Slight spoilers for Role Model & The Long Game.
I've put way too much thought into this. Ilya probably used an iPod when he first arrived (2008-2009-2010) - they peaked in popularity in 2006, but he was coming from Russia and I've read that iPods are still common in Russia as recently as 2024? idk if he'd use it much after 2012. This of this more as a shuffling of his saved music between 2008 - 2020 - the start of TLG. Not everything, just the highlights.
We know from TLG that Ilya listens to Bad Bunny while he drives and Rihanna's Diamonds has always reminded him of Shane. From this I infer that he listens to:
From RM, we know that Harris thinks all hockey players have the same taste in music: EDM, hip-hop, country, and Mumford & Sons. I doubt Ilya is listening to country unironically or Mumford & Sons at all - unless Dykstra has the aux. EDM is pretty standard millennial fare - it was in everything and everyone dabbled in it 2010-2015 - and Ilya liked clubbing. So let's add:
Ilya's sense of humor always read as "internet troll" to me. I know he didn't spend nearly as much time online as my friends and I did, but with that kind of humor, he probably had meme music in his music library - either because he actually enjoys it or he enjoys how much it annoys others when he's passed the aux.
Extrapolating from Rihanna, I'm going to guess he listens to other female artists.
Extrapolating from Bad Bunny, I'm going to guess he listens to other Latin artists.
I'm certain that Ilya listens to Russian rap, hip-hop, and EDM, but the closest I've gotten to that is Kazakh EDM.
2010's EDM classics are all there and then some - that's a genre I'm more familiar with.
Based on vibes alone, I've added a smattering of indie rock and older r&b, hip-hop, and rap classics.
AND SO. I use YouTube music. I may keep adding to it but I think I'm slowing down on this. I added them as I thought of them, play on shuffle for best results.
I give you, Ilya's hypothetical iPod:
What I imagine our favorite depressive demon nightmare boy had in his music library up to the start of The Long Game
dailybridgerton
yousharknotpass
titsay
ellievsbear
