Otyken is an indigenous Siberian folk pop band that uses traditional instruments and sings in Khakas, Chulym, and Russian. For much more on the Khakas language, check out this great resource from our sister site, Folkways.today. The members of the group are Chulym Khakas, an indigenous population that lives in Eastern Siberia. The name “Otyken” […]

Madina Aknazarova (Мадина Акназарова) is a Tajik pop singer. She was born on 15 February, 1998 in St. Petersburg, Russia. She lived there with her aunt and her mother until she was in the ninth grade. She then moved to Dushanbe, Tajikistan in 2014 and attended a musical college there. She currently studies at the […]

Feruza Jumaniyozova is an Uzbek singer. She has released songs in Tajik, Uyghur, Farsi, Dari, Turkmen, Azeri, Hindi, Turkish, and Uzbek. Feruza was born on 14 Feebruary, 1984 in Khorezm, in the Uzbek SSR. She started performing music when she was three. Originally wanting to be a doctor, she enrolled in the Institute of Medicine […]

Farzonai Khurshed (Фарзонаи Хушед) is a Tajik pop singer. She performs songs in Tajik and has performed in Tajikistan, Germany, and Russia. Farzonai Khurshed was born on 11 July, 1989 in Kulob, Tajik SSR. She was born into a musical family. Her mother, Surayo Qosimova, and her sister, Shabnam Surayo, are both singers as well. […]

Shabnam Surayo (Шабнам Сураё) is a famous Tajik singer. She has a strong following in Persian-speaking countries such as Afghanistan, Iran, and Tajikistan. She has performed in Russian and the Persian dialects of Dari and Tajik. Shabnam was born on 14 October, 1981 in Kulob, in the Tajik SSR. She is from a famous Tajik […]

Dan Balan is a Moldovan singer who records music in Romanian, Russian, and English. Balan was born in Chișinău, Moldova’s capital. His father, Mihai Balan, was a Moldovan diplomat and is now the head of Moldova’s security service. Balan’s interest in music arose when he was a child. He received his first accordion when he […]