Paktofonika

Biography

Paktofonika is a Polish hip hop group from Katowice and Mikołów, which debuted with the album Kinematografia×Kinematografia18 December 2000 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 16 tracks1Na mocy paktu1:012Priorytety5:133Gdyby...3:224Ja to ja4:595Powierzchnie tnące3:356ToNieMy3:477Popatrz2:178Chwile ulotne4:379WC0:5010Nowiny3:4411Nie ma mnie dla nikogo6:0112Jestem Bogiem3:2213Lepiej być nie może4:5914Rób co chcesz5:4815W moich kręgach4:00162 kilo13:03 in 2000. The name Paktofonika comes from the words pakt (pact) and fonika (phonics), from which derives the idea of "A pact made alongside sounds from a speaker", created by band's founders, Magik and Rahim.

Members

Piotr "Magik" Łuszcz (1978–2000) – formerly of Kaliber 44
Wojciech "Fokus" Alszer (born 1980) – ex Kwadrat Skład, since 2004 a member of Pokahontaz
Sebastian "Rahim" Salbert (born 1978) – ex 3xKlan, Erka, since 2004 a member of Pokahontaz

Formation (1998–1999)

Paktofonika began when Magik left Kaliber 44 after their second album, W 63 Minuty Dookoła Świata (1998). Rahim left his group 3xKlan at around the same time, and formed Paktofonika with Magik and Fokus in 1998. Their first songs, written in October 1998, were "Priorytety", "Ja to Ja×Ja to ja2000 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Ja to ja4:572Priorytety5:103Ja to ja (instrumental)4:574Priorytety (instrumental)5:05" and "Gdyby". Two new members joined Paktofonika, DJ Bambus on turntables, and Sot as a beatboxer.

Kinematografia and Magik's death (2000)

In the spring of 2000, the group signed a contract with Gigant Records. In the summer of that year, the group was in Witten, Germany, where they recorded their song "2 Kilo" with German artists. On 18 December 2000, Paktofonika's first album entitled Kinematografia×Kinematografia18 December 2000 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 16 tracks1Na mocy paktu1:012Priorytety5:133Gdyby...3:224Ja to ja4:595Powierzchnie tnące3:356ToNieMy3:477Popatrz2:178Chwile ulotne4:379WC0:5010Nowiny3:4411Nie ma mnie dla nikogo6:0112Jestem Bogiem3:2213Lepiej być nie może4:5914Rób co chcesz5:4815W moich kręgach4:00162 kilo13:03 was released. Eight days later, on 26 December at 6.15 a.m., Magik committed suicide by jumping from the window of his ninth-floor apartment.

Aftermath (2001–2003)

After Magik's death, the group continued performing with DJ Bambus and Sot for some time. In concerts, they were using previously recorded material of Magik's vocals. In May 2001, a sample of Paktofonika's song "Ja to Ja×Ja to ja2000 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Ja to ja4:572Priorytety5:103Ja to ja (instrumental)4:574Priorytety (instrumental)5:05", sung by reggae/hip-hop artist Piotr 'Gutek' Gutkowski, was used in an ice-cream commercial without the group members' permission, but with the knowledge of Gigant Records.
In September 2002, Paktofonika's farewell album was released. Archiwum Kinematografii contained studio outtakes from the group's first album, and two songs recorded later without Magik, "Ja to ja 2 (dokładnie tak!)" and "W pełnej gotowości". In December 2002, it was announced that on 21 March 2003 the group would give its last performance under the name Paktofonika in Spodek, Katowice. The concert was recorded and released as Pożegnalny koncert on 26 April 2004 through Universal Music Poland.
Rahim and Fokus continue to work on other projects, such as PFK Company and Pokahontaz.

The official comeback of Paktofonika (2022–present)

In 2022, Fokus and Rahim announced their return to concerts as Paktofonika, wanting to celebrate the 22nd anniversary of the Kinematografia album and the 20th anniversary of the Archiwum kinematografii×Archiwum Kinematografii2002 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 15 tracks1Play + Rec0:492C.D. Kinematografii4:143Dla pewnego swego4:284A robi się to tak5:515Mechaniczna pomarańcza3:316'le się zmahauem3:287Tak jak telewizor (Kipper remix)4:208Na mocy paktu4:249Aż strach pomyśleć1:5010Wielka gra3:3911Ja to ja 2 (dokuadnie tak!)3:4612Dejot rusza czarne puyty4:2413Wielkie dzięki2:0514W peunej gotowości3:4615Znikam9:23. Since 2022, many concerts have been organized throughout Poland and also in other countries (e.g. United States, Canada, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway and Iceland)

Legacy

Jesteś Bogiem, a film inspired by Paktofonika's story and directed by Leszek Dawid, was released on 7 May 2012. It received critical acclaim and won several awards, including two Polish Film Awards (out of ten nominations) and 6 Złote Lwy awards (out of 7 nominations) at Gdynia Film Festival. The film was also a box-office hit, with 1,366,293 viewers within its first month in theaters, and became the highest-selling Polish film of the year. The film title (You are God) refers to the title of Paktofonika's most popular song, "Jestem Bogiem×Jestem Bogiem2001 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Intro1:392Jestem Bogiem (cenzor)3:233Esperanto (Fks solo)3:014Jestem Bogiem (DJ Haem remix)3:135Stauo sie !!! (Rah solo)3:406Jestem Bogiem (Kipper remix)6:157T.J.Telewizor (Mag solo)3:328Jestem Bogiem (Straho remix)3:219Jestem Bogiem (Foqsonik remix)3:0210Bonusik (dla redaktorów)1:30" ("I am God"). The film was met mainly with critical reception due to the downplaying of the role of the Kaliber 44 group and the distortion of facts about the Magik (the film shows that after leaving Kaliber 44, he did not have much money, and in reality he had much more income from it than from paktofonika, and creating music in paktofonika wasn't as hard as it shows in the movie).