Polish hip hop

The Polish hip hop scene was born in the early 1990s, due to the popularity of American rap. Nevertheless, rap style in Polish music has its deep roots in the 1980s Polish punk rock, alternative rock, disco and funk music.

Polish hip-hop artists are well-known performers across Europe, especially in the former Eastern Bloc. Many rappers from Poland are collaborating with artists from Europe, the USA and even Cuba.

History
The first album by a Polish performer was East on the Mic by PM Cool Lee, which featured two songs in Polish. Lee was from Kielce, but Warsaw soon emerged as a center for hip hop, after KOLOR, a radio station, began broadcasting Kolor Shock, hosted by Bogna Świątkowska, Paul Jackson, an African American expatriate, Sylvia Opoku from London, and DJ Volt, whose crew, 1kHz, became performing stars in their own right in 1995. Volt also founded the first Polish independent hip hop label, B.E.A.T. Records. Although the label did not last long, it did introduce groups like Trzyha and Molesta. In Poznań, PH Kopalnia's Polski Rap - Zakazane Piosenki (Polish rap - Forbidden Songs). Now known as Liroy, the former PM Cool Lee released Alboom in 1995, which included the hit "Scyzoryk" (Penknife).

The most recognizable Polish hip hop band abroad is probably WWO, which is no longer active since 2006. Sokół (who is also the owner of the Prosto Label and the Prosto Wear company) since then recorded 3 albums with Pono and 2 with Marysia Starosta (who was also Sokół's fiancée). Jędker abandoned the Polish rap scene to make dance music with Robert M as Monopol (for which he is mocked and disrespected by the present Polish rap scene and most of the listeners) and DJ Deszczu Strugi is an owner of Otra Barwa Studio.

List of best-selling hip-hop music artists in Poland
MCs:


 * 1) Liroy – 1,000,000
 * 2) Taco Hemingway – 750,000
 * 3) O.S.T.R. – 630,000
 * 4) Paluch – 610,000
 * 5) Peja Slums Attack – 580,000
 * 6) KęKę – 550,000
 * 7) Quebonafide – 520,000
 * 8) Sokół – 510,000
 * 9) Szpaku – 480,000
 * 10) Bedoes – 450,000

Groups:


 * 1) PRO8L3M – 450,000
 * 2) Kaliber 44 – 210,000
 * 3) Nagły Atak Spawacza – 200,000
 * 4) Molesta – 160,000
 * 5) Polska Wersja – 150,000
 * 6) WWO – 150,000
 * 7) Hemp Gru – 140,000
 * 8) Wzgórze Ya-Pa 3 – 135,000
 * 9) Paktofonika – 120,000
 * 10) Warszafski Deszcz – 90,000

Additional sources

 * For certification criteria by Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry between 2002-2005 (with time frame) Radek Miszczak, Andrzej Cała: Beaty, Rymy, Życie: Leksykon muzyki hip-hop. Poznań, Poland: Kurpisz S.A., 2005, page 22. ISBN 83-89738-75-9.
 * For certification criteria by Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry before 2002 (without time frame)