MB: But isn’t it a paradox that street style went against the mainstream; it fought and looked down on it?
KN: That’s how it was, but other artists are also going through a rebellion against the system. Take a look at punk or even rock & roll. Of course it’s also risky that things come easier to young artists than it did for us, it can spoil them. But hip-hop has started to count and I’m happy about that.
MB: You recently played in a historical film, and there’s a similar trend of looking to history in current rap. Rap singles about the Warsaw Uprising or the cursed soldiers are trendy. You recorded a similar song ‘Znak Czasów (Sign of the Times) on the album ‘Krew za Krew’ (Blood for Blood). How do you rate this patriotic movement in hip-hop?
KN: It’s positive, but it should be done well. The topic is important, paying homage, but on a musical level it has to be worthy of the subject matter, you have to really try.
MB: What’s Saful’s story? How did you begin your journey with hip-hop?
KN: I wrote my first lyrics in sixth grade. If I still had the original piece of paper, I would frame it (laugh). But more seriously, my adventure with rap began when I met the rapper Młody Biały from the Incydent collective, who gave me the bug. I also met the guys from WŚP and another big inspiration was the ZIP Skład and their album Chleb Powszedni (Daily Bread). At that time Molesta Ewenement was getting started, earlier it was Liroy’s Alboom, or Nagły Atak Spawacza with Peja (who Liroy dissed), WYP3, and limited amounts of cassettes – I began like many other rappers. Then Dixon37 formed, a collective not just of rappers but friends as well, similar to Molesta. We recorded tracks for each other and our friends. Then came the first album. That’s how it started.
MB: Is it easier for a rapper to be an actor?
KN: You record music videos, you’re familiar with the camera, but at the end of the day it’s completely different.
Kamil Nożyński, ‘Saful’ – actor and rapper, part of Dixon 37, recorded three albums: Lot Na Całe Życie (Flying Your Whole Life, 2008), Oznz (2013), KZK (2016), which all reached gold certification. Currently working on his solo rap career. He also played the lead in the Krzysztof Skonieczny-directed HBO production Blinded by the Lights, considered by international media to be the best non-English language production of 2018.
Interviewed by Michał Bruszewski, June 2019, translated by Alicja Zapalska, March 2020.