Non Stop

Non Stop

Published: October 6, 2016

Non Stop is a very popular contemporary Kyrgyz pop/rock group. Its members are the two soloists Maksat Sadyrbekov (Максат Садырбеков) and Cholpon Talipbekova (Чолпон Талипбекова). The name of the group came from that of their first song—there is also a Russian group called Non Stop (with a vastly different image and musical style), but the Kyrgyz group says that this is coincidence. They sing most often in Kyrgyz.

Maksat and Cholpon have both said that their parents support them and their careers. Maksat grew up interested in music—he attended music school and learned to play the komuz, and then took dance lessons. Cholpon has said that there is more pressure on her, as a woman performer, but that her parents didn’t judge her decision harshly.

The group was formed in 2010, after they met when they were assigned to be on a team together in the project Super Star 2010, run jointly by a radio station and recording studio. Their team was coached by Urnat Usenov (Урмат Усенов), also a well-known Kyrgyz performer. They have achieved a significant amount of success in that short time: they have performed and toured internationally and throughout Kyrgyzstan and recorded a good number of songs and clips. Cholpon also attended university in the early years of her career, at an art institute where she studied directing.

In 2014 the group was Kyrgyzstan’s entry in Turkvizyon, an international song contest modeled on Eurovision—they had to beat out 19 other Kyrgyz performers (through a jury and SMS voting) to win that honor. They came in sixth place in the Turkvizyon semifinals and an impressive fourth place in the finals, singing “Feel It” (“Сезе бил”), written by famous Kyrgyz poet Kyyalbek Urmanbetov (Кыялбек Урманбетов). Later in 2014, they also released an album, also called Feel It, with 12 new songs.

They have said, tongue-in-cheek, that the secret to their working so well together (they are not a couple, for what it’s worth, and they tend to stress that in interviews) is that they have the same horoscope sign—they are Virgos, and thus understand each other well.

 

“Height” (“Бийиктик”):

 

Lyrics for “Бийиктик”:

Бугун сенин чыккым келбейт багындан.
Бугун сенин кетким келбейт жанындан.
Ошол куну эки журок ун алып.
Ошол куну эки суйуу кубанып.
Ошол куну эки тагдыр уланып.
Суйууну биз баштаганбыз жаныдан.

Кайырма:
О бийиктик бийик болбо суйгонго!
О терендик терен болбо куйгонго!
О жарык нур булуттарды туруп кой.
Танга кошо жузун жерге тийгенде.

Сендей эч ким ээлеген жок сезимди.
Сендей эч ким когорткон чолумду.
Сендей эч ким жараткан жок кечимди.
Сендей эч ким багынткан жок конулду.
Сенден албай каарыктырып козумду.
Сени кутуп зарыкканым тунумбу?

Кайырма

 

“Feel It” (“Сезе бил”):

 

Lyrics for “Сезе бил”:

Зымырап, зымырап мезгилиң токтобой,
Кубулат, кубулат өткөндү жоктобой.
Жаркытып жер бетин, чачып кал берметиң.

Ай-жылдызга алмашылбас жаркын
Ар бир күнүң баа жетпеген алтын,
Учурунда сезе билгин баркын ар дайым.

Ай-жылдар – аккан дайра,
Кайрылбас артка кайра.
Жадырап күлүп-жайна,
Жакшыга үмүт байла.
Эң бийик асман Айга
Жетесиң тапсаң айла,
Максатыңдан тайба!

Кинодой көркөм тасма,
Күнүгө дүйнө башка.
Эскиче ойду таштап,
Жаңыча жашай башта.
Өтүнөм: үнсүз турба,
Өмүрдү бөлөп нурга,
Ырда, жүрөк, ырда!

Үмүт үзүлбөсүн,
Бекем бололу,
Башты оболу
Көтөргүн жогору.
Кабак түйүлбөсүн,
Күлгүн кезиңде
Сүйүүнү уюткун сезимге.

Ай-жылдар – аккан дайра,
Кайрылбас артка кайра.
Жадырап күлүп-жайна,
Жакшыга үмүт байла.
Эң бийик асман Айга
Жетесиң тапсаң айла,
Максатыңдан тайба!

Зымырап, зымырап мезгилиң токтобой…

About the author

Julie Hersh

Julie studied Russian as a Second Language in Irkutsk and before that, Bishkek, with SRAS's Home and Abroad Scholarship program, with the goal of someday having some sort of Russia/Eurasia-related career. She recently got her master’s degree from the University of Glasgow and the University of Tartu, where she studied women’s dissent in Soviet Russia. She also has a bachelor’s degree in literature from Yale. Some of her favorite Russian authors are Sorokin, Shishkin, Il’f and Petrov, and Akhmatova. In her spare time Julie cautiously practices martial arts, reads feminist websites, and taste-tests instant coffee for her blog.

Program attended: Home and Abroad Scholar

View all posts by: Julie Hersh