Kaliber 44 is one of the biggest Polish

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

groups, formed in 1993 in

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

. The group is dubbed the most influential Polish hip hop band, while their so-called ''hardcore psycho rap'' style is the most prominent. It was formed in the early nineties in Katowice, and its current members are Marcin "AbradAb" Marten and Michał "Eprom" Baj. Over the years, the band was also co-founded by Michał "Joka" Marten, Piotr "Magik" Łuszcz, Sebastian "DJ Feel-X" Filiks, Rafał "Jajonasz" Łukaszczyk and Rafał "Gano" Wywioł. With over half a million albums sold, it is one of the most popular hip-hop bands in the history of the Polish music market. K44 was awarded the Fryderyk for the album 3:44, and was nominated for the award five times.

Origin of the name

As revealed by Abradab in an interview aired on TVP, "the name comes from the time we weren't completely sane and played gangsta". Later on members provided a revised interpretation: first part of the name indicates the

calibre In guns, particularly firearms, but not artillery, where a different definition may apply, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or wher ...

of problems the group sings about. The number ''44'' is a reference to a prophetic poem

Dziady Dziady ( "grandfathers, eldfathers", sometimes translated as Forefathers' Eve) is a term in Slavic folklore for the spirits of the ancestors and a collection of pre-Christian rites, rituals and customs that were dedicated to them. The essence o ...

written by Polish poet

Adam Mickiewicz Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. He also largely influenced Ukra ...

Musical Career

" Księga Tajemnicza. Prolog", released on November 10, 1996, was the first Polish hardcore psychorap album and the second to use the live-scratching technique. During the recording and release of the album, most of the band were underage, which is why their parents had to sign the contract with the label. The album had a wide resonance in Poland, selling hundreds of thousands of copies and winning many nominations for prestigious Polish awards. Two years later, the band's second album "

W 63 minuty dookoła świata W, or w, is the twenty-third letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''double-u'',Pronounced in formal situations ...

" was released. This release was stylistically different from the previous album, which sounded more like jazz-hop. It was also as popular as the previous one. Their next album " 3:44" was released on September 2, 2000. The whole album was based on pure hip-hop, and its sound was compared to hip-hop from America. The album brought the band the biggest awards in their career so far. Their last album was titled " Ułamek tarcia" and was released on March 2, 2016. The release was met with great enthusiasm by the audience, and the band once again rose to the top of the charts.

Piotr Łuszcz

Soon after release of the second album "W 63 minuty dookoła świata" Magik retired from Kaliber 44, and formed new band called " Paktofonika" together with Sebastian "Rahim" Salbert and Wojciech "Fokus" Alszer. On 26 December 2000, at around 6:15, "Magik" committed suicide by jumping out of the window of his apartment situated on the ninth floor of the building, in Katowice. At around 6:45, he was pronounced dead in a local hospital, leaving his wife Justyna, and a 3-year-old son, Filip.

Discography

Studio albums

Demo albums

Singles

*"Magia i miecz" (The Magic and the Sword) (1996) *"Film" (The Trip) (1998) *"Konfrontacje/Rutyny" (Confrontations/Routines) (2000) *"Nieodwracalne Zmiany" (Irreversible Changes) (2016) *"(Why Is It) Fresh" (2016) *"Czarny Śląsk" (Black Silesia) (2023) *"TEN STYL, TEN RAP" (THAT STYLE, THAT RAP) (2024)

References

External links

Kaliber 44
at Culture.pl {{Authority control Polish hip-hop groups Psychedelic rap groups