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Polish rap in exile. Interview with Frytt - Polish rapper living in Norway.
Polish hip-hop culture has been developing dynamically since the 80s, although it was the first 
commercial publications appeared only in the 90's. The precursor is considered to be Liroy, who in 1995 released his debut album entitled "Alboom". Since then, a lot has happened in Polish rap, and many albums have been created that changed the so-called "Rapgrę".
After Poland joined the European Union, foreign labor markets were opened and, as a result, the phenomenon of economic migration intensified. For this reason, Polish rap began to develop also abroad. The representative of Polish hip-hop culture in Norway is Frytt. His texts are full of thoughts and stories with which many immigrants in Norway can identify. Łukasz Pawłowicz talks about how to cope in the world of commercial music.
There are many reasons why people leave their homeland and go into exile. What guided you when making the decision to go to Norway?
I think that, as in most cases, the main reason was much higher earnings than in the country. Before coming to Norway, I spent practically 3 years in France as part of an internship at the University of Hotel and Gastronomy in Poznań. Much higher earnings increased my expectations and I will not hide it, it was hard for me to get used to the Polish conditions. My fiancée and I had plans to stabilize the financial situation and build a family as soon as possible. My brother-in-law was already working in Norway for a few years, so it was easier for us to decide to change direction.
Did you start raping only in Norway or did you record while still in Poland?
My first recording adventure started in 2000. When I was 15, I recorded my first track and joined the hip-hop line-up of PSI Pawłowice (Fryta, Jati, Ścieku, Akro, Fart, Bolo). At that time, I was still recording under the pseudonym Fryta. Most of this story was described in one of my newer pieces by Frytt - "To former times" with guest participation of DJ Eprom https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/DJ_Eprom
After the break-up of the line-up, probably in 2003, I continued recording as Frytt in the line-up Wyraz Twarzy (WT), which I was a co-founder with Dawid Hippler (Jati)
In 2005, due to the commencement of further education in Poznań and foreign internships, I unfortunately had to abandon my greatest passion which was recording.
I was able to return to recording only after being in Norway for 6 years.
Do you have proposals to collaborate with other rappers?
Offers sometimes come up, but often time and lifestyle are a problem.
Apart from the recording times in Poland, I think it is worth focusing on the first collaboration that took place in Oslo. Together with my friend Mateusz Bulsa (Lolek), we created the first hip-hop line-up in Oslo EMGR (Emigrancii). We recorded a few tracks together, but after the death of Mateusz on 09.12.2013/18.10.2014/XNUMX, EMGR as a band went down in history. All our songs were recorded on two EPs. Finally, on October XNUMX, XNUMX, I played a farewell concert by EMGR, performing as a support for the COMPANY from Krakow.
After the concert, I was invited by Roman Boski to play a compilation
I recorded the song "Droga na Summit", for which you can see the video here:
In 2016, after a few months of break from recording, I joined forces with my much younger colleague Cezary (Cezar) Runowski and this is how the Frytt & Cezar line-up was created. The merger of two generations has meant that so far many new pieces of both the duo and solo productions have been created and are being created.
Hip-hop as a culture is based on solidarity, and what distinguishes the artists creating this culture is unity and mutual support. How does it look in Norway? How many more rappers are there and are you doing any joint activities?
I think it is difficult for me to answer this question here. Hip hop culture has changed a lot over the years. Now there is a lot of competition and the division between the old and new schools of rap is becoming clearer and clearer. The bigger your team is, the stronger you are - I think so, although of course there are exceptions.
We in Norway are slowly building our team. Not everyone raps, so we connect around rap, music, graphics, marketing, etc. Recently, even a group EMGR has been created on facebook to unite more people who have a sneak peak and want to do something cool. I do not hide that several rappers have already spoken. I think that some projects will be created this year. One thing is certain - in Norway you will not speed up anything. Therefore, we will have to wait a little longer.
It is known that rappers make a living mainly from CD sales, paid views on YouTube and concert tickets sold. Do you play more concerts in Poland or Norway? Do you have any suggestions to play concerts or do you organize them on your own?
In my case, rap is just a hobby and also quite expensive. Music productions, mix / mastering, music videos - it all costs money, so I often had to use the help of sponsors. Now I have changed my technique a bit and I am trying to do everything on my own. There are more and more people helping me with my projects and that's why it's been a little easier lately. As for the concerts - it is mainly here in Norway at local events, although last summer we managed to play 2 concerts in England.
Have you tried contacting Norwegian record companies to release your commercial album? Are they interested in working with Polish rappers? In Norway, the Polish community abroad is close to 100-300 thousand. people, so it may seem like an attractive target group for Norwegian labels.
I think that, as in the case of Poland, it is difficult to break through without contacts. More than once I tried to send my songs to Norwegian media, portals, but there was not too much response. I suspect it's because of the language. I am convinced that if I did what I do in Norwegian, there would be no problem. I have my own plan, but as I said before - here everything is going at its own pace, in Norwegian 😉
Your music is available on Spotify. How can you appear there? Does the fact that you can be heard there translate in any way to your interest in your music?
I am present at the registration of my work in Tono - it is the Norwegian equivalent of ZAIKS.
I registered on the Norwegian music website, which allowed me to upload and sell my work on most streaming portals such as Spotify, Itunes, Google play, Tidal etc. I don't expect to make millions from it, but it's nice to have all my numbers online these days. It is a convenience for anyone who would like to listen to them or download them to their phone.
You run the EMGRTV channel, which aims to promote Polish culture abroad, with an emphasis on hip-hop. What are the conditions to be able to promote your work on this channel? Is it possible to include a song from a genre other than rap?
Yes, EMGRtv has been building its channel for years. As a matter of fact, so far most of my solo songs or those that I recorded for EMGR or Fryt & Cezar are on it. I don't have any specific criteria for what will appear there. If someone has a teaser and does good things, and wants to use my channel, I will definitely help them. Here, let me return to the topic of the EMGR group on Facebook, which I mentioned a bit earlier. I wish we could build something bigger as an EMGR over time. Something like the Foundation / Wytwórnia / Marki. However, these are my little dreams for now. I can't do it myself without more people 😉
