TNMK Poster

At the dawn of fame, Alexander "Fozzey" Sidorenko and Konstantin "Kotya" Zhyikov started in Kharkov, Ukraine, on June 14, 1989, as part of the TMNK group to listen to which we got used to and loved, at the dawn of fame. At the closing ceremony of the summer camp, they debuted in their group and later decided to join at the start of the new school year. First composition:

Sasha Sidorenko - guitar, vocals.

Kostya Zhuikov - bass guitar.

Dima Semenko - drums.

Vanya Rykov - guitar.

The young musicians lived in the New Houses area, so they decided to give their band the same name.

The composition of the group in 94:

Sasha Sidorenko - guitar, solo.

Kostya Zhuikov - bass guitar.

Yaroslav Verevkin - guitar.

Edik Pristupa - piano, solo.

Max Litvinenko - flute, saxophone and others.

Dima Semenko - drum kit.

The name change was initiated by Max Litvinenko, who insisted that now that people from different parts of Kharkiv played in it, it should be called something else. The name of the group was imprinted by the song performed by the group earlier, which in turn was called "Dance In The Kongo Square".

“Congo Square in New Orleans is considered the birthplace of jazz. At first it was a black slave market, later it was a place where black musicians performed. Merging into their melodic rhythms, they produced spiritual and blues, which later evolved into gospel and jazz. (From The History of Jazz by E. Ovchinnikov.)

Another explanation is in A Brief History of Hip-Hop Music by Patrick Lisidze:

“The break dance itself was not new. It has been described in the last century in New Orleans as the "Congo square dance". Black slaves gathered in Congo Square to relax, enjoy and dance in the art of dance. The annual Mardi Gras festival was a particularly joyful place (and continues to this day) where team competitions were held among different ethnic groups. "

In 1994, the band began writing their debut album. At the same time, Oleg "Fakhot" Mykhailyuta studied at the Kharkov Conservatory. He readily agreed to play the bassoon with the band at the Young Stars of Kharkov competition.

In the same year, the UT-3 channel began broadcasting "RAP-oboima" Privat-TV, the first television program on the hip-hop culture in the post-Soviet space. Fagot and Fozzy (surname Alexander Sidorenko) were his supporters along with Flute.

At the end of 1996, the group decided to take part in the qualifying round of the Chervona Ruta festival. The conditions for selection were three songs in Ukrainian.

So, Tanets Na Ploshchadi Kongo became Tanok Na Maidani Kongo (the same name is translated into Ukrainian). The band recorded their first original song in Ukrainian “Oto Take” (“That's How It Is”), but still one song was missing for the competition. "Zroby Meni Hip-Hop" ("Do Me a Hip-Hop") was composed literally two hours before the selection for "Chervona Ruta". The group applied for two categories in the competition - Rock and Dance and was awarded "Best Group" in the dance music category.

Group "TMNK" participants in 1997:

Oleg "Fagot" Mikhailuta - vocals, arrangement.

Edward "Dilya" Prikripa - vocals.

Alexander "Fozzey" Sidorenko - vocals.

Konstantin "Kotya" Zhyikov - bass.

Yaroslav "Yarik" Veriovkin - guitar.

Alexander "Zee" Zenkovich - guitar.

Leonid "Levka" Ermolaev - harmonica.

In 1998, the group "TMNK" album "Zroby Meni Hip-Hop" was ready. Nova Records has begun work on the release. The album was made from songs and songs by Gosha Arnautov, which became the band's trademark. LP received a lot of excellent reviews, nominations, prizes. Victor Vitold Korzhenko joined the group

In May 1999, the first video collaboration between the group and director Viktor Priduvalov "Wait" was released. This video was well rotated in Moscow and the band began performing there. The most notable performances were in 1998 and 1999 at the RAP-Music festivals, where the group was awarded second and third places, respectively.

In 2000 Leonid Ermolaev left the group, but recently Anton "DJ Tonique" Baturin joined them. The album "Neformat" was released. The name "Neformat" was a reflection of the situation on the Ukrainian music scene. TNMK, high on the celebration of the Chervona Ruta festival, suffered from a lack of reception from the media and, in particular, FM radio stations. The song "Muscovites on the Radio" speaks of that sad fact.

In early 2001, the band began working on two albums at the same time - the next studio album, and a compilation of remakes and remixes of "ReFormatsia". The group has performed many times, playing outdoors in Ukraine and traveling frequently around Moscow. The first performance was also in Poland.

June 2004 was the most intense month in the band's history. There was a release of "Water", a release of "Nedil", then the group took part in the famous reality show "For Bayar", and then "Pozhi Mista Babylon" ("The Bonfires of Babylon"). The album kicked off with an acoustic concert at the Kiev club Babuin and arguably the band's best live performance.