Quebonafide facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Quebonafide
Quebonafide performing in Warsaw in 2018.
Background information
Birth name	Kuba Grabowski
Also known as	Quebo, Que
Born	(1991-07-07) 7 July 1991 (age 33) Ciechanów, Poland
Origin	Warsaw, Poland
Genres	Hip hop pop trap
Occupation(s)	Rapper singer songwriter
Years active	2008–2022
Labels	QueQuality Taconafidex

Kuba Grabowski (born on July 7, 1991), known as Quebonafide or Jakub Grabowski, is a famous Polish rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is part of the music groups Yochimu and Taconafide. He also started his own music label called QueQuality.

Quebonafide is one of Poland's top-selling rappers. He has sold over 350,000 albums. His album Soma 0.5 mg, made with rapper Taco Hemingway, sold more than 150,000 copies. His solo album Egzotyka also sold over 150,000 copies. Many of his albums have become platinum, gold, and diamond records, meaning they sold a lot of copies. He is known for hit songs like 'Candy', 'Bubbletea', and 'Tamagotchi'. He has been nominated five times for the Fryderyk award, which is a big music award in Poland. He won one for Soma 0.5 mg as the Hip-Hop Album of the Year.

Education

Kuba Grabowski studied philosophy at the University of Warsaw.

Music career

2008–2014: Starting out

Quebonafide began his music journey as part of a duo called Yochimu with rapper Fuso. They released three albums together: Pierwsze cięcie, Drugie cięcie, and Flow witam.

In 2012, he started taking part in freestyle battles. These are rap contests where artists make up rhymes on the spot. He quickly became known in the hip-hop world. He won the "Battle for the End of the World" and reached the finals of the "Grand Battle of Warsaw."

In 2013, he became even more popular after releasing his mixtape Eklektyka. This mixtape helped him get invited to perform on tours with other hip-hop artists. He also started appearing as a guest rapper on other people's songs. Later that year, he released the single 'Tarot' and an album called 'Album of the Year' with rapper Eripe. Both were well-received by fans. In 2014, his fame grew when he was featured on the song 'Euforia' by Pawbeats. This song was played on many radio stations and became very popular.

2014–2015: Ezoteryka

In 2014, Quebonafide announced his first official album by releasing the single 'Żadnych zmartwień'. He then released 'Hype' and its music video. Around this time, he also started his own music label and clothing brand called QueQuality. More singles like 'Ciernie' and 'Trip' followed.

His first album, Ezoteryka, came out on March 27, 2015. It quickly became the number one best-selling album in Poland. It sold over 15,000 copies and earned a gold record award. The album was also nominated for "Polish Rap Album of the Year." After the album's release, Quebonafide went on his first big tour, called the Ezoteryka Tour.

In December 2015, he released a mini-album with rapper Białas. It was given away for free online and later sold as a CD. It was very popular, selling thousands of copies.

2015–2018: Egzotyka

On April 1, 2015, Quebonafide shared that his next album would be called Egzotyka. He planned for each song on the album to be about a different part of the world. Each song would also have a music video filmed in that region.

He released the first single, 'Oh my Buddha', with a video from Thailand. Then came 'Quebahombre' with a video from Mexico. This song reached number 14 on a popular radio chart. In May 2016, he released two more singles, 'Szejk' (filmed in Dubai) and 'Bollywood' (filmed in India). The QueQuality label also released a compilation album called Hip-hop 2.0, which reached number 3 on the Polish charts. In July 2016, the fifth single, 'Luís Nazário de Lima', was released with a video from Brazil.

Rapper during the Ekodiesel Tour in 2018.

In October 2016, Quebonafide released 'Madagascar', with a video filmed in Madagascar. This song hit number one on the Hip-hop.tv charts. He also appeared on a song called 'Sushi Dip' with African rapper iFani, which was shown on MTV. In April 2017, he released 'Changa' featuring iFani, with a video from South Africa. This was when fans could pre-order the album.

More singles from Egzotyka followed, each with a video from a different country:

• 'C'est la vie' (from Paris)
• 'Zorza' (from Iceland)
• 'Między słowami' (from Japan)
• 'Arabska noc' (from Morocco)
• 'To nie jest hip-hop' (from the United States)
• 'Bumerang' (from Australia)
• 'Odyseusz' (from Poland)

The album Egzotyka was a huge success. It sold 30,000 copies before it was even officially released, earning it a platinum status. It debuted at number one on the Polish sales charts and stayed there for three weeks. It was the best-selling album in Poland in 2017.

In August, Quebonafide released a mini-album called No To Bajka EP with producer Matheo. This album was inspired by Disney stories and sold out very quickly.

2018–2019: Taconafide and a break

In October 2017, Quebonafide announced he would take a break from social media to focus on new music. In 2018, it was confirmed that he would release a joint album with rapper Taco Hemingway. They decided to call their duo Taconafide.

Their first single, 'Art-B', came out in March 2018. It announced their album SOMA 0.5 mg, which was set to release in April. The song quickly became very popular online. They also announced a tour called Ekodiesel Tour. Their second single, 'Tamagotchi', broke records on Spotify for the most streams in Poland. It also got over 2 million views on YouTube in just 24 hours. They released more singles like 'Metallica 808' and 'Kryptowaluty'.

The album Soma 0.5 mg was released in April 2018. It debuted at number one in Poland and sold over 30,000 copies, earning platinum status. It was the best-selling album in Poland for April and May 2018. By July, it had sold 60,000 copies and became double platinum.

Quebonafide with Taco Hemingway in 2018.

In September 2018, Quebonafide announced he would take a break from his music career. He shared that this decision was influenced by the death of Mac Miller, a person who was very important to him.

In October 2018, his album Egzotyka received a triple platinum certificate for selling over 90,000 copies. In 2019, Egzotyka reached diamond status for selling over 150,000 copies. Soma 0.5 mg also achieved diamond status.

2020–2021: Romantic Psycho and a documentary

On February 7, 2020, Quebonafide released the first single from his new album, 'Romantic Psycho', featuring Taco Hemingway. A few days later, 'Jesień' was released with a music video. This song featured Natalia Szroeder.

For this album, Quebonafide showed a completely new look. He appeared without his usual tattoos and looked more like he did in his college days. He even appeared on a morning TV show acting quiet and shy, which was very different from his usual energetic self. He announced a tour called Romantic Psycho Experience, but it was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

On April 1, 2020, he released the single 'Szubienicapestycydybroń'. In its music video, he returned to his old style with tattoos. It was then revealed that the first version of the Romantic Psycho album was actually a limited bonus. The "real" album was then released to everyone.

Romantic Psycho debuted at number one on the Polish charts. At one point, Quebonafide had three albums in the top three spots at the same time: Romantic Psycho, Egzotyka, and Ezoteryka. This was a historic achievement in Polish hip-hop. The album sold 30,000 copies before its official release, earning platinum status. It was Poland's best-selling album in April 2020. Many songs from the album, like 'Bubbletea' and 'Szubienicapestycydybroń', had millions of views on YouTube.

To promote the album, Quebonafide also released a documentary called Quebonafide: Romantic Psycho Film. It showed how the album was made and what went on behind the scenes of the promotion. The film was shown in cinemas and tickets sold out quickly.

In 2020 and 2021, he released more singles like 'Teen Kasia' and 'Matcha Latte'. He also appeared on songs by other artists, including Tommy Cash and Mata.

2021–present: MISS TI 蒂小姐 and Jakub Grabowski

In February 2022, Quebonafide and producer Forxst started a new project called Miss Ti 蒂小姐. This is a brand that sells vegan matcha latte and milk tea. These drinks first appeared in Lidl stores.

On June 5, 2022, Quebonafide released a song called 'Refren trochę jak Lana Del Rey'. He also announced on Twitter that he had no more plans as "Quebonafide." He mentioned that he might release more songs he had recorded as a "messy mixtape." He also shared his future plans, saying he would start medical school in September. He wants to focus on academics, healthy food production with MISS TI 蒂小姐, playing the piano, and bringing all these interests together.

On August 23, 2022, he released a song called 'Mój przykry life (Jakub On Stage)'. For this song, he used a new stage name: Jakub Grabowski. In October 2022, he also worked with other artists on a song called 'Łapacz snów'.

Activities outside music

Quebonafide has been involved in many activities beyond music.

• In September 2016, he worked as a sports commentator for the Canal+ Sport channel.
• In August 2018, he joined the KTS Weszło Warsaw football club.
• He appeared in an advertisement for a new Nike clothing campaign in 2017.
• In spring 2019, he co-authored a book with Kuba Stemplowski called Egzotyka. Wywiad-rzeka. This book shared stories from his travels to 70 countries while he was working on his Egzotyka album.
• He has been a guest on popular Polish talk shows, discussing his career and life.
• He participated in a show where he earned 1 million PLN from the Allegro platform. All the money from this campaign and from selling his clothing collection was used for charity. He bought instruments for children in a brass band, supported an animal shelter, bought equipment for a hospital in Ciechanów, renovated a children's society building, and supported a foundation helping children.

Private life

Quebonafide was in a relationship with singer Natalia Szroeder, who also sang on his songs 'JESIEŃ' and 'TĘSKNIEZASTARYMKANYE'. He generally prefers to keep his personal life private.

Awards and nominations

Quebonafide has received many awards and nominations for his music:

• He was nominated five times for the Fryderyk Award and won once for Soma 0.5 mg in the Hip-Hop Album of the Year category.
• He received two nominations for the Empik Bestseller award in the Polish Music category for Soma 0.5 mg and Egzotyka.
• He was nominated three times for Onet's Best title.
• He received twelve nominations in the WuDoo/Hip-Hop plebiscite, winning one for Soma 0.5 mg.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation album

Singles

As featured artist

Images for kids

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  Quebonafide performing in Warsaw in 2018.

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  Rapper during the Ekodiesel Tour in 2018.

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  Quebonafide with Taco Hemingway in 2018.