Max Barskih (Макс Барских) is a Ukrainian pop singer who has grown in popularity in recent years. His first performance was in 2008 on a Ukrainian television show called Star Factory 2.[1] Two years later, he was named best Ukrainian performer by the MTV Europe Music Awards. He is 30 years old but has already […]

While studying abroad in Ukraine, I grew accustomed to watching a TV show called Vidbir on Sunday evenings. The name, Vidbir, refers to “selection” in Ukrainian, which is appropriate as the show itself selects who will represent Ukraine at Eurovision, an annual Europe-wide pop-music contest. This year, the 2020 season of Vidbir featured many good […]

Dimitry Monatyk, known as “Monatik,” (often spelled with Latin letters) is a Ukrainian dancer and singer-songwriter that performs primarily in Russian, and occasionally in English and/or Ukrainian. Born in northwestern Ukrainian city of Lutsk, 1986, Monatik was a member of the Lutsk Breakdance Crew (DBS Crew) from 2000 until 2006. In 2003 he joined the […]

Lyuk (Люк; translates to “manhole” in Russian, but the members said they just liked how it sounded) was a Ukrainian rock and rock-adjacent band that broke up in 2011. They’re also affiliated with the genres of punk, acid jazz, lounge, funk, hip-hop, and a bunch of others—the band members themselves have had a hard time defining exactly […]

Alyosha (Альоша; real name Olena Kucher, Олена Кучер) is a well-known contemporary Ukrainian pop singer and songwriter who has written hits for both herself and other artists. She is known both for her male name—“Alyosha” is usually a diminutive of “Aleksey”—and, of course, her singing. Her website introduces her thus: “In her character, as well […]

Lama (Лама; they usually use the Latin transliteration, though) is a Ukrainian pop-rock band founded in 2005. They sing exclusively in Ukrainian. The current members are singer Natalya Dzenkiv (Наталя Дзеньків), guitarist Andriy Alekseev (Андрій Алексеєв), bass guitarist Zurab Rogava (Зураб Рогава), synthesizer-ist Zheka Kobzaruk (Жека Кобзарук), and drummer Dmitro “ZI” Suprunyuk (Дмитро “ZI” Супрунюк). […]

Skryabin (Скрябін) is an alternative pop band from Novoyavorivsk (Новояворівськ), Ukraine. Proceeding through many stylistic changes throughout its long career, from rock and punk, through synth-pop and techno, to more standard pop-rock ballads, the band’s artistic trajectory is normally divided into two periods: old (pre-2003) and new (post-2003 to 2015) Skryabin. Formed in 1989 by […]

ONUKA is a Ukrainian electro-pop group from Kyiv noted for their use of traditional Ukrainian folk instruments—predominantly the bandura (бандура) and the sopilka (сопілка)—in their arrangements. The band sings in both Ukrainian and English. Formed in 2013 by vocalist and songwriter Natalia, or Nata, Zhyzhchenko (Наталія Жижченко) and multi-instrumentalist and producer Yevgeny Filatov (Євген Філатов), the […]

Iryna Bilyk is a highly celebrated Ukrainian singer/songwriter and entertainer from Kyiv. Mainly a composer of ballads and dance pop, she has released albums in her native Ukrainian as well as Russian and Polish. Her impressive commercial success in Ukraine, fueled in large part by her ability to adapt to the changing popular music landscape, won […]