Born in 1987 in Żywiec, Monika Brodka started out as a typical ‘Idol’ winner from the Polish TV competition, releasing her first record Album just after her win. Her style has matured over the years, with braver beats woven between folk-and-rock-inspired vocals. Her second album went gold, while her third album Granda scored her eight nominations – and three wins – at the 2011 Fryderyk Awards, Poland’s answer to the Grammys. In 2012, Brodka was nominated for an MTV European Music Award. Her fashion sense too has made her a style icon, featured in many major magazines. Brodka proves the power of indie pop, with its multi-hued texture of electronica, witty lyrics, poppy vocals and folk flavour.
Whilst her debut, Album, was speckled throughout with covers drawn from the U.S. pop and R&B charts through the years, her later songs matured into independent compositions written especially for or by Brodka herself. Her initial style had a hybrid, manufactured aura, with collaborations with Polish rappers resulting in a confusing mix of sweet and sordid. Lacking a solid ‘character’, Album didn’t do especially well.Next came Moje Piosenki / My Songs, with a more independent bend, but still tailored for radio spins, playing upon European pop trends of short, gentle, joyous songs. Four years later, she came out with Granda, an album that sent the Polish music industry reeling, with its new sound that strayed from the previous canned pop variety. In an interview with Sebastian Rerak, she said she spent a great deal of time preparing to make the record and looking for the right collaborations, as she was determined to create exactly this sort of album. The album features collaborations with Radek Łukasiewicz from the indie band Pustki and Budyń from Pogodno, musicians who were largely responsible for the progress of alternative music in Poland at the start of the 2000s.
