Marika (singer)

Marika
Background information
Birth name Marta Kosakowska
Also known as Marika, Lady Marika
Born 14 December 1980
Łomża, Poland
Genres Reggae, dancehall, soul, funk
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter, radio DJ
Years active 2002–present
Labels Karrot Kommando, EMI Music Poland
Associated acts Bass Medium Trinity, Breakbeat Propaganda, Spokoarmia
Website marika.art.pl
2009 in Opole

Marika (born as Marta Kosakowska on 14 December 1980 in Łomża) is a Polish vocalist, songwriter, radio DJ. Her style is a mixture of reggae, dancehall, funk and soul music. Hailed the First Lady of Polish dancehall, she is best known for energetic shows, strong voice and conscious lyrics.[1][2] She is a member of Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry (Związek Producentów Audio Video, ZPAV).

Marika has played hundreds of shows in clubs throughout the country and abroad (USA, Canada, France, UK, Ireland, Germany, and China). She supported artists such as Sean Paul, Missy Elliott, Macy Gray, Gentleman, Nas, Damian Marley, Julian Marley and Inner Circle.[2]

As of 2013, Marika is the host of The Voice of Poland on TVP 2 channel.[3]

History

Bass Medium Trinity (2002-2006)

Marika started her career in 2002 as the vocalist of the Bass Medium Trinity sound system. The group released an album Mówisz i masz (You say, and you have) in 2004, which was very well-received and became a pioneering and historical album in Poland,[2] as the first Polish-language album on original Jamaican riddims.[4]

In 2005, she was performing as a soloist in a theatre project "12 ławek" in Music Theatre in Gdynia, and supported Macy Gray during her concert in Congress Hall in Warsaw.[5] The same year, the second Bass Medium Trinity album was released, Pociąg z Babilonu (Train from Babylon).

The next year, Marika participated in a Polish/German music project Polski ogień, for which she recorded two songs: "Siła ognia" (on "Doctor's Darling" riddim) and "What's Ya Flava" (on "Curefix" riddim).[6] She also performed at the 2006 TOPtrendy festival in Sopot, which was broadcast on Polsat TV channel.

Plenty and radio shows (2007-2009)

In 2007, Marika signed with Karrot Kommando label and released a song titled "Moje serce". On 22 August 2008, she released her debut solo album, titled Plenty, through Pomaton EMI. In October 2008, she started her own radio show called Nie tylko reggae (Not Only Reggae) on Polskie Radio Euro.

In 2009, Plenty was nominated for the Polish music award Fryderyk in the Hip-Hop/R&B Album of the Year category, and Marika received a nomination in the New Face of Fonography category. An album titled So Remixed, which featured remixes of the songs from Plenty, was released in the Summer of 2009. In September 2009, Marika started another radio show, Towary kolonialne (Colonial Goods), on Roxy FM.

Put Your Shoes On / Off (2010)

On 8 June 2010 Marika released her second studio album titled Put Your Shoes On / Off. It consisted of two CDs: one with new material and another one with remixes. The album was promoted by songs "Uplifter" and "Nieważne ile". It was nominated for the Fryderyk award in the Album of the Year - Hip-Hop/R&B category.

On 4 July 2010 she supported Nas and Damian Marley on the World Stage at Open'er Festival in Gdynia.

Discography

Studio albums

Year Album details Peak chart positions
POL
2008 Plenty 19[7]
2010 Put Your Shoes On / Off
  • Released: 8 June 2010
  • Label: EMI Music Poland
 18[8]
2012 Momenty (with Spokoarmia)
  • Released: 20 October 2012
  • Label: Karrot Kommando
50[9]
2013 ChilliZET Live Sessions
  • Released: 13 May 2013
  • Label: Karrot Kommando
41[10]

Singles

Year Song Peak chart positions
LP3
[11]
2007 "Moje serce"[12] —
2008 "Masz to" —
2010 "Uplifter"[13] 44
2011 "Nieważne ile"[14] —
"—" denotes a release that did not chart.

Awards and nominations

Fryderyk

Year Recipient Award Result
2009 Marika New Face of Fonography style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Nominated[15]
Plenty Album of the Year - Hip-Hop/R&B style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Nominated[15]
2011 Put Your Shoes On / Off Album of the Year - Hip-Hop/R&B style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Nominated[16]

Superjedynki

Year Recipient Award Result
2010 Marika Female vocalist style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Nominated[17]
Put Your Shoes On/Off Pop album style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Nominated[17]

References

  1. ↑ "Marika - Polish first lady of Dancehall and Reggae music". dancehallreggaeworld.com. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Reggae Rajahs with Marika, Dancehall Masak-Raf, Junior Stress & Ras Tooh". thewildcity.com. 2013-06-08. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
  3. ↑ "Znamy prowadzących "The Voice of Poland. Najlepszy głos"" (in Polish). Wirtualna Polska. Retrieved 2013-02-06.
  4. ↑ "Marika - oficjalna strona artystki > Zespół" (in Polish). Retrieved 2013-07-10.
  5. ↑ "Marika supporting Macy Gray, Sala Kongresowa, Warsaw 2005.11.17 fot TRS i A.Rożej". Myspace. Retrieved 2012-04-05.
  6. ↑ "Review: Various - Polski Ogién ~ 20 Polish Reggae & Dancehall Tunes". reggae-vibes.com. Retrieved 2012-04-05.
  7. ↑ "OLiS – sprzedaż w okresie 22.09.2008 – 28.09.2008" (in Polish). OLiS. Retrieved 2009-10-11.
  8. ↑ "OLiS – sprzedaż w okresie 07.06.2010 – 13.06.2010" (in Polish). OLiS. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
  9. ↑ "OLiS - sprzedaż w okresie 15.10.2012 - 21.10.2012" (in Polish). OLiS. Retrieved 2012-10-26.
  10. ↑ "OLiS - sprzedaż w okresie 13.05.2013 - 19.05.2013" (in Polish). OLiS. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  11. ↑ "LP3 - statystyki dla wykonawcy Marika" (in Polish). lp3.pl. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
  12. ↑ "Marika (9) – Moje Serce". Discogs. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
  13. ↑ "Marika - Uplifter - Single". iTunes. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
  14. ↑ "Marika – Nieważne Ile". Discogs. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Nominacje Fryderyk 2009". docs.google.com. www.zpav.pl. Retrieved 2011-02-23.
  16. ↑ "Fryderyk 2011 Nominacje" (PDF) (in Polish). ZPAV. Retrieved 2011-02-23.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "SuperJedynki 2010: Oto nominowani!" (in Polish). Interia.pl. Retrieved 2013-07-10.

External links

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