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Grammatik |
Interview with Grammatik
[2002-12-12]
Until a couple of years ago, Warsaw?s Grammatik were the leading figures on the conscious, intellectual side of Polish Hip-Hop. EP+, their debut release on the prestigious Blend label in 1999, was a defining moment in the scene. But following the success of EP+, and their second record Swiatla Miasta (2000), the individual members of the group began to pursue separate projects and stopped playing live together. MC Eldo?s acclaimed solo debut ?Opowieu? O Tym Co Tu Si Dzieje Naprawd? came out in 2001, as did DJ/Producer Noon?s instrumental album ?Bleak Output?. Only recently have they started to perform as a group again, and I caught them at Brno?s Babylon club last Friday, speaking to MC Eldo and DJ Noon of the group after the show.
Notably more energetic live then on record, Grammatik?s vibe remains calm. "I don?t want people to fall asleep at our shows, so of course we are going to play more excited live," says Eldo, the group?s main MC. But there?s something epic in Noon?s production work that makes every rhyme sound crucial, and way too important to sleep through. It seems they are here without any particular promotional purpose. As Noon says, "There?s no new album of Grammatik. We play gigs together sometimes for fun, but Eldo?s got his new solo record coming out on Blend and I?m working on another instrumental LP, so we?ve not really had time."
In fact, as a group, they are no longer even signed. Eldo, rated by many as the dopest MC Poland has ever produced, still has a day-job: " I think I could make enough money out of music if I stopped working, but I like my job, and I don?t want to quit." Noon made enough from Grammatik?s first record to set up his own studio, and now does recording and production work for other artists.
The hip-hop scene in Poland is one of the biggest in the region, and this has perhaps given it a more commercial orientation. Eldo seems unimpressed by the idea of hip-hop as a cultural movement in Central Europe:
"We still have writers and b-boys but I don?t know. People used say that graffiti and breaking are elements of hip-hop, but if you actually talk to the writers they don?t know anything about hip-hop. Most of them listen to punk or dance music. It?s the same with breakers. They come to these shows and put on their tracks and do their dances but they don?t know anything. I think it?s just a fashion like any other. Kids buy the albums and wear their baggy jeans. 30 years ago it was Rock n? Roll, and now everybody listens to hip-hop."
There are a lot of opportunities for domestic artists to put records out in Poland, with 20 to 30 new hip-hop albums hitting the stores every year, compared to 2 or 3 in the Czech Republic. Eldo thinks this deficit is related to the differing industry structures, "?in the Czech Republic no major labels are interested in hip-hop. In Poland, all of them are interested. It?s such a big market. Everybody wants to put out hip-hop records." But are these major releases any good? "Of course." Noon points out "We are one of the few groups that recorded for an independent label. But even so, our distribution is done by a major, EMI."
So the values of Czech hip-hop culture, and its precious connections with graffiti, breaking and independent labels, are not necessarily shared in Poland. Despite this, Eldo maintains contact with the Czech scene, appearing on Indy & Wich?s debut album and often taking time out to chill with the writers, DJs and MCs of the ?terorist?? posse in Prague. Grammatik have performed in the Czech Republic 8 or 9 times now. "?It?s funny, because we don?t understand their language at all," says Eldo, "but they understand Polish. I heard it was because TV here in the 70s was so bad that people re-tuned their televisions and watched Polish TV."
And what about American hip-hop? "I like Jurassic Five, Dilated peoples, Common?s new album, The Roots? new album." This is all pretty backpacky stuff, and perhaps is no surprise coming from the MC at the forefront of ?intelligent? Polish rap. Eldo, however, is not impressed by the majority of US commercial performers, "there?s a lot of bad records out. I think in a few years, everybody in the United States will be bored because it?s becoming like a factory, you know? A factory producing hip-hop, and its like any other product, like milk or something."
As the size of the market for Polish hip-hop increases, its fair to assume that the losses to piracy will increase. Grammatik don?t lose sleep, says Eldo: "We don?t care. But we do see pirated copies of our album in shops. Say we sell 20,000 copies of our album, the pirates will sell 40,000. But there?s nothing we can do, so whatever." But would he autograph a pirated album? "Nobody?s ever asked me to. But I don?t think I would. There was this guy I met last week and he was saying how much he loved our music and he thought we were excellent. But it turned out he had downloaded our tracks from the internet. I was disappointed."
Noon, Eldo and Jotuze have pencilled in plans to start work on a new Grammatik album after the summer. They agree that there are still new places for Polish hip-hop to go. Let?s hope that the heavy involvement of the major labels doesn?t lead to music being produced, to borrow Eldo?s analogy, like milk.
Stuart Campbell
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