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Denis Jašarević (born 19 October 1984), known by his stage name Gramatik, is a Slovenian
electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...
producer, originally from
Portorož Portorož (; ) is a Slovenian Adriatic seaside resort and spa settlement located in the Municipality of Piran in southwestern Slovenia. Its modern development began in the late 19th century with the vogue for the first health resorts. In the earl ...
,
Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
. He currently resides in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
.


Early life

Denis Jašarević was born in
Portorož Portorož (; ) is a Slovenian Adriatic seaside resort and spa settlement located in the Municipality of Piran in southwestern Slovenia. Its modern development began in the late 19th century with the vogue for the first health resorts. In the earl ...
,
SR Slovenia The Socialist Republic of Slovenia (, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Slovenija, Социјалистичка Република Словенија), commonly referred to as Socialist Slovenia or simply Slovenia, was one ...
,
SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...
on 19 October 1984. Jašarević’s interest in music began at the age of three, when his mother would catch him listening to American
funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
,
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
,
soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...
and
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
from his older sister’s
cassette tape The Compact Cassette, also commonly called a cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog audio, analog magnetic tape recording format for Sound recording and reproduction, audio recording and playback. Invented by L ...
s. As he got older, he was introduced to hip hop culture and listened to artists such as
DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), known professionally as DJ Premier (also known as Preemo), is an American record producer and DJ. He has been frequently lauded as one of hip hop's greatest producers by publications such as '' ...
, Guru,
RZA Robert Fitzgerald Diggs (born July 5, 1969), better known by his stage name RZA ( ) or the RZA, is an American rapper, record producer, composer, actor, and filmmaker. He is the '' de facto'' leader of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, having pro ...
and
Dr. Dre Andre Romell Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, record executive, and actor. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and co-founder of ...
.


Career

At the age of 13, Jašarević started producing hip-hop music using an early PC. He later began sharing his tracks through the
online music store A digital music store is a business that sells digital audio files of music recordings over the Internet. Customers gain ownership of a license to use the files, in contrast to a music streaming service, where they listen to recordings withou ...
Beatport Beatport is an American electronic music-oriented online music store owned by LiveStyle. The company is based in Denver, Los Angeles, and Berlin. Beatport is oriented primarily towards disk jockey, DJs, selling full songs as well as resources that ...
, which helped him gain a following in the United States and Europe. Beatport is what Jašarević cites as his gateway to emerging as an electronic artist and landing his first US agent, Hunter Williams. After Jašarević signed with his new agency, he moved to
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
and released his debut
studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
''Expedition 44'' in July 2008, as well as his second studio album ''Street Bangerz Vol. 1'' in December 2008. ''SB1'' charted on
Beatport Beatport is an American electronic music-oriented online music store owned by LiveStyle. The company is based in Denver, Los Angeles, and Berlin. Beatport is oriented primarily towards disk jockey, DJs, selling full songs as well as resources that ...
's Top 100 Chill Out chart for six months. In an interview with Britt Chester, Jašarević said, "I didn't even expect the album to sell one track on Beatport, nothing else was sold on beatport except techno and house. When I dropped my album and it started selling, I was really surprised, since I'd never seen a hip-hop album sell on Beatport. So when it sold, I was like 'Wow!' These were hip-hop beats, but it was labeled 'Chill Out' on Beatport. People saw it and thought it was awesome good chill out music, which is fine for me. I didn't expect it at all, and I didn't expect someone to reach out to me as a booking agent." A year after releasing his first album, Jašarević signed to the Pretty Lights Music label as its first new artist, which at the time consisted of only the electronic music producer
Pretty Lights Derek Vincent Smith (born November 25, 1981), known by his stage name Pretty Lights, is an American electronic music producer. Pretty Lights was originally a music project consisting of Smith and Michal Menert, who left after the release of the ...
(Derek Vincent Smith). The label utilizes a fee-free music model, and Jašarević has stated his belief is that it is "morally right for music to be primarily free", and has been vocal about his history with
digital piracy Online piracy or software piracy is the practice of downloading and distributing copyrighted works digitally without permission, such as music, movies or software. History Nathan Fisk traces the origins of modern online piracy back to similar ...
and how it has benefited his career in multiple ways. Jašarević cited his third
extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...
(EP) ''#digitalfreedom'' as having a theme involving "the fight against severe internet censorship bills" such as
ACTA Acta or ACTA may refer to: Institutions * Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, an intellectual property trade agreement * Administrative Council for Terminal Attachments, a standards organization for terminal equipment such as registered jacks * A ...
,
SOPA The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was a proposed United States congressional bill to expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement to combat online copyright infringement and online trafficking in counterfeit goods. Introduced on October 26, 20 ...
and
PIPA The pipa, pípá, or p'i-p'a () is a traditional Chinese musical instrument belonging to the plucked category of instruments. Sometimes called the "Chinese lute", the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets rangi ...
. In 2013, Jašarević announced his departure from the Pretty Lights Music label in order to form his own vanity record label named Lowtemp Recordings. The label's name is an abbreviation of "low temperature", which Jašarević has explained is meant to indicate that music from his label would be "cool", stating, "So from now on, if you think a song of mine is cool, you gotta say that shit's
rom Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * ...
Lowtemp." Lowtemp now consists of artists Exmag (a side project of Gramatik), ILLUMNTR, Gibbz, BRANX, and Russ Liquid. In 2014, Jašarević reissued his first seven albums—including the ''Street Bangerz'' series, renamed as ''SB''—on the Lowtemp label with new or updated artwork. On November 9, 2017, Gramatik launched his own cryptocurrency, GRMTK, and raised the maximum amount of $2.48 million (7500 ETH) in under 24 hours during his GRMTK token sale in Zurich. He was among the first artists to 'tokenize' his intellectual property.


Accolades

*Three "Best Track" awards - Beatport Music Awards (2012) *Nomination for "Best Chill Out Artist" - Beatport Music Awards (2010)


Discography


Studio albums

*''Expedition 44'' (2008) (reissued 2014) *''Street Bangerz Vol. 1'' (2008) (reissued 2014 as ''SB1'') *''Street Bangerz Vol. 2'' (2009) (reissued 2014 as ''SB2'') *''Street Bangerz Vol. 3'' (2010) (reissued 2014 as ''SB3'') *''No Shortcuts'' (2010) (reissued 2014) *''Beatz & Pieces Vol. 1'' (2011) (reissued 2014) *''Street Bangerz Vol. 4'' (2013) (reissued 2014 as ''SB4'') *''The Age of Reason'' (2014) *''Epigram'' (2016) *''Street Bangerz Vol. 5'' (2018) *''Re: Coil Deluxe'' (2020) *Cyberpunk 2020 OST (2020)


Extended plays

*''Dreams About Her'' (2008) (reissued 2014) *''Water 4 The Soul'' (2009) (reissued 2014) *''#digitalfreedom EP'' (2012) (reissued 2015) *''Re:Coil Part I EP'' (2017) *''Water 4 The Soul II'' (2020)


Singles

*"You Don't Understand" (2013) *"Brave Men" (2014) *"Hit That Jive" (2014) *"Native Son" (2016) *"Voyager Twins" (2017) *"Recovery" (2017) *"Puff Your Cares Away" (2019) *"Better Believe It Now" (with
Big Gigantic Big Gigantic are an American instrumental electronic hip hop and jazz musical duo based in Boulder, Colorado. The band has played at a wide range of music festivals, including Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Lollapalooza, Ultra Music ...
)
(2019) *"Requiem for Peace" (with Anomalie featuring
Waka Flocka Flame Juaquin James Malphurs (born May 31, 1986), known professionally as Waka Flocka Flame, is an American rapper. He first became known for his 2009 single "O Let's Do It", which entered the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and led him to ...
and Chrishira Perrier)
(2019) *"Bring it Up" (2022) *"Still doin' it" (2022) *''I'm A Problem (feat. Redman)'' (2025) with Jayceeoh, 1000volts, Redman


Compilations

*''Coffee Shop Selection'' (2015)


References

{{Authority control 1984 births Living people American electronic musicians American hip-hop musicians Slovenian emigrants to the United States Slovenian hip-hop musicians People from the Municipality of Piran