Lonely Death of apper Shumak at 24 Amidst Thousands
The story details how 24-year-old rapper Shumak lived and died, lonely among thousands of acquaintances.
«This guy always stayed positive, no matter what horrors were happening. It»s a shame, a real shame. The neighborhood will remember, a legend,« writes Dmitry Vlasov.
Vladimir Shumakov (right) was well-known in the Moscow Region«s underground rap and hip-hop scene.
There are over a hundred such comments in the group dedicated to 24-year-old rapper Shumak from Voskresensk. In the rap and hip-hop industry of the Moscow Region, in the so-called underground scene, Vladimir Shumakov was widely known. In public, the young man presented himself as a partier and hooligan, but inside, according to close ones, he remained a child with deep pain.
As a teenager, Vova Shumakov began to develop an interest in music, primarily rap and hip-hop.
On 8 January, Vladimir was found dead in a rented apartment. The body had lain for several days, and neighbors noticed the smell of decay. MSK1.RU recalls the difficult fate of rapper Shumak and tells how, surrounded by thousands of friends and fans, he met death alone.
During his teenage years, Vladimir Shumakov became fascinated with underground rap music.
«Hang in there, bro, soon we»ll be at the helm«
Anna left behind two minor sons; the younger was just two years old when she died.
Vladimir Shumakov was born in Moscow in 2001. However, he was born with a different surname, which his mother also had at the time, but later they both became Shumakovs. Vova«s father died when he was a child. According to friends, all Volodya knew about his dad was that he was involved in the criminal world. Despite this, the rapper always spoke of his father with respect.
Friends say Vladimir began abusing alcohol after the death of his mother.
At first, his mother Anna raised Vova alone, then she moved in with her suitor Konstantin in Voskresensk. She later married him and had two more sons with him: the middle one in 2010, and the youngest in 2019. Anna«s page states that she worked at a social service center in the Severnoye Tushino district. This budget organization provided assistance to people in difficult situations or socially dangerous positions. She also worked as a cook at one of the city»s pizzerias.
Vladimir was found deceased in his Moscow apartment on 8 January.
In 2008, Shumakov started first grade at School No. 3 in Voskresensk. In elementary school, he attended a karate section. And after graduating from primary school, Vova even studied at a cadet corps.
However, according to friends, Vladimir was left to his own devices most of the time. Anna was always active on social media, but the older her son got, the less she posted his photos. After age 12, the guy completely disappeared from his mother«s lens.
«My brother studied with Volodya in school, we grew up together. He was reluctant to talk about family. But if a young child isn»t sleeping at home, but wandering around stairwells and friends« places, then there was nothing good in the family,» suggested Kristina in a conversation with MSK1.RU.
As a teenager, Vova became interested in rap and hip-hop — influenced by his environment and the growing popularity of the genres at the time. The youth listened to both popular Boulevard Depo and underground artists like Sasha Skula and «Rynochnye Otnosheniya» (Market Relations). Besides music, Shumakov was a fan of football and hockey: he supported Dynamo and Khimki.
«From around age 14, he started getting tattoos, including on his face. A bit later, he began writing music, lived for it. He was self-taught, there were no music schools in his life. That»s how he expressed himself, found an outlet,« recalls Vladimir»s close friend Ilfar.
The guy published his tracks online. The group dedicated to Vladimir«s work has over a thousand subscribers. Mostly, it»s youth from Voskresensk who knew Shumakov from common circles and parties. Periodically, the rapper performed at local venues.
«Vova»s back on the beats. Denchik loved «tables,» now Denchik is in the clouds. Life can be short, I«m spitting in Nikes, just sitting on the courts, and it comes out great. You hang in there, bro, soon we»ll be at the helm,« Shumak recited in one of his tracks.
The guy«s songs often featured references to illegal substances. Vladimir presented himself as a hooligan, but claimed he never intended to do anything bad.
«The community and the author»s work do not promote or call for illegal actions. The incidents, people, places described in the musical works are the fruit of the author«s creative imagination. All coincidences are accidental,» he clarified.
A gentleman of fortune
In April 2021, Anna for the first time in many years posted a photo of her adult son. In it, she warmly congratulated the young man on his birthday and confessed that she loved him.
«Happy birthday, my dear man, my beloved son! The day I gave birth to you, I will always remember, because since then I became a happy mother, because from that moment an important and dear person appeared in my life, who for me is life, joy, love, hope, and support. And today I am happy to see you as you have become, as you have grown,» wrote the 46-year-old woman.
And five months later, Anna was gone. According to her husband, death was triggered by a sudden allergic reaction. At that time, the woman«s youngest son was only two years old.
«She had asthma that needed treatment. Roughly speaking, the doctors prescribed her the wrong medication. They were just 16 minutes too late to save her,» Shumakov«s stepfather Konstantin told MSK1.RU.
According to friends, the mother«s death was a huge blow for Vladimir. The guy was reluctant to share his grief — he didn»t want to «burden» his circle with his problems. For Shumakov, his mother was the most important person in life, «the only one who actually cared,» they said.
«He was 20 when his mother passed. I»m also an orphan, so we often had heart-to-heart talks, understood each other. Mostly it was about loneliness. In public, Vova tried not to show the pain,« rapper»s friend Ilfar told MSK1.RU.
After his mother«s death, Shumakov abandoned music, getting by with odd jobs. At that time, the guy moved to Moscow. He inherited an apartment from his deceased biological father.
Together with friends, he created a public page where he posted news items, memes, and life stories. As Vladimir«s close ones say, this is how the rapper »documented street life,« drawing attention to lawlessness.
The resource featured posts with fundraising for those in need: people battling serious illnesses and those who lost loved ones. Now the group has over 4.5 thousand subscribers. Later, in this same public page, donations were collected for Volodya«s own funeral.
«In Moscow, Vova lived alone, partied a lot. Periodically worked at construction sites, took whatever jobs he could get. In recent years, he didn»t even have his own computer to pursue creativity. In mid-2025, I decided to write music, and around that time Vova gave me his microphone. He said he didn«t need it for now — he»d take it back later. Volodya is gone, but the microphone stays with me as a memory of him,« rapper»s friend Yegor shared with MSK1.RU.
Died alone during the New Year holidays
Vladimir«s body was discovered at the end of the New Year holidays — on 8 January. Friends raised the alarm: Shumakov, usually active online, suddenly disappeared from the radar. Meanwhile, neighbors started complaining about a cadaverous smell coming from the rapper»s apartment.
«When exactly he died, no one will ever know. The body had decomposed by the time it was found. Many after Vova»s death wrote that it was an overdose, but that«s not true. He never used drugs. People judge by appearance: tattooed — means definitely a drug addict. But the examination said that before death he was under the influence of alcohol,» Vladimir«s friend Yevgeny told MSK1.RU.
For many of Shumakov«s acquaintances, the news came as a shock. They couldn»t believe that such a perpetually cheerful rapper could have taken his own life.
«Vova always denied the possibility of suicide and didn»t want to die. He believed he had a bright life. Let him be seen as unstable, a drug addict, as many think. But he lived his life, and didn«t do anything bad to anyone…,» shared Yevgeny.
Friends took on organizing the farewell. But problems arose immediately: Vladimir«s documents were lost, and they couldn»t obtain the social burial payment. There wasn«t enough money, so the rapper»s friend Yevgeny appealed for help from residents of Voskresensk. In three days, they managed to collect 79,000 rubles (approximately $880 at current rates). Vladimir«s body was cremated. On 22 January, the urn with the guy»s ashes was buried next to his mother at a cemetery in Voskresensk.
«No uncles, no aunts, no one contacted me or his other friends about the funeral. I know he had a stepfather. Where he and the other relatives are, I don»t know and probably don«t want to know due to such an attitude towards Vova,» Yevgeny shared in a conversation with MSK1.RU.
This information was denied by Vova«s stepfather Konstantin. He attended the funeral with his younger son. According to him, Shumakov didn»t communicate with his half-brothers after his mother«s death. Konstantin tried to maintain a dialogue with his stepson, but he refused.
«I passed on five thousand through a friend. Lately we haven»t been in touch, — Konstantin shared with MSK1.RU. — Vova lived his own life, blamed me for his mom«s death. But I couldn»t do anything then. No one in the family worked except me, I carried everything on my shoulders. During the coronavirus, I survived two clinical deaths, now I have health problems, but I have to raise the little ones. We«re getting by slowly: I work a five-day week, and on Saturdays as a courier. Just barely recovered from my wife»s death, and here«s another blow.»
As Vladimir«s friends admit, in their memory the rapper remained a bright but very lonely person.
«Vova made music and enjoyed it. He knew he was good at it. If he had wanted to, he would have broken into the industry. But that wasn»t his goal,« Ilfar shared with MSK1.RU.
Previously, we reported on how a resident of Reutov «picked up» a drug drop and wounded a security officer, but his friend ended up behind bars.
