5'nizza (slang spelling of uk, п'ятниця , meaning "Friday") is an acoustic group formed in 2000 in

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

that disbanded in 2007 and reunited in 2015. It is made up of friends Serhii Babkin (, guitar), and Andrii "Sun" Zaporozhets (, vocals). The band's music has a combination of influences:

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

and hip hop, which is performed in a minimalistic

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

style limited to vocals,

beatboxing Beatboxing (also beat boxing) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum machines (typically a TR-808), using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice.

, and acoustic guitar. Despite lack of support from large labels, the group attracted cult following in much of Central and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...

, notably Ukraine,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. 5'nizza's song "" ("''Natyany''") was featured on American Idol, Season 16 Episode 2, on March 12, 2018 in the USA on ABC Television, when sung by Idol contestant Misha Gontar. Although the judges were intrigued by his Ukrainian rap, he was not invited to continue in the competition.

Background

The duo started working together as early as in 1998. 5'nizza's demo album, ''

Unplugged Unplugged may refer to: *Acoustic music, music not produced through electronic means * "Unplugged" (B.A.P song), 2014 * "Unplugged" (''Modern Family''), a 2010 episode of ''Modern Family'' Albums and EPs * ''Unplugged'' (5'nizza album), 2002 * '' ...

'', was bootlegged and spread all over the

C.I.S. The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. ...

countries in 2002. The demo was well received by fans as well as online critics. Some even say that, in 2002, ''Unplugged'' was the top seller in

. Their official debut album, '' Pyatnitsa'', was produced in 2003 and consisted mostly of songs from ''Unplugged''. The second album O'5 (read as "Опять"/"Opyat'", meaning ''Again'' in Russian. ) was released in 2005. Both Babkin and Zaporozhets have released other musical projects in addition to their work together. Babkin (a solo artist since 2004) has recorded three solo albums: ''Ura'', ''SN. G'', ''Bis!'' and ''Motor''; and Zaporozhets appeared as a

backing vocalist A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

in Lюk (Luk), a

lounge Lounge may refer to: Architecture * Lounge, the living room of a dwelling * Lounge, a public waiting area in a hotel's lobby * Lounge, a style of commercial alcohol- bar * Airport lounge, or train lounge (e.g., AMTRAK's Acela Lounge), a premium ...

group. Babkin is also an actor in the Kharkiv theater group Theater 19. Andrii Zaporozhets is currently completing his university degree in pediatrics.

Tour and disbanding

5'nizza toured

and visited

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

, as well. 5'nizza also visited Lithuania, the band was one of the main guests at the open-air festival Cote of Culture (Kultūros Tvartas) in 2004

The band recorded its third album in 2007, with guest appearances from Lюk and Маркшайдер Кунст (

Markscheider Kunst Markscheider Kunst (Маркшейдер Кунст) is a ska band from St.Petersburg, Russia. It plays afro-rock, soukous, ska and reggae. Russian musical influences can be heard in their music as well. The band was founded in 1992 by geology s ...

), among others. In September 2007, Babkin and Zaporozhets decided to disband. Their last two concerts took place on June 15 and 16, 2007 in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

and

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

, respectively. The third album was instead released as Zaporozhets' new project SunSay. Following the group's disbandment, artists that originally were meant to be guests now became the core of a new group. This added to the overwhelming change in sound direction, with new ideas and instruments coming from, what seemed to be, everywhere. The few tracks with Babkin's presence (guitar and backing vocals) that reached final production also made the final cut.

Reunion

In March 2015 Serhii Babkin and Andrii Zaporozhets announced their reunion and in April the song "I Believe In You" was released, followed by "Vperyod" and "Ale". The band played the A2 Club in St Petersburg in 2017 reuniting as a trio with "Dizzy" Daniel Moorehead while he was at PGUPS.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:5nizza Musical groups from Kharkiv Ukrainian musical groups English-language singers from Ukraine Ukrainian reggae musical groups