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

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

that disbanded in 2007 and reunited in 2015. It is made up of friends

Serhii Babkin Serhii Mykolaiovych Babkin (born 7 November 1978) is a Ukrainian singer and actor who became the lead singer of the 5'nizza, 5'nizza music band, the coach of the ''Holos Krainy'' (VII and VIII seasons), and the participant in the ''Tantsi z zirk ...

(, 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 during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

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 Wale ...

and

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

, which is performed in a minimalistic

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

style limited to vocals,

beatboxing Beatboxing (also, and sometimes, called beat boxing) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum machines (usually a Roland TR-808, TR-808), using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice.acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

. Despite lack of support from large labels, the group attracted

cult following A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...

in much of Central and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

, notably Ukraine, Russia,

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. 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

Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional organization, regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an ar ...

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 Russia. Their official debut album, ''Pyatnitsa'', was produced in 2003 and consisted mostly of songs from ''Unplugged''. The second album O'5 (read as ""/"Opyat'", meaning ''Again'' in Russian and sounding similar to "", meaning O5) 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 u ...

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

pediatrics Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, Adolescence, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many o ...

Tour and disbanding

5'nizza toured Russia and visited

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

, Belarus. 5'nizza also visited

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, 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 Luk (stylised as Lюk) was a Ukrainian music band from Kharkiv. The band's style joins acid jazz, lounge and rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a gen ...

and

Markscheider Kunst Markscheider Kunst (Маркшейдер Кунст) is a ska band from Saint Petersburg, Russia. It plays afro-rock, soukous, ska and reggae. The band was founded in 1992 by geology students from Saint Petersburg. Lead singer Sergei Yefremenko ...

, 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, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

and

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, 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.

Discography

Albums

Notes and references

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