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Kayah – Katarzyna Magda Rooijens née Szczot (born November 5, 1967 in Warsaw) is a Polish singer, songwriter, composer, music producer, radio presenter and television personality. She debuted in 1988 with the song ‘Córeczko’. This song brought her popularity in the country and her career has kickstarted. She is among women mots frequently featuring Forbes Polska magazine ranking. As befits a Scorpio, the artist is constantly on the move. She is a real firecracker who released numerous albums and received even more awards.
Early career
She is the daughter of a Polish mother and a Jewish father, who left the family when she was 11-years-old. She spent childhood with her grandparents in Białystok. Young Kayah wanted to become an archaeologist and practised judo as well. She stopped her education at secondary school without taking the final exams. At the age of 18, she graduated from a piano school. Simultaneously, she started her music career – in 1984, she began working with Kostek Joriadis and the bands Rastar and Zgoda. Two years later, together with the band Tilt, she recorded a song ‘Mówię ci, że…‘.
She first debuted in 1988, when she performed at the Krajowy Festiwal Piosenki Polskiej in Opole with the song ‘Córeczko‘. That same year she got an award of distinction at the Karlshamn Baltic Festival, for the same song. Later on, with the Polskie Nagrania label, she released her first album, ‘Kayah‘, on vinyl. However, she considers the album ‘Kamień‘ from 1995 to be her true debut.
In the early 90s, Kayah took a ‘break’ from music and went to Vienna, where she tried modelling. After returning to Poland, she performed with the band Tilt, and also recorded vocal parts for other artists, e.g. De Mono, Grzegorz Ciechowski, Mietek Szcześniak and Kasia Stankiewicz.
Music
The year 1993 was a very busy one for the singer, as she performed with the song ‘Liść‘ in the Bursztynowy Słowik contest and the song ‘Cyganeria‘ during the 30th Sopot Festival. In 1994, she sang the premiere song ‘Ja chcę ciebie‘ during the 31st Krajowy Festiwal Piosenki Polskiej in Opole and was awarded by the mayor of the city. That same year, she got a second award at Karlshamn Baltic Festival. Three years later, she released another very successful album, ‘Zebra‘. The singles ‘Na językach‘ and ‘Supermenka‘, which turned out to be hits and were frequently played on the radio for many years to come, promoted the album.
In 1999, she collaborated with Goran Bregović, and they released an album ‘Kayah & Bregović‘ together, which sold over a million copies, gaining a diamond record award and thousands of fans in the country. Folk music inspirations can also be heard in ‘Transoriental Orchestra‘ album. The collaboration with the Balkan musician brought the singer good reviews, and their joint album was a great success. In the following years, Kayah released six more albums, including the club-sounding ‘Zebra‘, ‘JakaJaKayah‘ and ‘Stereo typ‘.
In 2001, Kayah founded a record label and concert agency, Kayax. Many Polish music stars, such as Maria Peszek, Katarzyna Nosowska, Zakopower and Krzysztof Zalewski, cooperated with the label. Kayah is one of the few artists from Central and Eastern Europe who was invited to record an MTV Unplugged album. An important moment in her discography was a two-disc compilation that summed up the first years of her activity on the music market. ‘The Best and The Rest‘ album, from 2005, was also the last one released with Sony BMG label.
In 2011, the artist returned to the charts with the song ‘Za późno‘. Each subsequent album released only strengthened her status on the music market. In 2018, together with Grzegorz Hyży, they recorded the song ‘Podatek od miłości‘, which promoted the film of the same title. To this day, Kayah released over 12 albums and remains one of the most popular Polish female singers.
Kayah’s most popular songs, mostly duets, include: Kayah feat. Idan Raichel – ‘Po co‘, Kayah & Bregović – ‘Byłam Różą‘, ‘Prawy Do Lewego‘, Kayah & Zbigniew Wodecki – ‘Chwytaj dzień‘, Kayah & Grzegorz Hyży – ‘Podatek od miłości‘, Kayah & Viki Gabor – ‘Ramię w ramię‘. Kayah is considered a musically versatile artist, she feels good in pop, folk, jazz and soul music.
Kayah – little-known facts
Not many people know that in 2013 the artist was awarded the Krzyż Kawalerski Orderu Odrodzenia Polski by president Bronisław Komorowski for her cultural contribution. Since 2001, she has been a WWF foundation ambassador in Poland. The foundation fights for the natural environment. She has appeared in social campaigns – ‘A wystarczy naprawdę niewiele – wystarczy chcieć’ by the Polsat Foundation and ‘Rak. To się leczy!’. The singer engages in politics as well – in 2007 she joined the ‘Partia Kobiet’ political party.
Most important studio albums:
- Kayah (1988)
- Kayah (1991)
- Kamień (1995)
- Zebra (1997)
- Kayah & Bregović (1999)
- JakaJaKayah (2000)
- Stereo typ (2003)
- Skała (2009)
- Kayah & Royal Quartet (2010)
- Panienki z temperamentem feat. Renata Przemyk (2010)
- Transoriental Orchestra (2013)
- Gdy pada śnieg (2016)
- Po co (2017)
- Podatek od miłości (2017)
- Supermenka 2018 (2018)
- Dawaj w długą (2019)
Compilations:
- The Best and The Rest (2005)
- Największe przeboje (2011)
- Przeboje (2015)
Live albums:
- MTV Unplugged (2007)
Author: Agata Rosińska
Translation: Natalia Walentyńska
Photos: Photos come from the official Kayah website
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