ЯR (also styled as Я:R) is a Russian music project created by Yulia Osina-Fridman and Sergey Guanin in the first half of the 2000s. The duo’s work combined electronic pop music, trip-hop and more intimate singer-songwriter compositions. Both members wrote music and lyrics and later continued working as songwriters for other performers.
The surviving repertoire of ЯR includes the songs «Я тебя люблю», «Я не боюсь (Высоты)», «Дышать», «Бег по кругу», «Половина пути», «Не смотри», «Друг от друга шаг», «Солнце», «Без тебя», «Птицы», «Самые смелые» and other compositions. Some of the project’s material later found a second life in performances by other artists.
Yulia Osina-Fridman
Yulia Osina-Fridman received professional training in both music and filmmaking. In 2001, she graduated from a music college, where she studied pop vocals and violin, and in 2005 completed her studies at VGIK’s feature film faculty in the workshop of Sergey Solovyov and Valery Rubinchik.
Her musical training and directing education developed in parallel. In ЯR, Osina-Fridman worked as a vocalist, composer and songwriter.
Her graduation directing project was the short drama «Я, она и снова ты». Yulia served as the film’s director, screenwriter and composer, while Sergey Guanin played one of the leading roles.
After graduating from VGIK, Osina-Fridman worked in television and film. In 2005, she directed the MTV Russia music program «С утра постарше» with Alexander Ivanov. She later composed music for the film «Служанка трёх господ».
Sergey Guanin
Sergey Guanin was responsible for a significant part of ЯR’s composition and lyric writing, and also took part in creating the arrangements and visual presentation of the project.
His songwriting career continued beyond the duo. Guanin wrote songs for other performers. Documented works include «Царап-царап» by Mike Mironenko, «Твоя моя любовь» by Nastya Zadorozhnaya, «Моя новая жизнь» by Slava and «Не держи меня» by Lolita.
Together with Yulia Osina-Fridman, he also created songs that later entered the repertoires of other artists.
ЯR songs
The project was built primarily around original material. The songs used electronic arrangements, programmed rhythms and a relatively restrained vocal delivery. In music catalogs, ЯR recordings are generally classified as electronic, pop and trip-hop.
One of the project’s central compositions was «Я тебя люблю». The song had already been part of ЯR’s repertoire before gaining wider recognition in the version performed by the group «Кватро».
The original version of «Я тебя люблю» and several remixes have also survived, including a slower trip-hop version.
Other recordings by the duo include:
- «Я не боюсь (Высоты)»;
- «Открытия»;
- «Дышать»;
- «Бег по кругу»;
- «Половина пути»;
- «Не смотри»;
- «Друг от друга шаг»;
- «Солнце»;
- «Без тебя»;
- «Птицы»;
- «Самые смелые»;
- «Так надо»;
- «Не было».
Alternative versions and remixes have survived for some compositions. These include reworked versions of «Дышать» and «Солнце», as well as several versions of «Я тебя люблю».
«Я тебя люблю» and the group «Кватро»
A separate chapter in the history of ЯR is connected with the song «Я тебя люблю». In the late 2000s, the composition was recorded by the group «Кватро». The new version received a different arrangement and was presented to a much wider audience.
The songwriting credits list Yulia Osina-Fridman, Sergey Guanin and Elena Kiper. Osina-Fridman and Guanin are credited among the writers of the music and lyrics, while Kiper is listed among the co-writers of the lyrics.
In 2009, «Кватро» performed «Я тебя люблю» in the Russian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. Contemporary publications specifically noted that the composition had previously existed in the repertoire of ЯR.
Songwriting after ЯR
Over time, the work of Yulia Osina-Fridman and Sergey Guanin increasingly shifted away from their own performing project toward songwriting for other artists.
One of Osina-Fridman’s biggest successes was the song «Ориентация Север» by Lolita Milyavskaya. The music was written by Yulia Osina-Fridman, while the lyrics were written by Osina-Fridman together with Elena Kiper. The song was released in 2007, gave its name to Lolita’s album and received a «Золотой граммофон» award.
For Lolita, Osina-Fridman also wrote the music for the song «Осталась надежда», with lyrics by Elena Kiper.
Yulia later worked with other performers as well. Her songwriting credits include «Революция» by Svetlana Loboda, created together with Pasha Setrova, «Понимай» by Tatyana Tereshina and «Половина пути» by Anastasia Prikhodko. On the latter composition, the music was written by Osina-Fridman and the lyrics by Sergey Guanin.
Sergey Guanin also continued working independently as a composer and lyricist. In addition to songs for Nastya Zadorozhnaya and Slava, he collaborated with Lolita and other performers.
Connection with Elena Kiper
An important figure in the later history of the material created by Osina-Fridman and Guanin was songwriter and producer Elena Kiper. She is connected with «Ориентация Север», «Осталась надежда» and the version of «Я тебя люблю» recorded by «Кватро».
This collaboration did not mean that Kiper was a member of ЯR. It concerned songwriting and production work on songs by the project’s members after or in parallel with the duo’s existence.
«Я не боюсь высоты»
Another ЯR composition received an official continuation many years later. «Я не боюсь высоты», written by Yulia Osina-Fridman and Sergey Guanin, existed in the project’s repertoire and circulated under the names ЯR and ЯЯ.
In 2025, the song was released by «Ничья» and KIPER. The official credits for the new release once again list Yulia Osina-Fridman and Sergey Guanin as the authors.
As a result, part of ЯR’s material continued to exist outside the original project: songs passed to other performers, received new arrangements and were officially released years after they had first been written.
Repertoire
A fairly substantial body of ЯR recordings has survived in open music archives and catalogs, although there is no single reliably documented official album discography for the project. It is therefore more accurate to speak of the duo’s repertoire rather than attribute albums to them whose existence has not been confirmed.
- «Я тебя люблю»;
- «Я не боюсь (Высоты)»;
- «Открытия»;
- «Дышать»;
- «Бег по кругу»;
- «Половина пути»;
- «Не смотри»;
- «Друг от друга шаг»;
- «Солнце»;
- «Без тебя»;
- «Птицы»;
- «Самые смелые»;
- «Так надо»;
- «Не было».
ЯR remained above all a songwriting project by two musicians whose later work became more visible than the duo itself. Songs by Yulia Osina-Fridman and Sergey Guanin entered the repertoires of Lolita, «Кватро», Svetlana Loboda, Slava, Nastya Zadorozhnaya, Anastasia Prikhodko and other performers, while individual ЯR compositions continued to reappear in new versions years after they were first created.
