Bulgaria is a European country, located in the Balkans, bordering Turkey, Greece, Serbia, Macedonia, Romania, and the Black Sea. Hip Hop in Bulgaria contains a diverse array of styles. They include a light-hearted Chalga-inspired fusion and a harder underground sound, among others. Emcees rap in Bulgarian. Bulgarian is written in the cyrillic script.

Upsurt (Myspace page, Wikipedia) is one of the most popular Hip Hop groups, coming from the underground. Their rhymes speak for the average man and are often satirical about serious subjects such as politics, the drug game, and the state of the music industry. Here's an article about the group: Bulgarian Hip-Hop is 'Upsurt'. Here are some videos: 3v1, Kolega, Chekai Malko, and Bai Hui.

Spens (Myspace page, Wikipedia) is another popular artist in Bulgaria. He comes from Pleven, before relocating to Sofia. His music features a hard sound. Here are a couple of his videos: Pisna Mi and Ti Navqrno Si Prav. Spens partnered with another well-known emcee, Slim. Then he teamed with the preeminent DJ Stancho. DJ Stancho also aided the career of Shosho (Myspace page), who began Rapton Records (Myspace page) with Andre (Myspace page), Sveteca (Myspace page), Sarafa (Myspace page), and Rakata (Myspace page).

Dimna Zavesa is an underground group from Sofia. Here are their videos: Sofia Djungla, Sektor Zadimen, and Zad Zavesata. DRS [Dope Reach Squad] (Myspace page, Wikipedia) teamed up with underground artist Nokaut to form DRS+. Horata ot Getoto is another underground group. Here's their video. FARS (Myspace page) is also an underground group.  X-Team is another. DJ Darkstep (Myspace page), from Sofia, creates hauntingly funky beats.

Ustata mixes Chalga and Hip Hop. Here's the video for the song Tochno Sega with cross-dressing Chalga artist Azis. Here are other Ustata videos : Tochno Ti and 100%. Rumyneca & Enchev is a duo who also uses Chalga with their Hip Hop. They mix in English words in their hooks with Bulgarian verses. They also infuse themes from India in their songs and videos. Here are a couple of their videos: San Sanana and Giliai.

Another mainstream artist is Misho Shamara (Myspace page), who portrays the gangster life.

Hip Hop in Bulgaria has a divide between mainstream and underground artists. In Sofia, I found a small corner music store; while popular groups like Upsurt were sold out, it seemed the clerk had never even heard of some of the underground groups above. Could just be him though.

other sites:

Bulgarian Hip Hop on Wikipedia.

An article: Bulgaria Hosts Intl Hip-Hop, Graffiti Fest, which took place in May 2006.

359HipHop (in Bulgarian)