TMTV, or Tatar Music Television Channel (Татарский Музыкальный Телеканал in Russian, Татар музыкаль телеканалы in Tatar), is the number-one music TV channel in the republics of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan. It launched in 2012 and is based in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan. The channel features contemporary Tatar music and has a variety of music-related and […]

Zarina Vildanova (Зарина Вильданова) is an up-and-coming contemporary Tatar singer. She is from Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, Russia. She sings in a range of styles—jazz, folk, and pop—and languages, but much of her music has a focus on Tatar sounds and culture. Vildanova has an extensive musical education. After getting a degree at Kazan State […]

Alqanat is a Tatar rock and metal band from Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, Russia. Their albums and website boast that they play “authentic Tatar rock music” (Tатарча рок); their uniqueness stems from their combining of their Tatar identity with very un-traditional music. While their music does have some folk elements, and they sing only […]

Since 2009, the Republic of Tatarstan has begun to develop its own native animation industry—meaning that Tatar language-learners (and Tatar children) have a new source of material at their disposal. Many of the cartoons are released in multiple languages, including not only Tatar, but also Russian and English. The cartoons come from Tatarmultfilm (Татармультфильм), a […]

Magical Journey (Керемет көч) is a Kyrgyz children’s animated television series. It began in 2006 and was the first Kyrgyz-language cartoon produced in independent Kyrgyzstan. Like many Russian cartoons, it has an educational goal—to teach children how to deal with unpleasant situations, avoid unnecessary conflicts, build self-esteem, and uncover their potential. The show is a social […]

Nilufar Usmonova is a popular contemporary Uzbek pop singer. She is perhaps best known as the daughter of legendary Uzbek singer Yulduz Usmonova; another of her major achievements (if it can be called that) is that she has never fallen out of favor with the Uzbek authorities, as is common for Uzbek pop singers. Usmonova […]

Sogdiana (real name Oksana Nechitaylo, Оксана Нечитайло) is a Russian-Uzbek pop singer. She sings in Uzbek, Russian, and Chechen, though most often in Uzbek. Sogdiana’s family is Chechen, but she grew up in Uzbekistan—she was born in 1984 in Tashkent. She studied the piano in school and studied at a conservatory at the same time, […]

Jasur Gaipov is a young Uzbek pop singer. He sings mainly in Uzbek, but he knows several other languages—Russian, English, Turkish, and Azerbaijani, and Tadjik. In addition to singing, he writes poetry, dances, and acts in films, and has trained as a lawyer and worked as an entrepreneur. He has said that his biggest musical influence […]