Ryszard "Peja" Andrzejewski (, born 17 September 1976 in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

) is a Polish

rap music Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

ian,

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

and producer. He is best known as the frontman of the Polish rap group Slums Attack. Peja was the recipient of the

Fryderyk The Fryderyk is the annual award in Polish music. Its name refers to the original Polish spelling variant of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin's first name. Its status in the Polish public can be compared to the American Grammy and the UK's BR ...

prize in 2002. In 2001 he played a role in the documentary movie "Blokersi". He has been featured in

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

and

The Source ''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the ma ...

. The Slums Attack group has been resolved in 2016. Peja has collaborated with such artists as

Onyx Onyx primarily refers to the parallel banded variety of chalcedony, a silicate mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands: agate has curved bands and onyx has parallel bands. The ...

, Jeru the Damaja,

Masta Ace Duval Clear (born December 4, 1966), known better by his stage name Masta Ace, is an American rapper and record producer from New York City. He appeared on the classic 1988 Juice Crew posse cut " The Symphony". He is noted for his distinct voice ...

, AZ, Ice-T and

Sweet Noise Sweet Noise is a Polish alternative metal band. The group was formed in 1990 in Swarzędz. They have released eight CDs (included two international versions) and appeared three times at the Przystanek Woodstock festival with the special show in ...

Personal life

Ryszard Waldemar Andrzejewski was born on 17 September 1976 in the Jeżyce district of Poznań. He was raised in a

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

family, his mother died when he was 12 years old. As described by Peja on the track "Doskonały Przykład", his father, Waldemar, was a life-long

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

and violent abuser who invited other degenerates to party in their home, and Peja's early life was marked by violence, as well as interventions by the police and social care. His father died in 1996 of a tumour. Inspired by the

1988 Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

, Ryszard took up

judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo") ...

training and trained as part of the Olimpia Poznań club in the years 1988–1995. Ryszard became a Polish Youth Judo Champion two times, in 1991 and 1992. In 2005, he received a silver badge from the

Polish Judo Association Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

for his contribution to the sport in the country. He is an ardent supporter of

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation' ...

since he was 15 years old, and was active in the hooligan scene in the 90s.

Discography

Studio albums

Music videos

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peja 1976 births Gangsta rappers Living people Musicians from Poznań Polish rappers