Ukraine’s TNMK releases animated video for hip-hop song about the return of Ukrainian refugees
Ukrainian hip-hop band TNMK or Tanok na Maidani Kongo (Dance at the Congo Square) unveiled a captivating animated video for their latest track, "At Home," created by animator Sashko Danylenko. The video is dedicated to the return of Ukrainian refugees to their homeland.
The new song expresses hope that Ukrainians forced to leave their homeland due to the war will come back home.
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"The idea for this track emerged in the spring of 2022 when the band members were scattered across different countries and cities,” the band’s lyricist Oleksandr ‘Fozzi’ Sydorenko said.
“I penned the first verses about how great it would be to simply gather together again – someone was in the East, someone in the military, someone abroad.”
The band collaborated with artist and filmmaker Sashko Danylenko, with whom they previously created two animated videos, "Hupalo Vasyl" and "The History of Ukraine in Five Minutes."
"At first, the idea was to create a short animated musical film showing, through the story of one Ukrainian family, our common dream of returning and reclaiming what is ours. We outlined characters, prepared a script, but later realized that we could fit it all into one video. In May, we chose the chorus variant that specifically mentioned a wartime story – about people emerging from behind the scenes, taking off their helmets. Our guitarist Yaroslav Veriovkin was in Bakhmut at the time, and his vivid reaction suggested we should choose this particular variant: 'We will be home soon, step out from behind the scenes, we will take off our helmets. Can you hear, higher than the nose?'"
The video for "At Home" tells a story of unity among Ukrainians. "We are like a family, where everyone is very different, but in difficult times, we can gather for a common goal,” Danylenko said.
“Russia's invasion has brought us enormous challenges that all Ukrainians must contribute to solving. The enemy wants us to think we are 'little people' whose actions don't matter. But we already understand that this is not the case.”
Oleh "Fahot" Mykhailyuta, another member of TNMK and the song's sound producer, joined the Kyiv Territorial Defense at the beginning of the invasion. He still remembers the European squares filled with Ukrainians with sad eyes during charity tours.
"During charity tours in Europe, we saw tens of thousands of Ukrainians,” Mykhailyuta said.
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“It's impossible to forget these squares full of sad eyes. Besides collecting donations for the military, we try to uplift our people a little – send them greetings from their homeland, give them a chance to feel part of something important, strong, native. We want Ukrainians abroad to know that each of them is important, capable of great achievements, and there is a home waiting for each of them.”
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
