Your ultimate guide to Y2K Polish rap, according to 2K88 (2024)

28June 2024

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2K88, fka 1988, is the alias of Warsaw producer Przemysław Jankowiak, who began making music in the 90s. He started with experimental music and noise-rock, before making a name for himself in the country’s rap scene as the producer behind Polish rap underground duo Syny. “We wore baggy pants, listened to rap, roamed the city, and it was then that I first tasted marijuana or alcohol,” he reflects. “The image of myself from those times is somewhat associated with shame – a shaved head, baggy jeans, XXL hoodies on a skinny body; all that subcultural facade was heavily criticised by adults.”

For his latest album SHAME, the artist paired up with Unsound (the label behind the major music festival of the same name). Drawing on his early experiences in the local experimental scene, the record pulls inspiration from 90s and 00s Polish rap – ”the era I grew up on and drew from its heritage” – and mixes it with shadowy club sonics that lend themselves as much to the heady environment of the dancefloor as to the morning after. “SHAME is a continuation of my exploration into the realm of club music, which I’ve always enjoyed deconstructing,” he says. “Even as a teenager, alongside making hip-hop beats, I delved into breaks, jungle, and processed it all in my somewhat naive but personal way.”

Channelling Polish recordings from that period, the record invokes the spirit of PLSOUND, a genre coined by Jankowiak to describe the era’s social, urban, and sonic themes developed during Poland’s post-communist transformation – with samples featuring Polish hip-hop classics, which he combines with warped strains of British soundsystem. “Poles always do things a bit differently, which makes this sound unique, giving it a different flavour,” he expands. “I myself try to nurture this; I want my sound to be unique.”

Below, 2K88 shares hip-hop selects from the 90s and 00s that inspired the record, from Molesta, one of the pioneers of Polish rap, to the non-conforming attitude of Poema Faktu, and more.

2K88: This legendary album is a cornerstone of Polish rap, epitomising the street sound of its era largely due to DJ 600V – one of the pioneers of Polish hip-hop. His producer albums are true encyclopedias of the genre. Additionally, the raw, spontaneous lyrics of “Skandal” are filled with phrases that have become a permanent part of Polish street slang. It’s also worth noting Molesta’s later albums, where the characteristic paranoia and melancholy of Polish rap become even more pronounced. I chose “Skandal” for two main reasons: I grew up with this album as a teenager, and it reminds me of the challenging period of growing up in Poland during the 90s and early 00s. The second reason is that in 2020, I had the opportunity to record an album, W/88, with one of Molesta’s founders, Włodi.

2K88: Despite Poema Faktu‘s denial, it cannot be denied that in a certain sense, they were Poland‘s response to Company Flow and their motto ‘Independent as f*ck’. While the entire Polish rap scene focused on tough, street values, living on the edge, and what it meant to be a real man, with party rap variants and scantily clad women increasingly dominating music videos, Poema Faktu had little chance to gain wider recognition with their message. Yet, they had a profound impact on my life – rapping over heavy, incredibly atmospheric, often avant-garde beats, Dany revolutionised the approach to Polish hip-hop, referencing Witold Gombrowicz, non-conformists, revolutionaries, and advocating for then-unpopular ideas like rejecting religion and all authorities. In general, they rap about departing from accepted social norms, looking beyond the form, and taking a broader view of reality. Their rap was too philosophical to gain popularity, but it made a huge impression on people like me.

2K88: The first Polish rap on drum‘n’bass and jungle beats, the first references to Jamaican sound system culture presented in such a good form, and all this in very early Polish realities, in 2001. Moreover, all of this happened in my hometown – Szczecin, which has always been somewhat on the sidelines of what’s happening on the Polish scene. The album, which I still listen to today, has not been matched in this genre for a long time, because UK Sound in Poland has never really broken through to a wider audience. Even today, when someone raps on breakbeats, drum‘n‘bass, jungle, listeners mention Electric Rudeboyz. This shows how much Polish rap and its branches have been focused in one direction over the past 20 years. The album is still great, very well produced, and full of catchy tracks. Without it, I wouldn’t have discovered British music at such an early age.

Wrocław has left a significant mark on my work, being the origin of many excellent, more ambitious branches of rap. Roszja and his group Sfond Sqnksa, Siny, producers Magiera and LA, as well as the duo Skalpel, all hail from there. I also released my first album, Zabrudzony Garnitur, under the Wrocław-based label Qulturap, from which all these artists indirectly or directly emerged. The album Kastaniety exudes a dense, dark, almost cinematic atmosphere, which greatly influenced my approach to production. The album is excellently produced, meticulously crafted, and incredibly stylish – even visually. They also triggered a boom for the Polish streetwear brand CLINIC, whose clothes I wore as a teenager (you can see it on the cover of SHAME). This brand no longer exists and embodies those times as much as the best albums from that era.

2K88: Firma is a group from Krakow, a city known for its influx of tourists, high crime rates, and ongoing machete battles between hooligans from two local football clubs. A city where Jamaican-inspired sounds were more often embraced than in rest of the country. Firma merges these two worlds for the first time on the album Nielegalne rytmy, pouring their criminal thoughts over dancehall riddims. I chose this album to summarise the image of Polish rap in the 90s and 00s – rap that then drew inspiration from the West but was always painfully Polish. Somewhat flawed, somewhat awkward, always with large doses of melancholy or the spectre of danger lurking behind. Polish rap had a specific atmosphere back then, and this atmosphere had a huge impact on my own creative work.

SHAME is out now via Unsound