Filip Tadeusz Szcześniak (born July 29, 1990), better known by the
stage name
A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...
Taco Hemingway (earlier FV), is an
Egyptian-born
Polish
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 ...
rapper
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 ...
,
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 musician.
He began recording in 2011, at which time he released - under the pseudonym Foodvillain - an English-language mixtape entitled ''Who Killed JFK.'' A year later, he adopted the pseudonym Taco Hemingway, under which he released the English-language EP ''Young Hems''. In 2014, he released a second EP, this time recorded in Polish, titled
T''rójkąt warszawski''. The album brought the musician publicity, thanks to which he joined the label
Asfalt Records
Asfalt Records is a Polish independent record label specialized in hip-hop music. It was founded in 1998 by Marcin "Tytus" Grabski. In July 1998, Asfalt Records signed a three-year distribution deal with Sony Music Entertainment Poland. The first ...
, under which he released a re-release of ''
Trójkąt warszawski'' and a new EP entitled ''Umowa o dzieło''.
These, as well as subsequent albums released on the label, made the rapper famous, and he quickly became one of the most popular musicians in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...
.
He has sold over 400,000 albums in Poland, making him one of the best-selling rappers in Poland. Almost every rapper's album can be downloaded for free from his website. The most successful was the joint album with
Quebonafide
Kuba Grabowski (born 7 July 1991 in Ciechanów), better known by his stage names Quebonafide and Jakub Grabowski, is a Polish rapper, singer and songwriter. Member of the duos Yochimu and Taconafide. Founder of the record label QueQuality. Wit ...
, titled ''Soma 0.5 mg,'' which was sold in over 150 thousand copies. Also successful were the albums ''Szprycer'', ''Marmur'' and ''
Pocztówka z WWA, lato '19''. For the sale of albums he repeatedly received the certificate of platinum, gold and diamond records. He created hits such as "6 zer", "Następna stacja", "Deszcz na betonie", "Polskie Tango", "Tamagotchi" or "Nostalgia", which all went trending on YouTube with millions of views shortly after release.
He has been nominated for the
Fryderyk Awards thirteen times between 2016 and 2020, including four times as a winner in the hip-hop Album of the Year category (for the albums ''Umowa o dzieło'', ''Szprycer'', ''Soma 0,5 mg'', ''
Pocztówka z WWA''), including being the only artist to win the award three times in a row and being the only rapper nominated and awarded in the Song of the Year category. He was also nominated for the
MTV Europe Music Awards
The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an a ...
in the Best Polish Artist category and
Empik
Empik (stylised as empi̓k) is a Polish commercial chain selling books, international press and media products (including film, music, and software). The chain also owns a photo company, Empik Foto, as well as a foreign language school, Empik Sch ...
's Bestsellers in the Polish Music, Hip-Hop Music and Streaming categories. However, the musician does not pay much attention to the awards, and he did not collect any of them.
He was ranked 10th on the list of Most Influential Poles 2019 by ''
Wprost
''Wprost'' (, meaning "Directly") is a Polish-language weekly news magazine published in Poznań, Poland. ''. He is the first Polish artist whose songs have been played over a billion times on the streaming platform
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
. Despite his immense popularity, the rapper does not spend much time in the media, rarely giving interviews and not appearing in advertisements.
Early life
Filip Szcześniak was born in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo met ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...
, in 1990. At the age of 2, he moved with his parents from
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...
to
Guangzhou, China
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Ko ...
. Initially, he attended an English preschool before transferring to a Chinese preschool, where he experienced communication problems due to differences in culture and language. Upon finishing preschool, Szcześniak and his family moved to
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...
in 1996, where he experienced little to no difficulties in school while simultaneously developing his bilingualism from his early years. In an interview with ''Metro Warszawa'', Szcześniak stated that he spoke English with his mother and sister and that he spoke in Polish with his father.
He listened to various rap artists with his father, developing his passion for the rap genre.
His parents divorced in 2004.
Szcześniak completed his studies at Prywatne Gimnazjum nr 1 and Copernicus Bilingual High School in Warsaw, where he met his future producer, Maciej Ruszecki. He is also a graduate of cultural studies at the University of Warsaw. In 2012, he began studying for a master's degree in anthropology in
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = � ...
.
Career
2011–2016: ''Young Hems'', ''Trójkąt warszawski'' and ''Umowa o dzieło''

While studying in London, he wrote lyrics for his mixtape entitled ''Who Killed JFK''. He began posting his first songs on th
fvkilledjfkchannel on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...
, using the alias Foodvillain at the time. The rapper unsuccessfully tried to pursue music making as well. He rapped in English on illegally downloaded
MF DOOM
Daniel Dumile ( ; July 13, 1971October 31, 2020), best known by his stage name MF Doom or simply Doom (both stylized in all caps), was a British-American rapper and record producer. Noted for his intricate wordplay, signature metal mask, and ...
beats in his friend's basement. In his lyrics he referred to the work of rappers such as
Childish Gambino
Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American entertainer, writer, director, and producer. After working in Derrick Comedy while studying at New York University, Glov ...
or
Jay-Z. The project itself did not meet with much publicity. On December 26, 2013, he released his English-language EP titled ''Young Hems'' via
Bandcamp
Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...
. The artist adopted the pseudonym Taco Hemingway, which was taken from the football game
FIFA, in which he played under such a pseudonym.
The material was recorded in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
in the basement of his mother's house at the time. The album again did not receive much publicity.
The rapper was initially employed in the advertising industry, but abandoned it in favor of becoming an English translator, and in the meantime he was writing his second EP. On December 19, 2014, his second re-released EP, titled ''
Trójkąt warszawski'', was released. The album was made available as a free digital stream on his
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...
channel and as a free download on the rapper's official website. A day after the premiere of the album, the artist played his first concert in Cafe Kulturalna in
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...
.
Radio premiere of tracks from Trójkąt warszawski took place in December on Saturday programme ''Tony z betonu'' in radio Trójka, for which the artist also gave an interview.
In January he published on his channel the track "''Tunarzywo''" which was recorded in 2013. On 27 March 2015 he played a concert at Klubokawiarnia Chłodna 25, which was the "official" premiere of the album. In April 2015 he gave an interview for the Polish Radio Koszalin in the program Rapnejszyn. The same year he was scheduled to perform in the promotional action of the PopKiller portal entitled "''Young Wolves 2015''", however he declined due to lack of time. On June 6, 2015, there was a digital premiere of the first single titled "''6 zeros''" along with a music video, directed by Łukasz Partyka and Jonasz Tołopiła. The single proved to be the rapper's first major commercial success and key to his popularity in Poland. On June 27, 2015, the musician's third EP, titled ''Umowa o dzieło'', was released. The material was made available free of charge in digital forms: on the YouTube channel and via the rapper's official website.
At first Taco sent his records to
Prosto and Alkopoligamia, but due to lack of response he sent them to Marcin "Tytus" Grabski - owner of
Asfalt Records
Asfalt Records is a Polish independent record label specialized in hip-hop music. It was founded in 1998 by Marcin "Tytus" Grabski. In July 1998, Asfalt Records signed a three-year distribution deal with Sony Music Entertainment Poland. The first ...
. There the recordings met with the publisher's interest which eventually resulted in signing a publishing contract.
On 19 August 2015, reissues of the albums ''Trójkąt warszawski'' and ''Umowa o dzieło'' went on sale, which gained huge publicity, reaching respectively the 3rd and 2nd place of the Polish charts -
OLiS
OLiS (Oficjalna Lista Sprzedaży; en, Official Sales Chart) is the official chart of the highest selling music albums in Poland. The chart exists since 23 October 2000 and is provided by ZPAV.
This is a chart of best selling music albums in the ...
, both selling more than 10 thousand copies on the day of their release. The albums were excellently received by listeners and earned the same positive reviews from critics. The album ''Umowa o dzieło'' achieved gold album status by 2017. In turn, the song "''Następna stacja''", coming from the album ''Umowa o dzieło'', reached the 1st place of the Polish Radio's
Lista Przebojów Programu Trzeciego
Lista Przebojów Programu Trzeciego (''the Radio Three Chart'', LP3) is the oldest and the longest-running music chart in Poland. Aired by Polskie Radio Program III, a division of the Polskie Radio public broadcaster, the list has been broadca ...
list and stayed there for several weeks. That same year he went on his first concert tour of Poland, called the Następna Stacja Tour. In the same year, he performed for the first time at
Open'er Festival, on a side stage. In 2016, he became the winner of the most important Polish music award, 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 ...
, for the album ''Umowa o dzieło'' in the category Album of the Year Hip-Hop. On July 5, 2016, he released the single "''Deszcz na betonie''", which announced the album ''Marmur''. The single proved to be a hit on many radio stations, achieving chart success, including reaching #1 on UWM FM radio and RDC radio. It also hit the charts of Polish Radio III, Radio Poznań and Radio Szczecin.
2016–2018: ''Wosk'', ''Marmur'' and ''Szprycer''
In February 2016, he started writing lyrics for his first studio album. In 2016, the rapper's fourth mini-album titled ''Wosk'' was released unannounced for free download on the rapper's website. The album was well received by music critics; however, reviewers pointed out that the lyrics were less brilliant than before and that the rapper could be boring sometimes. The song "''Wiatr''", became the biggest hit of the album, reaching almost 10 million views on YouTube.

On 2 November, he released his first studio album, entitled ''Marmur'', which went on sale on 2 December along with the rapper's previous album, ''Wosk''. The albums debuted at number 3 and number 14 on the Polish music charts,
OLiS
OLiS (Oficjalna Lista Sprzedaży; en, Official Sales Chart) is the official chart of the highest selling music albums in Poland. The chart exists since 23 October 2000 and is provided by ZPAV.
This is a chart of best selling music albums in the ...
, respectively. The albums received positive, although slightly weaker than the previous albums, reviews from critics. By February 2017, more than 15,000 copies of the album ''Marmur'' had been sold, which achieved gold album status. A song from that album, titled "''Święcące prostokąty''" reached number 23 on the Polish Radio's Polish Radio's
Lista Przebojów Programu Trzeciego
Lista Przebojów Programu Trzeciego (''the Radio Three Chart'', LP3) is the oldest and the longest-running music chart in Poland. Aired by Polskie Radio Program III, a division of the Polskie Radio public broadcaster, the list has been broadca ...
list. That same year, the rapper went on his second concert tour, Marmur Tour. Rapper
Sokół
Sokół (, English: Falcon), or in full the Polskie Towarzystwo Gimnastyczne "Sokół" ( en, "Falcon" Polish Gymnastic Society), is the Polish offshoot of the Czech Sokol movement, and the oldest youth movement organization of Poland. Created in ...
in an interview with
Gazeta.pl praised Taco Hemingway, stating that he appreciates his work. In 2017, he was once again nominated for the
Fryderyk Award
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 ...
for his album ''Marmur'', in the Hip-Hop Album of the Year category, but lost to the album ''Życie po śmierci'' by rapper
O.S.T.R. In 2017, the rapper performed at the
Open'er Festival for the second time, this time on the main stage, where on the last song "''Następna stacja''", due to the producer's equipment being flooded by rain, the artist had to finish the song
a cappella.
In July 2017, he announced a new EP. On July 30, 2017, he released a single titled "''Nostalgia''" along with a music video. The same day the full minialbum titled ''Szprycer'' was released digitally. The physical version was released on August 25. The album debuted at number 1 on the Polish charts -
OLiS
OLiS (Oficjalna Lista Sprzedaży; en, Official Sales Chart) is the official chart of the highest selling music albums in Poland. The chart exists since 23 October 2000 and is provided by ZPAV.
This is a chart of best selling music albums in the ...
. The rapper changed his style on the album, which made it poorly received by the community and critics. With the song "''Nostalgia''", the rapper once again hit the radio charts. The album, like any previous one, was made available for free download on the rapper's website. After the release of the album, the rapper embarked on his 2017 Tour, during which he played concerts in 13 cities selling a total of over 23,000 tickets. The tour culminated with a performance in Warsaw's Torwar, where the rapper filled the entire hall with more than 6 thousand people. In the same period, he also recorded a song with Otsochodzi titled "''Nowy Kolor''" along with a music video. The song became a hit, the video within a few months of its release was watched by over 25 million people on YouTube. The song also became the 2017 single of the year according to sites like Glamrap, Newonce, and
Interia
Interia, formerly Interia.pl, is a large Polish web portal created in 2000 in Kraków, Poland. It offers, among others: new email accounts, free web hosting, and domain name registration. The list of its 130 services includes the national and int ...
. The song also reached #4 on the Radio Poznań charts. Finally, it was nominated for the
2019 Fryderyki Award in the category of Hit of the Year and covered with diamond album status. In October, the rapper released a limited number of T-shirts, sweatshirts and caps modeled after the themes of his albums. On March 6, 2018, ''Szprycer'' album was nominated for the
Fryderyk Award
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 ...
in the hip-hop Album of the Year category and won the poll. The rapper once again did not attend the awards gala. Also by March 2018, the album had sold over 30,000 copies, earning platinum status.
2018–2019: Taconafide, ''Café Belga'' and ''Flagey''

In March 2018, he announced that he would record a joint album with
Quebonafide
Kuba Grabowski (born 7 July 1991 in Ciechanów), better known by his stage names Quebonafide and Jakub Grabowski, is a Polish rapper, singer and songwriter. Member of the duos Yochimu and Taconafide. Founder of the record label QueQuality. Wit ...
. On March 16, 2018, Taconafide released the duo's first single titled "''Art-B"'' on the QueQuality label's channel. Along with the release, the album's preorder was launched. The rappers announced a joint nationwide tour to promote the album titled Ekodiesel Tour.
In two weeks, the artists sold out the tickets for the concert in Torwar and quickly sold out the rest of the concerts in major halls in Poland. It is the biggest commercial success concerning concerts in the history of Polish rap.
On March 22, 2018, they released their second single titled "''Tamagotchi''" along with a music video. The song proved to be a great commercial success reaching the 22nd place of the best-selling singles list in Poland - AirPlay. The song broke
Ed Sheeran
Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...
's record for the most listened to single on
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
in Poland. The song itself held the #1 spot for a week on the
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...
timecard reaching over 10 million views in ten days, eventually reaching over 90 million views. The song also turned out to be a huge radio hit, reaching the top of the charts in many radio stations, including
Radio Eska, Radio Szczecin,
Radio Trójka and
RMF FM
RMF FM (abriviation to ''Radio Muzyka Fakty FM'', translation: ''Radio Music Facts FM''; previously: ''Radio Małopolska Fun FM''; translation: ''Radio Lesser Poland Fun FM'') is the first commercial radio station in Poland, currently broadcas ...
. A day later, on March 23, producer Supremé on his
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
announced a track titled "''Girø''", which will appear on the album. On March 27, limited edition extras and puzzling graphics announcing guest appearances on the album were revealed. On April 1, 2018, Taconafide's Instagram account revealed the entire tracklist of the album, titled ''Soma 0.5 mg'', as well as bonus material called ''0.25 mg''.
The producers and guests on the bonus CD were also revealed, which turned out to be: Bedoes, Kękę, Paluch, Kaz Bałagane,
Dawid Podsiadło and Białas.
The single "''Tamagotchi"'' also set a record on Spotify as the most listened to song in a week, reaching 1,797,617 listens (previously the record belonged to Ed Sheeran with 767,383 plays). On April 4, 2018, another single titled "''Metallica 808''" was released on Taco's channel. On April 9, 2018, a fourth single titled "''Kryptowaluty'' premiered on the QueQuality label channel. April 13, 2018 saw the premiere of the entire ''Soma 0.5 mg'' album, which was released in its entirety on Taco and QueQuality's YouTube channels and streaming services. A few days after the premiere, additional material added to the album was also made available on streaming services. The entire album hit the first Top 15 on Spotify. The album received mixed reviews from critics, with most accusing the project of being geared towards commercial success. The album debuted at number 1 on the Polish charts -
OLiS
OLiS (Oficjalna Lista Sprzedaży; en, Official Sales Chart) is the official chart of the highest selling music albums in Poland. The chart exists since 23 October 2000 and is provided by ZPAV.
This is a chart of best selling music albums in the ...
, selling over 30 thousand copies, thus gaining the status of a platinum album.
The album was also the best-selling album in Poland in April and May in 2018. On July 4, 2018, the album was awarded double platinum status for selling 60,000 copies. The album was also the best-selling album of the first half of the year in Poland. On July 6, the rapper made his third appearance at the
Open'er Festival in
Gdynia
Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in th ...
this time with rapper Quebonafide as Taconafide. The musicians had previously announced that it would be their last concert as a duo. According to media reports, the rappers gathered an audience of a few dozen thousand people, comparable to that of the biggest stars of the evening,
Gorillaz
Gorillaz are an English virtual band formed in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: 2-D (character), 2-D (Singing, vocals, Musical keyboard, keyboards), Murd ...
, and at the same time the biggest among Polish performers in Open'er history.
In a zine added to the pre-order, the rapper announced that he will release two more solo projects this year. As of mid-2018, the rapper has partially moved back to
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
to his girlfriend. The first, his second studio album titled ''Café Belga'', was released unannounced on July 13, 2018.
The second is an EP added to the album, titled ''Flagey''.
The musician once again debuted with the album on the 1st place of the Polish charts -
OLiS
OLiS (Oficjalna Lista Sprzedaży; en, Official Sales Chart) is the official chart of the highest selling music albums in Poland. The chart exists since 23 October 2000 and is provided by ZPAV.
This is a chart of best selling music albums in the ...
. The album received the status of a gold record two weeks after its premiere. The album received varied reviews, mostly positive, critics praised that the album is better in comparison to the artist's previous works, that is, ''Szprycer'' and ''Soma 0.5 mg''. Coming from the album ''Café Belga'', the song "''Fiji''" hit the radio charts of
RMF Maxxx and
Eska and reached the 26th place of the best-selling singles list in Poland - AirPlay. At the end of 2018, the rapper embarked on his next tour entitled Cafe Belga Tour visiting the biggest cities in Poland. Along with the tour, he launched a limited edition clothing collection available on his store page, label
Asfalt Records
Asfalt Records is a Polish independent record label specialized in hip-hop music. It was founded in 1998 by Marcin "Tytus" Grabski. In July 1998, Asfalt Records signed a three-year distribution deal with Sony Music Entertainment Poland. The first ...
. In October 2018, the rapper was nominated for the
MTV Europe Music Awards
The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an a ...
in the Best Polish Performer category as Taconafide. Also in October of the same year, the album ''Soma 0.5 mg'' sold over 90,000 copies earning triple platinum status.
Also, the album ''Café Belga'' by the end of October had distributed more than 30 thousand copies thus earning platinum status. According to the media, by the end of 2018, the album ''Soma 0.5 mg'' had sold about 100,000 copies of records and in 2019, it was awarded diamond status for selling more than 150,000 copies. In 2019, the rapper received as many as seven nominations for the
Fryderyk Awards, including the album ''Soma 0.5 mg'', which won in the hip-hop album of the year category.
2019–2020: ''Pocztówka z WWA, lato '19, Jarmark'' and ''Europa''

Although in the song "''Café Belga''" he announced a possible break from music in 2019, on February 7, a photo was released online in which the rapper could be seen during a recording session in the studio. On February 9, 2019, a snippet of the musician's new song leaked onto the internet, which the label
Asfalt Records
Asfalt Records is a Polish independent record label specialized in hip-hop music. It was founded in 1998 by Marcin "Tytus" Grabski. In July 1998, Asfalt Records signed a three-year distribution deal with Sony Music Entertainment Poland. The first ...
tried unsuccessfully to remove. On February 12 of the same year, he appeared as a guest on Bedoes' single "''Chłopaki nie płaczą''", and the daily Newonce included his verse in the ranking of "5 songs that pushed the boundaries of what is allowed and what is not in Polish rap". In April of the same year, on the
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
profile of the recording studio in which the rapper works, a post appeared that confirmed the formation of a new album. In May 2019, the artist together with
Dawid Podsiadło announced a concert at the
National Stadium in Warsaw. Taco also added that this is his only concert this year. The event gained a lot of publicity and already in almost 3 hours the artists sold out all the tickets, that is 73 thousand seats filling the whole stadium. Thus, the musicians beat the Polish record and sold more tickets than
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instru ...
or
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey (manager), Phil H ...
.
On July 16, 2019, the rapper announced the release of his new album titled ''
Pocztówka z WWA, lato '19'' on August 9 and pre-orders for the album have begun.
The musician wrote on Instagram that despite the announced hiatus, he couldn't help himself and will release the new album in the summer, as he does every year.
For the first time on the album, the rapper invited guests, other musicians such as
Pezet,
Dawid Podsiadło, schafter, Kizo, Ras and Rosalie appeared.
On July 23, 2019, around 10 p.m., the album was unexpectedly released electronically on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...
and streaming services such as
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
among others, as always the rapper made the entire album available for free MP3 download on his website.
The rapper debuted at number one on the Polish sales list -
OLiS
OLiS (Oficjalna Lista Sprzedaży; en, Official Sales Chart) is the official chart of the highest selling music albums in Poland. The chart exists since 23 October 2000 and is provided by ZPAV.
This is a chart of best selling music albums in the ...
for the fourth time in a row and held the top spot for three weeks. The album sold 15,000 copies in pre-sales and was certified gold by
ZPAV
The Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry ( pl, Związek Producentów Audio-Video, ZPAV) is the trade organization that represents the interests of the music industry in Poland, and the Polish chapter of the International Federation of the ...
on 21 August 2019. The album received generally good reviews from critics. Songs from the album titled "''W piątki leżę w wannie''" and "''Sanatorium''" hit the charts in Polish radio stations. On August 15, the artist made a guest appearance in Kizo's single "''Niebieski Bentley''". The rapper also made a guest appearance on Pezet's album, ''Muzyka Współczesna'' in the song "''2K30''". On October 30, 2019, the album achieved platinum status for selling over 30,000 copies. In October, the rapper appeared on the 10th place of Most Influential Poles 2019 according to the
Wprost
''Wprost'' (, meaning "Directly") is a Polish-language weekly news magazine published in Poznań, Poland. . On November 6, 2019, the artist made a guest appearance on schafter's single titled "''Bigos''" for which a music video was also released. The song reached number 1 in the timecard on YouTube and Spotify platforms. Also in November, he appeared as a guest star in two songs on Bedoes' album, entitled "''Opowieści z doliny smoków''".
At the beginning of 2020, he embarked on his sixth tour entitled Pocztówka z Polski Tour. Due to the
COVID-19 outbreak
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
, the tour was postponed to a later date. The album ''
Pocztówka z WWA'' received nominations for many awards including the
2020 Fryderyk Awards and
Empik Bestsellers 2019 and was the tenth highest selling album in Poland. During the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
, he took part in the #hot16challenge campaign to promote fundraising for medical personnel. He himself donated PLN 100,000 to the cause. In his stanza, he announced that he might be releasing a few albums in July. On June 25, 2020, a photo of the rapper from the studio Nagrywarka surfaced, announcing that a new album was in the making. On July 3, he made a guest appearance in
Artur Rojek
Artur Marcin Rojek (born May 6, 1972) is the former guitarist and lead singer of the Polish alternative rock group Myslovitz.'' Gazeta Wyborcza'', "Jak Artur Rojek redagował ?Gazetę?", 2006-06-29,/ref> He and the lead guitarist Wojciech Pow ...
's single "''A miało być jak we śnie"'', to which a video was made. In July 2020, the rapper together with the group PRO8L3M founded a music publishing company called 2020. On 10 July 2020, the day before the election silence, a single entitled "''Polskie Tango''" was released, which depicts the Polish mentality, expresses concern about the state of the country and refers to the political situation in Poland, criticizing it. The single is a preview of the album titled ''
Jarmark
''Jarmark'' is the fifth studio album by Polish rapper Taco Hemingway. It was released on August 28, 2020, by Taco Corp and 2020. The recordings were made available on the rapper's website and on YouTube. The material, recorded by 2020, was prod ...
'', announced for summer 2020. The single broke the daily playback record in Poland on Spotify, which previously also belonged to his song "''W piątki leżę wannie''", gaining over 560 thousand plays. On YouTube, he garnered over 2.5 million views in 24 hours of publication also breaking the record. On July 28, the rapper announced via Instagram that the release of the albums has been postponed from July to late August/early September.
On July 29, 2020, the single "''Michael Essien Birthday Party''" came out on the rapper's birthday, announcing a new album titled ''
Europa'', which along with ''
Jarmark
''Jarmark'' is the fifth studio album by Polish rapper Taco Hemingway. It was released on August 28, 2020, by Taco Corp and 2020. The recordings were made available on the rapper's website and on YouTube. The material, recorded by 2020, was prod ...
'' will come out on September 4, 2020. Pre-orders for the albums also started on the same day.
On August 28, 2020, the rapper again unexpectedly released the album titled ''Jarmark'', making it available on streaming services and for free download on his website. On September 4, 2020, the album ''
Europa'' went on sale in a physical version, along with the album ''
Jarmark
''Jarmark'' is the fifth studio album by Polish rapper Taco Hemingway. It was released on August 28, 2020, by Taco Corp and 2020. The recordings were made available on the rapper's website and on YouTube. The material, recorded by 2020, was prod ...
'', in stores nationwide and was made available on streaming services and for free download on his website. The artist debuted at number one on the OLiS chart for the fifth consecutive year with the album ''Jarmark'', with the album ''Europa'' coming in second. Together with the albums, there were as many as seven albums of the artist on the list, which made the rapper equal to
Czesław Niemen
Czesław Niemen (; February 16, 1939 – January 17, 2004), born Czesław Juliusz Wydrzycki, and often credited as just Niemen, was one of the most important and original Polish singer-songwriters and rock balladeers of the 20th century, singing ...
's record for the number of albums in one OLiS listing. The albums gained gold status on 24 September 2020. The album received mixed reviews, critics accused the rapper that from the heavy topics he touched upon on the album ''
Jarmark
''Jarmark'' is the fifth studio album by Polish rapper Taco Hemingway. It was released on August 28, 2020, by Taco Corp and 2020. The recordings were made available on the rapper's website and on YouTube. The material, recorded by 2020, was prod ...
'', such as national politics or the
Church in Poland, the artist too often throws truisms and banalities, having nothing interesting to say. In turn, some critics praised the rapper for finally having someone from the popular music world trying to address such topics and teach the youth. The album ''
Europa'' received average reviews, critics claimed that the album is uneven, sometimes interesting, and then it becomes shallow in places. In the same year, he received two nominations to the
Fryderyk Awards 2021, for the album ''Jarmark'' in the category Album of the Year hip-hop and for "''Polskie Tango"'' in the category Song of The Year. In 2020, he gave an interview with PRO8L3M for the website ''Newonce'', where he stated that he now wants to mainly focus on publishing and helping new young artists in his new label.
Personal life
He is in a relationship with Iga Lis, daughter of Polish journalist
Tomasz Lis
Tomasz Rafał Lis (born 6 March 1966 in Zielona Góra) is a Polish journalist and former TV anchor of “ TVN Fakty” ("TVN Facts") and “Wydarzenia” ("Events").
Life and career
Lis was born on 6 March 1966 in Zielona Góra to parents Stef ...
. In a 2016 interview for Sport.pl he admitted that he is a fan of the football team
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...
. He identifies as an
atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
.
Discography
Studio albums
Extended plays
Singles
Other charted songs
Guest appearances
Tours
* Następna stacja Tour (2015)
* Marmur Tour (2016)
* 2017 Tour (2017)
* Ekodiesel Tour
(as Taconafide) (2018)
* Café Belga Tour (2018)
* Pocztówka z Polski Tour (2020)
*
2020/2021/2022 Tour
(2022)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hemingway, Taco
1990 births
Living people
Rappers from Warsaw
21st-century rappers
People from Cairo
Polish expatriates in Egypt
Polish expatriates in China
University of Warsaw alumni