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 […]
Gulzada Ryskulova (Гулзада Рыскулова; her stage name is gulzada, in Roman letters and often lowercase) is a well-known contemporary Kyrgyz singer. She writes her own music and lyrics. Much of her music is “inspired by Kyrgyz traditions and pride in [her] nation,” she told Sputnik Kyrgyzstan. She further said that while her genre is usually […]
Sultan Sadyraliev (Султан Садыралиев) is a contemporary Kyrgyz–Kazakh pop singer. He sings in both languages, though more often Kyrgyz. Sadyraliev has been on the Kyrgyz music scene for several years; he has been consistently appearing on Kyrgyz radio hit parade lists from 2012 or so. He is unique among current Kyrgyz singers in part because […]
Nursultan Azykbaev (Нурсултан Азыкбаев) is a Kyrgyz pop singer who has extremely recently come to the forefront of the Kyrgyz pop scene. He sings in Kyrgyz, Russian, and English. Azykbaev, only 21 years old, is currently studying flute performance at the Kyrgyz State Music Academy—he is in his third year. Azykbaev made waves recently when […]
LA Medin is a Kyrgyz hip-hop/reggae/rap band. They sing mostly in Russian. Their current members are Batka (real name Batyr; Батька/Батыр) and Slim JOY (or Kyba; Куба). The band’s name refers to the cities Los Angeles and Almedina. Batka, the only member who has been with the group since the start, has said that he got interested […]
Ayana Kasymova (Аяна Касымова) is a young, emerging Kyrgyz pop singer. She sings in both English and Kyrgyz, though her repertoire also includes songs in French and Uzbek. Aside from the compositions written especially for her, among her favorite music to sing is Celine Dion and Whitney Houston. While her main genre is pop, she also […]
Ayym Ayylchieva (Айым Айылчиева) is a young, up-and-coming Kyrgyz pop singer from Bishkek. She sings mostly in Kyrgyz. Ayylchieva was born in 1998 to a supportive family to whom she says she owes her success. She always dreamed of becoming a performer, and her parents encouraged her; her first musical performance was on the TV […]
Nurlan Nasip (Нурлан Насип) is a Kyrgyz pop singer and occasional actor. He was born in 1990 in Toktogul to a large, rather musical family: Nasip’s father plays the accordion, and an aunt plays the komuz, a traditional Kyrgyz musical instrument. Several of his siblings sing and play the guitar. He himself plays several instruments, in addition […]
Cargo 200 (Груз 200) is a 2007 Russian thriller based on a true story. It was written and directed by Sergey Balabanov (Сергей Балабанов, who is most famous for the Brother (Брат) films. Cargo 200 takes place mainly in two villages, Nizhniy Volok and Leninsk, with some later action occurring in St. Petersburg, in 1984. […]
Kandahar (Кандагар; called The Crew in its English-language release) is a 2010 Russian drama. It takes place in 1995, unsurprisingly in Kandahar, a city in Afghanistan, several years after the withdrawal of Soviet troops after the end of the Soviet–Afghan War. The film is based on true events—the Airstan Incident. The film hewed pretty closely […]
Yulia Rutskaya (Юлия Руцкая) is a Russian-Kyrgyz pop singer, television host, and model who sings in Russian, Belarusian, and Kyrgyz. Originally from Vitebsk, Belarus, her family moved to Kyrgyzstan when she was five. She is a member of the significant Belarusian diaspora in Kyrgyzstan and has embraced her Kyrgyz side, singing in Kyrgyz at least […]
Salt Peanuts (Солёные Орешки) is a popular Kyrgyz jazz group that has been in existence for almost 15 years. Their name from the Russian more accurately translated to “salted nuts,” but they have their own preferred English-language name, taken from a famous Dizzy Gillespie tune. Salt Peanuts were one of the first jazz groups to […]
