it’s a phenomenon. Although the spectacular success of the 26-year-old singer may seem sudden to some, Zuzanna Grabowska has worked hard for it. The artist breaks all records in popularity, record and ticket sales, and wins awards. Just at the end of 2019, she released her debut mini-album, and already in 2023 she made history as the first solo Polish artist to sell out concert tickets at the National Stadium in Warsaw.
sanah at the National Stadium
Official estimates say that PGE Narodowy can accommodate up to 72,900 people at such events. Before Zuzia, they first performed a similar feat together and performed there together in 2019. Podsiad³o made a solo appearance there in the summer of 2023, and Sanah’s performance in Warsaw is the culmination of her “Uczta nad Ucztami” stadium tour. The singer does not hide the fact that this is a fulfillment of her childhood dreams.
“And I like you
It’s making me think too much about getting married,
About the wedding already
And I hope you do too
You want me
You smell like spring lilac
Yes I like you, I like you like
To hell yes*”
It is significant that before she set off with her lavish show, she sought help from an expert in feasting, i.e. Robert Makłowicz himself. – I thought I’d ask Master. I’m organizing “The Feast of Feasts” and it’s disturbing to me because I have to cook something for two hundred thousand people – she admitted at the beginning of the recording. – Every feast, regardless of whether it is prepared for five people or for 200,000, should be unique, should be special, should be an emanation of the person who invites – Makłowicz advised her then. But Zuzia is doing quite well on her own.
Although her songs are catchy as hell, they are also full of subtlety and are far from flashy hits. The more I analyze her career, the more I come to the conclusion that the worst thing someone could say about her is probably that she is “nice and likeable”, i.e. average, boring, bland. Because it’s not like her work is like tomato soup and everyone likes it. But it sometimes happens that when she causes a “scandal”, it is, for example, because her song includes the name of a cigarette brand, which is intended to “demoralize young people”.
“He wanted to smoke Marlboro in my car
Forums from outside, bye, bye (mhm)
And all he had in his mind was junk food
Forums from outside, bye, bye (mhm)”
What other scandals can such a charming lady cause? It’s quite fun here. After the concert in Chorzów, some fans were outraged by the fact that during the song “Ten Stan”, the singer showed recordings from her own wedding and hot guests dancing the macarena – this view was supposed to spoil the romantic message of the song for some. Others, in turn, were offended after the performance in Gdańsk, when Sanah posted a photo of her dirty feet online – because she performed barefoot at Ergo Arena that evening. This sight offended some aesthetes.
But nothing will beat the indignation of former TVP journalist Przemysław Szubartowicz. He was also a poet in his youth, and after the premiere of “Sanah Sings Poezyje”, he decided that the artist had profaned Polish poetry.
“The singer sanah profaned the song ‘Nothing twice’ (a poem by W. Szymborska sung by Ł. Prus), as well as ‘Pocałunki’ (a poem by M. Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska sung by E. Demarczyk). The artist does not understand what she is singing about. What “is an echo of a deeper problem of our times,” he wrote indignantly on the X website (formerly Twitter). He defended the singer, among others. Krzysztof Grabowski from the punk band Dezerter. He wrote back to Szubartowicz: “There is only one piece of advice: sing better yourself and understand what you are singing about. Simple.” Fans also added their two cents and replied to the journalist, among others: in the following way: “no one has interested young people in poetry as much as Sanah. Your buffoonery is visible from space” “, “Wow, what a joke. Each generation reinterprets culture in its own way”, “Or understands it in its own way, differently than a 60-year-old tetrian”.
“The champagne is pouring, I can raise a toast
And is this guy saying something that he means?
Someone is dissing me here, let them say whatever they want
And this guy says something, cool, it doesn’t matter”
Why is sanah popular?
However, it is not easy to find someone who would dare to criticize her. It took me a while to find such a person: “Why is she famous anyway? Does she have a talent show or rich parents? It’s hard to make it in Poland, and she is so average in every respect. I thought she and Sarsa were the same person” – my friend asks me, who doesn’t understand the phenomenon of Zuzia’s popularity. Sanah, meanwhile, has six siblings, her mother is a veterinarian and her father is the head of the accounting department in a large international concern. “How can someone so boring fill the National Stadium? Is she giving them some drugs?” – more skeptics ask.
So what is the secret of sanah’s success? How did she manage to make her listeners fall in love with her so much? I thought it would be best to look for the answer at the source itself, i.e. among the singer’s admirers. Under various clips that have the most views, I found surprisingly similar comments from different accounts: “0% flair, 0% vulgarity, 100% talent”, “0% vulgarity, 0% stimulants, 100% talent, 100% emotion”, “0% nudity, 0% sick things, 0% anger, 100% beautiful voice”.
So they appreciate that this young artist has her own, effortless style. It turns out that naturalness and courage to be yourself is what people find most attractive about her: “It’s beautiful. Modesty, delicacy and sensitivity are strength”, “You are so delicate, real”, “I admire the sensitivity, the way pouring out events and emotions (maybe creating events through emotions). Your naturalness in this and being yourself are captivating”, “Super natural and without clowning. The great thing is that Sanah, in addition to her polished music videos, also shows herself from a more down-to-earth side. A big plus for authenticity and strength of character.
“A loft in Grochów
Robot at Microsoft
And there are a hundred rumors in the city
Oh, it’s just that words don’t hurt anymore
Okay, never mind, I’ve got your knife in my back”
Listeners also often point out that in Zuzia’s music they find a lot of universal truth about their lives: “In the words of each of your songs I can find a moment from my life”, “I find myself from the old days in your lyrics. I can cry when it’s too hard and be happy with your music,” they write. They also appreciate the plasticity of the message: “Sanah’s songs don’t need music videos. Just close your eyes and the picture paints itself”, “I listen to rap, but what I hear… I’m shocked, she has a voice that massages the brain, no matter what she didn’t sing!”
It is also worth adding that in the lyrics of the songs he actually “combines youth slang with poetry with charm and humor”, and what is more, he can write catchy melodies like no one else, which, combined with the words of the song, create a whole that is difficult to ignore.
How did Sanah’s career start?
sanah, or really Zuzanna Irena Grabowska (before her marriage, Jurczak), was born on September 2, 1997 in Warsaw. For example, she made thousands of Poles sing with her, among others: words from Wisława Szymborska’s poem “Nothing twice” (listening to her musical interpretation is dangerous and may result in the song being impossible to get out of your head all day long – the music video on YouTube has 56 million views). She even managed to sing the Pythagorean theorem so much that her video on Tik-Tok has 3.6 million views.
Since 2019, she has been one of the most popular Polish artists. It was then that the mini-album “My name is invisible” was released. Paradoxically, however, it cannot be said that her work cannot be missed: the songs “Częstka” and “Siebie poznasz” included on this EP were certified triple platinum (which means that over 60,000 copies were sold), and ” “Please Sir” has the status of a platinum album (20,000 copies). An even greater success was the single “Szampan” promoting the full-fledged debut album “Królowa dram” – this one has the status of a diamond album (which means over 100,000 copies sold), the same with “Melodia”. The album “Irenka” released in 2021 is a double diamond album (over 300,000 copies sold), “Uczta” from 2022 is a diamond album, and “sanah sings poezyje” went platinum.
The artist herself remains disarmingly modest. He writes on his website: “It all started not so long ago, in 2019. First the debut EP, ‘Szampan’, then album one, two, three, concert tours… madness! But, really, no “There would be nothing if it weren’t for YOU! Thank you for wanting to listen to me. Every day I get moved thinking about everything that happened to me. It’s a great adventure and I hope it lasts as long as possible.”
“All I have left is the melody
It’s drowning out the crying, I tell myself
Dance, dance, dance but I don’t know how”
Solid foundations
It is worth knowing that Sanah has truly excellent musical preparation. He can play the violin, piano, piano or ukulele. She is also a certified graduate of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw – she has a bachelor’s degree in violin and a master’s degree in instrumental studies. This does not mean, however, that she just appeared in the industry and immediately got what she wanted.
She tried to get into the program “The Voice of Poland” several times and took part in the Polish and British editions of “Got Talent” without any major success. In 2014, she started posting her original compositions online (she deleted them after signing a contract with Magic Records) and performed, among others, in the final gala of the “Ten Ton” Children’s and Youth Song Festival or at the Anna German Song Festival in Ciechocinek. With the song “Rehab” in 2016, she reached the semi-finals of the international competition for songwriters. She released this song in 2017 as Ayreen with the help of Serio Records. Then she took a break for a year, and in 2019 she reappeared.
In March 2019, as Sanah (the nickname was created after shortening the English version of her name – Susannah), she recorded vocal parts for the song “Rich in Love” by Matt Dusk. The song reached the first place on the Spotify Viral Top50 list, later the song was covered by Dawid Podsiadło. This artist openly praises Sanah’s talent and willingly records with her and invites her to his concerts. Some people laugh that Zuzia arouses even more enthusiasm than he does.
Those who want to be malicious say that she is too infantile for them. However, the girl knows well what she likes and effectively implements her visions – her aesthetics are very expressive and at the same time subtle. Above all, however, she is captivated by her naturalness and freedom. She herself writes that if it weren’t for the listeners’ support, she “wouldn’t be so brave.” That’s nice.
*Lyrics in italics are from Sanah’s songs.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
