TNMK
TNMK or Tanok na Maidani Kongo (Ukrainian: Танок на майдані Конґо; literally Dance at the Congo Square) is the most successful Ukrainian hip-hop group . They are known for clever, yet often tongue-in-cheek lyrics; mixing hip-hop with rock, funk and jazz music and playing real instruments on their albums and live shows, rather than using mere samples and drum machines.
The group was formed in Kharkiv in the early 1990s and released its first album, Zroby meni hip-hop, in 1998. The title track became an underground hit in Ukraine, but it was only with the release of Neformat in 2001 that they rose to mainstream popularity. Pozhezhi mista Vavilon, released in 2004, had a harder sound, while Jazzy, released in the same year, was a live album recorded with a Ukrainian jazz band, Skhid-Side, and featured TNMK songs re-arranged in a jazz and funk style. In the same year, the group toured France and recorded French versions of some of their songs. Their album Syla was voted the best album of 2005 by the most popular Ukrainian music portal music.com.ua. Their 2008 album, ReFormatTsia vol.2, is a compilation of remixes of their songs sung by them and other singers such as Oleh Skrypka, Mariya Burmaka and GreatFruit. The album also includes a remix of the song "Chervona Ruta" featuring Sofia Rotaru.
Members
- Oleh "Fagot" Mykhailyuta - lead vocals
- Oleksandr "Fozzey" Sydorenko - lead vocals, occasional guitar
- Kostiantyn "Kotia" Zhuikov - bass guitar
- Yaroslav "Yarik" Veriovkin - guitar
- Oleksiy "Lyopa Tarasych" Saranchin - keyboards
- Viktor "Vitold" Korzhenko - drums
- Anton "DJ Tonique" Baturyn - scratches
Discography
- 1998 Zroby meni hip-hop (Do Me the Hip-Hop)
- 2001 Neformat (Non-format)
- 2002 Reformatsiya (Re-Formation) (remix album)
- 2004 Pozhezhi mista Vavilon (Fires of the City of Babylon)
- 2004 Jazzy (live album)
- 2005 Syla (Power)
- 2008 ReFormatTsia vol.2 (Reformation vol.2) (remix album)
