Filip Tadeusz Szcześniak, better known by the stage nameTaco Hemingway, is a Polish rapper, songwriter, and musician who has worked solo and as a part of the duo Taconafide together with the rapper Quebonafide.
Early life
Filip Szcześniak was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1990. At the age of 2, he moved with his parents from Egypt to China. Initially, he attended an English preschool before transferring to a Chinese preschool, where he experienced communication problems due to differences in culture and language. Upon finishing preschool, Szcześniak and his family moved to Warsaw in 1996, where he experienced little to no difficulties in school while simultaneously developing his bilingualism from his early years. In an interview with Metro Warszawa, Szcześniak stated that he spoke English with his mother and sister and that he spoke in Polish with his father. He listened to various rap artists with his father, developing his passion for the rap genre. His parents divorced in 2004. Szcześniak completed his studies at Prywatne Gimnazjum nr 1 and Copernicus Bilingual High School in Warsaw, where he met his future producer, Maciej Ruszecki. He is also a graduate of cultural studies at the University of Warsaw. In 2012, he began studying for a master's degree in anthropology in University College London.
Career
Szcześniak began his career in 2011, when he released a mixtape in English titled Who killed JFK under the nickname "Foodvillain". A year later, he changed his stage name to Taco Hemingway and released an EP in English titled Young Hems. In 2014, he released a second EP, Trójkąt warszawski, this time recorded in his native language, Polish, which has since continued to be the main language in all of his records. The EP's success brought him publicity and granted him the opportunity to sign under Asfalt Records, where he released a new edition of Trójkąt Warszawski along with a new EP, Umowa o dzieło. Taco Hemingway's albums appeared on the second and third spots of the OLiS chart, selling 15,000 and 10,000 copies respectively, awarding Umowa o dzieło gold status. In 2016, Taco's third EP, Wosk, as well as a studio album, Marmur, were released. The two releases debuted on the third and 14th spots on OLiS. Marmur sold 15,000 copies and received gold status. In 2017, his fifth EP, Szprycer was released, and became a commercial success, debuting on the 1st spot on OLiS and receiving platinum record status, selling 30,000 copies. On 3 April 2018, Taco cooperated with Polish rapper Quebonafide in recording and releasing Soma 0,5 mg, which debuted on 1st spot of OLiS and received platinum status. A single named Tamagotchi reached first place in most radio stations in Poland and landed on spot number 23 on a chart of best-selling singles in Poland, AirPlay. Taco Hemingway has been nominated three times for the hip hop/R&B album of the year category in the Fryderyk music awards in 2016, 2017, and 2018 for his albums Umowa o dzieło, Marmur, and Szprycer respectively, winning single awards for Umowa o dzieło and Szprycer. In 2018 he created with Quebonafide hip-hop group called Taconafide. Together they released two music projects: long play - Soma 0,5mg and mixtape - Soma 0,25mg. The Soma 0,5 mg reached diamond status.
