ne probachym»;
«Chuti ghimn» and others.

Social activity

Skofka does not like publicity. However, on occasion, he expresses his own thoughts and positions. In particular, he focuses on creating exclusively Ukrainian-language content from the beginning of his own creative path. During his performances on tour together with other stars of the music scene, Skofka draws the attention of the world community to our culture and calls for support for Ukrainians. A special place is occupied by the artist's charity concerts, the funds from which go to purchase equipment needed at the front.