The Ukrainian rock band "Tank on the Maidan Kongo" was created in 1989 in Kharkov, when Alexander Sidorenko (creative pseudonym of the artist Fozzy) and Konstantin Zhuikom (Special Kostya) decided to create their own band.
It was decided to give the first name to the group of young people in honor of one of the Kharkov historical districts "New Houses".
The team was created when they worked in a summer sports and labor camp. An interesting fact is that the guys agreed on one of the old "thieves" songs dedicated to the Battle of Kulikovo.
TNMK's path to success
Initially, the group that Konstantin and Alexander decided to organize at the Kharkov school No. 11, where they, in fact, studied, additionally included Dmitry Semenko (he played the drum kit) and Ivan Rykov (guitar).
Young people performed folk, "boy", "thieves", street songs. Subsequently, they got together and decided to come up with compositions of their own composition.
They recorded the first songs in the school radio room. Unfortunately, the cassette recordings have not survived to this day. The group was first heard by the masses in the same sports labor camp during its closing ceremony.
With the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, many young people, as well as older citizens, began to get involved in American hip-hop music. Naturally, she did not leave indifferent the members of the New Houses group.
In Russia, she also appeared - "hip-hop" African-American compositions on the Russian stage were performed by Bogdan Titomir and Christian Rey. In Ukraine, hip-hop has become widely known thanks to the popular duet "Evening School".
Band name history
No less members of the musical group were fond of jazz music. Still, being students of school number 11, they recorded the song “Dance in Congo Square”. From that moment on, they rename their group The Dance on the Congo Square.
It was on this square, which is located in New Orleans, that African slaves loved to dance their national dances more than 200 years ago.
The group "Tanok na maidani Kongo" decided to call their new and unusual genre fusion. After leaving school, the musical team began recording their debut album.
By the way, for this they did not turn to any of the Ukrainian producers. The record was called "Loxley". In addition, young people were engaged in the opening of a virtual label "PokaNakakRekordzz".
Soon, Oleg Mikhailyuta, a vocalist and sound producer under the stage name Fagot, became another member of the musical group. He first participated in a performance in 1997 and is still a vocalist.
Then guitarist Yaroslav Veryovkin, nicknamed Yarik, drummer Viktor Korzhenko (Vitold), keyboardist Alexei Saranchin (Lyopa), another vocalist Edik Pristupa (Dilya), and DJ Anton Baturin (Tonique) appeared in the hip-hop collective.
Recognition of the group's popularity
The musical group had to wait a very long time for the first serious success among a large audience. The group received recognition from Ukrainian pop stars in 1997 after participating in the Kharkiv branch of the Ukrainian youth festival "Chervona Ruta".
In the wake of their own success in 1998, the young musical team was invited to participate in another festival, "The Pearl of the Season".
At the beginning of the winter of 1997, the group performed for the first time in the capital of the Russian Federation at the Rap Music festival. It was there that they became the owners of 2nd place.
Then the group "Tanok na Maidani Kongo" went as headliners along with those who were the winners of the "Chervona Ruta" festival.
The work of TNMK participants on television
Starting in 1994, Fagot and Flute became the hosts of the Rap-clip program. The program was broadcast by the Ukrainian television channel Privat-TV.
One of the most popular compositions at that time was the song "Dudes", written by members of the musical team "Tank on Maidani Congo". Then the team wrote another popular song "Oto take".
Further, the video clip "Dibani Mene" appeared on Ukrainian television. The debut album "Zrob me hip-hop" was released in 1998. It was released by Nova Records.
Since 2002, the guys have started recording two studio albums at once. The first of them "Reformatsia" included remixes and remakes of old songs.
Such Ukrainian pop stars as the 5Nizza group, “Me and my friend my truck” and other groups participated in its recording. Further, the hip-hop group became the owner of the Golden Firebird music award in the Best Alternative Project nomination.
In 2017, the guys received the main prize of the Yuna-2017 award for special achievements in music. Today the group performs in clubs and festivals, organizes its own solo concerts.
TNMK Group today
In 2018, the musicians expanded their discography with a LP with the laconic title "7". The disc includes 7 different sounding tracks, from variations of hip-hop to blues-rock and festive funk. At the same time, the premiere of the clips “My Demon” and “Druha Novina” took place, and in 2019 - “We laughed at God” and “History of Ukraine for 5 minutes”.
At the end of February 2022, TNMK released a cover of Scriabin's track "Koliorova". The song will become the soundtrack to the film "I," Victory "and Berlin." Recall that in 2022 in the cinemas of the country there will be a premiere of a film based on the novel by Ukrainian rock musician Kuzma Skryabin, who died in 2015.
