Mr. Polska has spent the past 15 years moving between hip-hop, pop, and electronic music, building audiences across both the Netherlands and Poland.
Photo credit: Mr. Polska – Instagram
Born in Poland and raised in the Netherlands, he developed an approach shaped by both cultures, later collaborating with artists including Ronnie Flex, Jebroer, Yellow Claw, and Major Lazer.
His catalogue includes ‘Jagodzianki’ with Malik Montana, ‘Złote Tarasy’ with Abel de Jong, and the 2024 album ‘+48’. More recently, ‘Polska Jumpstyle’ has opened another path for the artist, crossing into the international techno and hard dance circuit.
Now, Mr. Polska is building a new live act centred on vocals, physical performance, rave culture, and direct crowd interaction. Rather than positioning himself as a DJ, the project places him at the front of the room, bringing the energy and unpredictability of his previous work into a new festival setting.
In this conversation, Mr. Polska discusses the origins of the project, the unexpected resurgence of ‘Polska Jumpstyle’, his approach to becoming a rave frontman, and what he wants this next chapter to become.
EG: Hi, Mr. Polska! Welcome to Electronic Groove. It’s great to have you with us. How have you been, and what has been occupying most of your creative energy these days?
Mr. Polska: I’ve been good. Busy, but in a good way. I feel like I’m at the beginning of something again, which is a very exciting place to be after fifteen years of making music.
Most of my energy at the moment is going into building this new live show. Not just making music, but figuring out how everything comes together on stage. The music, the vocals, the performance, the crowd. I want it to feel like one big experience rather than just a collection of tracks.
EG: After fifteen years of building a career across hip-hop, pop and electronic music, you’re now introducing a completely new live concept centred around techno and hard dance. When did you first realise that this was the direction you wanted to take?
Mr. Polska: There were actually a couple of moments. I went to a proper techno event for the first time and I was like: what the fuck, why does this feel so familiar? The energy reminded me of what we were doing years ago, when we were throwing dubstep, trap, drum ’n bass and all kinds of shit together.
Then ‘Polska Jumpstyle’ started going crazy. It was released in 2023, the biggest DJs started playing it and I started seeing people react to my music in a completely different scene. That opened a new door. I realised I didn’t have to choose between the worlds I’d already been part of.
EG: ‘Polska Jumpstyle’ feels like a major turning point in that story. The track grew into a global phenomenon, crossed into the techno scene and ended up on some of the biggest festival stages in the world. Did its reaction surprise you, or did you feel that something had shifted while it was happening?
Mr. Polska: It definitely surprised me, because the track had already been out for a while. Then suddenly it came back from the dead and became this cult classic in the harder electronic scene.
I started seeing DJs like FANTASM playing it, people doing the dance, and then it kept getting bigger and bigger. It was also played at some of the biggest techno and hard dance festivals around the world, including the mainstage of Tomorrowland. At some point I thought: okay, there is clearly something happening here. Maybe this isn’t just a funny crossover moment. Maybe this is a new direction.
EG: You’ve been very clear that you don’t want to become “the next DJ,” nor simply be a rapper performing a few tracks at a festival. What does being the frontman of a rave actually mean to you?
Mr. Polska: For me, the frontman is the person who takes responsibility for the energy in the room. I don’t want to stand behind decks and pretend I’m a DJ, because I’m not. And I also don’t want to be the rapper who walks on stage, does three songs and walks off again.
I want to be right in the middle of it. Talking to people, performing, singing, moving, creating tension and pushing the crowd further. The music is obviously very important, but I want the audience to feel like they’re part of the show too.
“I feel like I’m at the beginning of something again, which is a very exciting place to be after fifteen years of making music“
EG: The new show puts vocals, physical performance and crowd interaction at its centre. How different is it to build a performance when you’re responsible for controlling the energy of the room from the stage rather than from behind a DJ booth?
Mr. Polska: It’s very different, because you can’t hide. Everything is happening in real time. If the energy drops, I have to do something about it.
That’s actually what I like about it. I’ve always loved performing, but now I’m really trying to understand how to control a rave as a frontman. That’s a different skill from just performing a song, and I’m still discovering it.
EG: You’ve already had opportunities to test this approach at Teletech, Nachtwacht and elsewhere, including the now-famous “Polish pickles”. What have those early shows taught you about what works, and what the audience responds to?
Mr. Polska: That people are ready for something that feels a little bit unexpected. The pickle thing is a good example. I’m literally standing there handing Polish pickles to people in the middle of a rave. It sounds completely stupid when you explain it, but in the room it somehow makes sense. Hahaha.
The response at Teletech and Nachtwacht showed me that people don’t necessarily want everything to be perfectly polished. They want something they can participate in. Something they can remember the next day.
EG: There’s a certain sense of unpredictability and humour in what you’re doing that feels very different from the increasingly polished world of festival techno. How important is that element of personality and spontaneity to the show?
Mr. Polska: Very important. Otherwise I might as well just become a guy in a black T-shirt standing behind a DJ booth.
I’ve always been a very physical and chaotic performer. That’s part of who I am. I don’t want to remove that personality just because I’m entering a different scene.
For me, the interesting thing is putting that unpredictability together with the intensity of techno. You can have a massive rave moment and then suddenly something completely ridiculous happens. I think that contrast is what makes it feel like Mr. Polska.
EG: You’ve spent your career moving between Poland and the Netherlands and between very different musical cultures. How much does that ability to exist between worlds shape the artist you are today?
Mr. Polska: A lot. I’ve never really understood the idea that I have to choose one world.
I was born in Poland, grew up in the Netherlands, broke through here with Dutch hip-hop and then built another career in Poland. Now I’m taking all of those experiences and putting them into something new.
That’s probably why this rave direction feels so natural to me. I’ve always been somewhere in between. I don’t really see the boundaries between genres and countries the way other people sometimes do.
“I’ve always been a very physical and chaotic performer. That’s part of who I am”
EG: You already have a substantial catalogue and a huge audience behind you, but this project seems to be about building something rather than simply reinterpreting what you’ve done before. How much of the existing Mr. Polska identity will remain, and how much are you deliberately leaving behind?
Mr. Polska: I’m not trying to erase everything I’ve done. Fifteen years of music is a big part of who I am.
But I also don’t want to make a techno version of my old career just because it’s familiar.
I think the most important things remain: the energy, the humour, the Polish identity, the live performance and the unpredictability. The sound around that is evolving. That’s what makes it exciting for me.
EG: Looking at the road ahead, with the new live act moving towards bigger techno and hard dance stages internationally, what would make you feel that this new chapter has truly succeeded?
Mr. Polska: If people stop saying, “Oh, Mr. Polska is doing a techno show,” and just start saying, “I’m going to see Mr. Polska.”
That’s when I know we’ve built something of its own.
My goal has always been to become an international artist and perform all over the world. Now I’m building a show that can actually do that. I don’t want to be a guest in the rave scene. I want to become part of it, but on my own terms.
And honestly, I think it can become something fucking big.
EG: Thank you so much for your time. We wish you all the best with this new chapter and everything ahead. Take care!
Mr. Polska: Thank you! See you in the rave.
Follow Mr. Polska on Instagram for tour updates and upcoming dates.
Follow Mr. Polska: Spotify | Soundcloud | Instagram
