Юлия Савичева
Wellboy is the stage name of Ukrainian singer, songwriter and composer Anton Oleksandrovych Velboi. He was born on June 9, 2000, in the village of Hrun, Sumy Oblast, Ukraine. He first gained widespread recognition after appearing in the tenth season of the Ukrainian television talent show «X Factor», while one of the defining moments of his career came with the release of «Гуси» in 2021.
Wellboy emerged as one of the notable representatives of a new generation of Ukrainian pop artists in the early 2020s. His music blends contemporary pop with elements of folk, hip-hop, electronic music, reggaeton and singer-songwriter traditions. His distinctive traits include a conversational vocal delivery, irony, simple but vivid imagery and references to everyday Ukrainian culture.
Among Wellboy’s best-known songs are «Гуси», «Вишні», Nozzy Bossy, «Стиль», «Додому», «Жовті мальви», «Ворогів на ножі», «Забий», «Ведмедиця» and «Пасажир».
Childhood and family
Anton Velboi was born and raised in the village of Hrun in Ukraine’s Sumy region. Music was part of family life from an early age: his mother studied piano, while his father played guitar and performed at weddings and local events.
His home village later became an important part of his creative identity. Velboi has repeatedly associated Hrun with his character, worldview and sense of home. The rural environment also became one of the sources of imagery that appeared in his early songs and music videos.
His interest in making music independently developed during his teenage years. Anton learned to play guitar and later took up the ukulele, an instrument that would subsequently appear in a number of his professional recordings.
Education and move to Kyiv
After finishing school, Velboi moved to Kyiv and enrolled at the Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts, where he studied stage directing.
During his studies, he combined his creative development with a variety of part-time jobs. In biographical interviews, the artist has spoken about working in construction, as an entertainer and on acting projects.
His directing education also proved useful in his music career. The Wellboy project places considerable emphasis not only on music but also on its visual dimension: stage costumes, music-video direction, character development and the combination of everyday imagery with contemporary elements of pop culture.
«X Factor» and the beginning of public recognition
The first major stage of Anton Velboi’s public career came with his appearance in the tenth season of the Ukrainian «X Factor» in 2019.
At the time, he was still a student. His mentor on the show was singer NK — Nastya Kamenskykh. During the competition, Velboi performed both established songs and his own material, including «Вітер».
He reached the final stage of the season and finished in third place. The television project brought him his first nationwide recognition, although his independent music career began developing more actively later.
The origin of the name Wellboy
The stage name Wellboy derives from the musician’s surname, Velboi. Its English-language spelling transformed his family name into a short and easily recognizable artistic pseudonym.
Under the name Wellboy, the artist began developing a distinctive musical and visual identity that later became widely recognizable on the Ukrainian pop scene.
«Гуси» and the breakthrough of 2021
In early 2021, an important step in Wellboy’s career was his collaboration with music producer Yuriy Bardash. It was during this period that the sound of Wellboy’s first major hits began to take shape.
On June 25, 2021, the song and music video «Гуси» premiered. The track gained widespread popularity, entered radio rotation and music charts, and circulated extensively on social media.
The song became one of the most recognizable Ukrainian-language pop hits of the period. It showcased the defining elements of early Wellboy: contemporary rhythmic production, a conversational delivery, humor and the use of simple, instantly recognizable images drawn from rural and everyday life.
His next major hit was «Вишні». Its success strengthened Wellboy’s position among the leading young artists on the Ukrainian pop scene and helped him move into regular concert and festival appearances.
In 2021, he also performed on the main stage of the Atlas Weekend festival.
Musical style
Wellboy’s music is rooted primarily in contemporary pop, although his songs are difficult to confine to a single narrow genre. Different releases incorporate elements of Ukrainian folk and popular music, hip-hop, reggaeton, pop rock and electronic music.
One of the artist’s most recognizable features is his vocal delivery. Wellboy’s singing frequently shifts into conversational intonation, while standard Ukrainian is mixed with slang, everyday expressions and intentionally simple phrases.
This approach allows him to create songs that fit the form of contemporary radio pop while retaining the immediacy of a personal, first-person story.
Rural imagery, nature, the land and details of everyday life played a prominent role in his early work. However, Wellboy did not use them merely as folkloric stylization. Traditional and local imagery was combined with electronic music, contemporary fashion, vivid choreography and the visual aesthetics of 2020s music videos.
Over time, the themes of his songs became broader. His repertoire expanded to include compositions about relationships, loneliness, home, travel, growing up and searching for one’s place in life.
Ukraine’s National Selection for Eurovision 2022
In 2022, Wellboy became a finalist in Ukraine’s National Selection for the Eurovision Song Contest.
For the competition, he presented the song Nozzy Bossy. The composition continued a theme characteristic of his early work: the connection between people, the land and their roots. The image of bare feet served as a symbol of simplicity, freedom and direct contact with the world around us.
The lyrics were written by Anton Velboi, Yevhen Tryplov and Stepan Oliinyk. The music was composed by Anton Velboi, Yevhen Tryplov and Serhii Yurov.
Wellboy finished third in the National Selection final. His participation further expanded his audience and made Nozzy Bossy one of the recognizable songs in his discography.
YUNA Awards
Wellboy’s first major hits received recognition not only from a mass audience but also from the Ukrainian music industry.
At the YUNA 2022 national music awards, «Гуси» won the Best Song category, while Wellboy received the Discovery of the Year award.
The artist was also nominated in other categories, while the music videos for «Гуси» and «Вишні» attracted professional attention as some of the notable Ukrainian music videos of the period.
Career after 2022
Following the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Wellboy’s collaboration with Yuriy Bardash ended. His subsequent work became associated with the Papa Music label and producer Yevhen Tryplov.
At the same time, the artist’s creative image began to change. His music gradually moved beyond the rural aesthetic that had been especially prominent during the era of «Гуси» and «Вишні».
His repertoire expanded with songs such as «Ворогів на ножі», «Стиль», «Додому» and other compositions with a more pronounced personal and lyrical focus.
Album «8 марабу»
On December 16, 2022, Wellboy released his debut full-length studio album, «8 марабу».
The album contains eight tracks:
- «Гуси»;
- «Марабу»;
- «Гори кручі»;
- «Струна»;
- «Стиль»;
- «Хто ти»;
- «Додому»;
- «Жовті мальви».
The album brought together several musical directions that Wellboy had developed during the first years of his professional career. Alongside pop songs, it incorporated elements of rock and rap, romantic lyrics and material connected with themes of home and the emotional experience of war.
«Марабу» is built around a romantic theme, «Гори кручі» leans toward a more rock-oriented sound, «Струна» explores unrequited love, while on «Хто ти» the artist experiments with a rap-based form.
The closing track, «Жовті мальви», brings the album to a brighter and more hopeful emotional conclusion.
A particularly important place on the album belongs to «Додому» — a song about home, returning and a person’s connection with Ukraine. Following the beginning of the full-scale war, this theme gained additional significance for Ukrainian listeners.
«8 марабу» marked Wellboy’s transition from an artist known primarily for successful individual singles to one working with the full-length album format.
Conflict with Papa Music and the name Anton Velboi
In 2023, a conflict with the Papa Music label emerged in the artist’s career. In the spring, Wellboy announced his intention to end his cooperation with the company.
Because the rights to the Wellboy trademark were connected with the label, the artist performed for a period under the name Anton Velboi.
The two sides presented differing views of the terms surrounding the end of their cooperation. The artist sought to leave the existing contract and continue working independently, while representatives of the company insisted that contractual obligations had to be fulfilled.
The dispute entered the legal sphere. By the end of 2023, however, the parties announced that they had reached an agreement and settled their differences. Wellboy subsequently resumed using his stage name and continued working with Papa Music.
EP «тоша»
In December 2024, Wellboy released the EP «тоша».
The material presented a more intimate and personal side of the artist’s work. Songs from this period included «Алло», «Прийшов» and «Себе немає».
Compared with his early hits, Wellboy placed greater emphasis on inner experiences and personal lyrics while retaining his characteristic conversational delivery and melodic sensibility.
Collaborations
Collaborations with other Ukrainian artists have become a notable part of Wellboy’s discography.
One of his best-known collaborations of 2024 was «Забий», recorded with Parfeniuk. The song is centered on a romantic theme, while Wellboy contributed not only to the music but also to the project’s visual concept.
At different stages of his career, the artist has also collaborated with Quest Pistols, Parfeniuk, Uliana Shuba, KUGATESSA and other representatives of the Ukrainian music scene.
Songs released in 2025
In 2025, Wellboy continued releasing standalone singles and experimenting with his sound.
Releases from this period include «Ґуля», «В Душевном Криму», «Аяуаска», «Люди на Землі», «Міняй УЄ» and «Ведмедиця».
These works demonstrated the gradual expansion of the artist’s musical range. His songs retained simple, memorable choruses, irony and his distinctive vocal style, while the arrangements and subject matter became noticeably more varied than in his earlier material.
Move to Odesa
In 2025, Anton Velboi moved from Kyiv to Odesa.
The artist explained the change as a desire to adopt a different pace of life. He associated Kyiv with constant rush and tension, whereas living by the sea allowed him to devote more attention to recovery and creativity.
This stage continued Wellboy’s personal geography: from his childhood in the village of Hrun, through his years of study and professional development in Kyiv, to a new period of life in southern Ukraine.
EP «Пасажир»
On June 18, 2026, Wellboy released the EP «Пасажир».
The EP contains four tracks:
- «Марина»;
- «Пожежа»;
- «Старшаки»;
- «Пасажир».
«Марина» is a new interpretation of a well-known song by Pavlo Zibrov.
The title track, «Пасажир», explores travel, distance, relationships and the feeling of moving through life. At its center is the image of a passenger — a person who is not always able to fully control the events unfolding around them.
The music and lyrics for «Пасажир» were written by Anton Velboi and Denys Voitsekhovskyi.
The EP retains elements that had been present in Wellboy’s music since the early years of his career, including ukulele and a light melodic quality, while adding reggaeton rhythms and a more mature pop sound.
Wellboy’s best-known songs
Key tracks in the artist’s discography include:
- «Гуси»;
- «Вишні»;
- Nozzy Bossy;
- «Стиль»;
- «Додому»;
- «Жовті мальви»;
- «Життя»;
- «Ворогів на ножі»;
- «Забий»;
- «Ведмедиця»;
- «Пасажир».
Discography
Studio albums
- 2022 — «8 марабу»
EPs
- 2024 — «тоша»
- 2026 — «Пасажир»
In addition to albums and EPs, Wellboy has released a number of standalone singles, remixes and collaborations with other artists.
Awards and achievements
Among the artist’s most significant professional achievements are his honors at the YUNA 2022 national music awards:
- «Гуси» — Best Song;
- Wellboy — Discovery of the Year.
The artist was also nominated in other categories, competed in the final of Ukraine’s National Selection for Eurovision 2022 and has performed at major Ukrainian music venues and festivals.
Wellboy’s significance for Ukrainian pop music
One of the defining features of Wellboy’s work has been his ability to combine a distinctly local Ukrainian cultural context with contemporary mainstream pop music.
Images of village life, the land, nature and everyday rural experience existed in Ukrainian music long before Wellboy emerged. What distinguished him was his ability to bring these images into contemporary youth-oriented pop without necessarily presenting them through conventional folkloric stylization.
In his early work, the protagonist’s rural background exists alongside electronic arrangements, rap-inflected delivery, contemporary fashion, colorful music videos and the aesthetics of social media. In this way, traditional cultural imagery took on a modern form accessible to a broad young audience.
Equally important was his natural use of the Ukrainian language in songs created for a mass audience. «Гуси» and «Вишні» appeared during a period of rapidly growing interest in contemporary Ukrainian-language popular music and became some of the most recognizable songs associated with that shift.
His subsequent discography demonstrated that Wellboy did not remain confined to his original stage persona. The album «8 марабу», the EPs «тоша» and «Пасажир», collaborations and solo singles gradually broadened both his musical palette and the themes explored in his work.
Wellboy’s creative path reflects several notable changes in the Ukrainian pop scene of the 2020s: the growing role of the Ukrainian language, increased interest in local cultural identity, genre crossover and the desire to create contemporary popular music without abandoning one’s own roots.
