''Graal'' (stylized as ''Gr44l''; pl,
Holy Grail
The Holy Grail (french: Saint Graal, br, Graal Santel, cy, Greal Sanctaidd, kw, Gral) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miracul ...
, pronounced: ) is the second
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by Polish rapper
Tau
Tau (uppercase Τ, lowercase τ, or \boldsymbol\tau; el, ταυ ) is the 19th letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiceless dental or alveolar plosive . In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 300.
The name in English ...
and the last released under the
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
Medium. It was released as a
double album
A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...
on 20 November 2012 by
Asfalt Records
Asfalt Records is a Polish independent record label specialized in hip-hop music. It was founded in 1998 by Marcin "Tytus" Grabski. In July 1998, Asfalt Records signed a three-year distribution deal with Sony Music Entertainment Poland. The first ...
.
Recording took place during 2012 at Studio Łukasza Kowalskiego in
Kielce
Kielce (, yi, קעלץ, Keltz) is a city in southern Poland, and the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468 inhabitants. The city is in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains), on the bank ...
with DJ Deszczu Strugi in charge of
mixing the album.
As with his previous album ''
Teoria równoległych wszechświatów'',
production
Production may refer to:
Economics and business
* Production (economics)
* Production, the act of manufacturing goods
* Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services)
* Production as a stati ...
and
arrangement
In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...
were overseen by Medium himself.
The album was promoted with two singles: "Hologram" features a guest appearance by American rapper
Gift of Gab, and "Skwer pod słońcem", which was accompanied by a promotional
video clip
Video clips refer to mostly short videos, most of the time called memes, which are short videos of silly jokes and funny clips, most of the time coming from movies or any entertainment videos such as YouTube. The term is also used more loosely to ...
featuring Medium's fans. ''Graal'' also features guest appearances by
O.S.T.R.
Adam Andrzej Ostrowski (, born 15 May 1980 in Łódź, Poland), better known as O.S.T.R., is a Polish rapper, musician, audio engineer and record producer, famous for his freestyle rap skills, ambitious lyrics and unique beats. He graduated from ...
, Bisz and Te-Tris. The album peaked at number 18 on the Polish
OLiS
OLiS (Oficjalna Lista Sprzedaży; en, Official Sales Chart) is the official chart of the highest selling music albums in Poland. The chart exists since 23 October 2000 and is provided by Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry, ZPAV.
This is ...
albums chart.
On the album Medium addresses questions of
patriotism
Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and sense of attachment to one's country. This attachment can be a combination of many different feelings, language relating to one's own homeland, including ethnic, cultural, political or histor ...
, his attachment to
Christian values Christian values historically refers to values derived from the teachings of Jesus Christ. The term has various applications and meanings, and specific definitions can vary widely between denominations, geographical locations and different schools ...
, and his relationship with
God
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
. The rapper also criticizes the issues of
globalization
Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...
,
homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
and
political correctness
''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...
. Although it was well-received, ''Graal'' also met with criticism, mainly for its lyrics which were considered too radical by most reviewers and listeners.
Background and promotion
Having released his first album ''Teoria równoległych wszechświatów'' in 2011 and having received generally positive reviews, Medium announced that he had started working on a new project which would be released in late April, also stating that the news album would completely differ from the previous one. The release date was later postponed to November 2012. In interviews later in 2012, Medium began to talk about his
religious conversion
Religious conversion is the adoption of a set of beliefs identified with one particular religious denomination to the exclusion of others. Thus "religious conversion" would describe the abandoning of adherence to one denomination and affiliatin ...
to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
and indicated that the album would be dedicated to his personal relationship with
God
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
and his long-term observations of the world.
The first single was "Hologram" which featured
Gift of Gab, a member of the group
Blackalicious
Blackalicious was an American hip-hop duo from Sacramento, California, made up of rapper Gift of Gab and DJ/producer Chief Xcel. They are noted for Gift of Gab's often tongue-twisting, multisyllabic, complex rhymes and Chief Xcel's soulful pr ...
. The second single "Skwer pod słońcem" was accompanied by a video clip featuring the rapper's fans. Medium appeared on the show ''Poziom 2.0'' where he performed the track "Kim jesteś?". The reaction to the track was so great that his label decided to release it as the third single. Promotional videos were also made for "Nieme kino", "Graal" and "Zza grobu".
On 12 December 2012 Asfalt Records released 300 copies of the single "Hologram" pressed as a
transparent 12" record. The record contained the standard version of "Hologram" and a
drum and bass
Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...
remix.
Artwork and imagery
![Omega Nebula](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Omega_Nebula.jpg)
The cover of ''Graal'' was created by an artist under the pseudonym SewerX who had also been responsible for the artwork for Medium's previous album. It was revealed on 7 October 2012 on Asfalt Records'
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
channel. The cover shows the
Omega Nebula
The Omega Nebula, also known as the Swan Nebula, Checkmark Nebula, Lobster Nebula, and the Horseshoe Nebula (catalogued as Messier 17 or M17 or NGC 6618) is an H II region in the constellation Sagittarius. It was discovered by Philippe Loys de ...
and the white triangle inscribed in its center, with a net outstretched over the image. Medium stated:
The title ''Graal'' is stylized as ''Gr44l''. The two fours are a reference to the famous Polish
poetic drama
Verse drama is any drama written significantly in verse (that is: with line endings) to be performed by an actor before an audience. Although verse drama does not need to be ''primarily'' in verse to be considered verse drama, significant portio ...
''
Dziady
Dziady ( Belarusian: , Russian: , Ukrainian: , pl, Dziady; lit. "grandfathers, eldfathers", sometimes translated as Forefathers' Eve) is a term in Slavic folklore for the spirits of the ancestors and a collection of pre-Christian rites, rituals ...
'' (''Forefathers'') by
Adam Mickiewicz
Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (; 24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. A principal figure in Polish Ro ...
where the number 44 was used in scene 5 of act 3, in which Mickiewicz wrote about a "reviver of the nation" who was supposed to bring back freedom for Poland and its people. He described him with words:
In the artwork inside the CD case several crosses are also visible which represent Medium's conversion. The artwork was well received by both fans and music critics. It was placed on Barock.pl website's list of the best covers of 2012.
Reception
The album received mixed reviews from music critics. Most of the reviewers praised its combination of modern
electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...
and classic
sampling, but the album was criticized for its radical and
far-right
Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
lyrics. Journalist Marek Fall of
Onet.pl
Onet.pl is one of the largest Polish web portals. It is owned by the Kraków-based Grupa Onet.pl S.A. It was founded in 1996 by Optimus company. According to Alexa rankings, as of October 2017, it was the 45th most popular website worldwide an ...
wrote that "Graal is one of the most courageous and ambitious projects in the history of Polish hip-hop. Medium's vision combines
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
, the legacy of
Polish romanticism
Romanticism in Poland, a literary, artistic and intellectual period in the evolution of Polish culture, began around 1820, coinciding with the publication of Adam Mickiewicz's first poems in 1822. It ended with the suppression of the January 1863 ...
, psycho-rap and ultra-conservative journalism. The impetus of this production arouses admiration, but ''Graal'' is often just the opposite page of ''
Jezus Maria Peszek
''Jezus Maria Peszek'' is the third studio album by Polish singer Maria Peszek, released in 2012 by Mystic Production. The singer co-wrote and co-produced the material with Michał "Fox" Król. The album's lyrics reference Peszek's atheism and nerv ...
'', where fanaticism is equal to grandiosity."
On the other hand, Marcin Flint from
T-Mobile Music compared Medium to
Fisz
Bartosz Waglewski (Fisz) born March 19, 1978 in Warszawa, Poland is a Polish rap artist. He is the son of musician Wojciech Waglewski and older brother of Emade (Piotr Waglewski). He studied at Europejska Akademia Sztuk (EAS).
The musical style ...
and
Magik, but he also criticized the lyrical content of ''Graal''.
Track listing
Personnel
Credits adapted from liner notes.
;Musicians
*
Medium
Medium may refer to:
Science and technology
Aviation
*Medium bomber, a class of war plane
* Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data
* Medium of ...
– lyrics, production, rap, arrangements
*
Gift of Gab – lyrics, rap
* Bisz – lyrics, rap
* Te-Tris – lyrics, rap
*
O.S.T.R.
Adam Andrzej Ostrowski (, born 15 May 1980 in Łódź, Poland), better known as O.S.T.R., is a Polish rapper, musician, audio engineer and record producer, famous for his freestyle rap skills, ambitious lyrics and unique beats. He graduated from ...
– lyrics, rap
* DJ Funktion – scratching
* DJ Kebs – scratching
* Justyna Dżbik – narration
* Lila Kowalska – vocals
* Miss Ashberry – vocals
* Izabela Kowalewska – vocals
* Paweł Piotrowsk – piano
* Rolf "Hangklang" Mönnighoff – hang, didgeridoo, shruti box, bansuri, glockenspiel
* Rafał "Rafcox" Gęborek – trumpet
* Jarosław Kulik – congos
; Technical personnel
* DJ Deszczu Strugi – mix
* Tytuz – executive producer
* SewerX – artwork
; Recording
* Recorded at Studio Łukasza Kowalskiego in Kielce
* Mixed at Otrabarwa Studio in Warsaw
* Mastered at Air Mastering in London
References
{{Authority control
2012 albums
Polish-language albums
Tau albums
Albums produced by Tau