Nastya Kamenskikh, known professionally as NK, is a Ukrainian singer, actress, and television presenter. She first gained recognition through the duo Potap & Nastya and later developed an international solo career combining Ukrainian pop with R&B, hip-hop, and Latin influences.
Background
Nastya Kamenskikh was born on May 4, 1987, in Kyiv, Ukraine. Her father, Oleksii Zhmur, was associated with volleyball and later worked as a concert director, while her mother, Lidiia Kamenskikh, sang with the National Academic Folk Choir of Ukraine named after Hryhorii Veriovka. Kamenskikh uses her mother's surname.
Her childhood included study and residence abroad. She briefly attended school in France and later lived in Italy for seven years through an educational exchange arrangement. These experiences preceded her continued schooling in Kyiv and her later work for audiences in several languages and musical markets.
Education
Kamenskikh studied at Pechersk School International in Kyiv and attended a music school, graduating from music school at about fifteen. Pechersk School International is an English-language international school in Kyiv serving an internationally oriented community, while music-school training provided her with an early formal foundation in performance. She also studied ballet for eight years and later undertook professional ballet classes.
After secondary school, she entered the Ukrainian-American Humanitarian Institute, also known as Wisconsin International University in Ukraine, where she studied external economic activity in an English-language academic environment. Her developing performance career led her to continue the program in a more flexible form while she began touring and recording.
Career
Kamenskikh began her public singing career at the Black Sea Games festival in 2004, where she received early recognition. In 2005 she traveled to London and received the UBN Award as Discovery of the Year. She subsequently worked with the Ukrainian production center Music-Motors.
In the mid-2000s she formed the successful duo Potap & Nastya with Oleksii Potapenko. The project established her as a prominent Ukrainian pop performer through songs including Ne Para, Bez Lyubvi, Ne Lyubi Meni Mozky and Vse Puchkom. The duo's music combined pop, hip-hop, dance production, and theatrical performance, reflecting the commercial Ukrainian music scene of the period.
Kamenskikh also developed a television career. She participated in Dancing with the Stars on the Ukrainian channel 1+1 in 2007, appeared on the Russian program Two Stars in 2008, and later took part in the Ukrainian project Star + Star. In 2010 she hosted the morning program Guten Morgen on the M1 music channel. She subsequently served as a judge and mentor on the Ukrainian version of The X Factor.
In 2017 she launched the solo project NK. Her first solo album, No Komments, appeared in 2018, followed by Spanish-language work aimed at international and Latin American audiences. The single Peligroso reached international Billboard chart exposure, and the album Ecléctica combined Latin American rhythms with Ukrainian musical elements. Her solo work expanded her profile beyond the earlier duo while retaining a strong connection to Ukrainian popular music.
Achievements
Kamenskikh received early public recognition at the Black Sea Games festival in 2004, marking the beginning of her professional singing career.
As part of Potap & Nastya, Kamenskikh became widely known in Ukrainian popular music through commercially successful songs and televised performances.
Her solo project NK brought Ukrainian pop into international Latin-oriented markets; the Spanish-language single Peligroso received Billboard chart exposure.
(A Christmas album by NK containing seven songs and releas...)
2019
Religion
Kamenskikh has been associated with Judaism through her family background: her father was Jewish, and her mother converted to Judaism. Judaism is a monotheistic religious tradition rooted in the covenantal history of the Jewish people, the Hebrew Bible, rabbinic interpretation, and a body of ethical and communal practice.
Her public biography identifies this family religious background but does not establish a detailed account of her personal observance or theological views.
Views
Kamenskikh has presented the NK project around the idea that music can cross national and linguistic boundaries. Her international work combines Ukrainian cultural references with Latin American rhythms and multilingual performance, expressing an artistic preference for cultural synthesis and movement between musical traditions.
Personality
Kamenskikh's official NK presentation describes her public artistic image as energetic, open, modern, and oriented toward cultural exchange. These descriptions concern her professional persona and public creative project rather than an independently documented account of private character.
Interests
Ballet, dance, multilingual performance, fitness, and international cultural exchange.
Music & Bands
Kamenskikh works in Ukrainian pop, pop, R&B, hip-hop, dance, and Latin-influenced music. Her recorded work has included Ukrainian, Russian, English, Italian, and Spanish-language material.
Connections
Kamenskikh married Ukrainian musician and producer Oleksii Potapenko, known professionally as Potap, in 2019. They had previously worked together as the performing duo Potap & Nastya.
Father:
Oleksii Zhmur
Former volleyball captain who later worked as a concert director for the National Academic Folk Choir of Ukraine named after Hryhorii Veriovka.
Mother:
Lidiia Kamenskikh
Singer associated with the National Academic Folk Choir of Ukraine named after Hryhorii Veriovka.
husband:
Oleksii Potapenko
Musician and producer known professionally as Potap; he performed with Kamenskikh in the duo Potap & Nastya before their marriage in 2019.
