Mika Urbaniak

Mika Urbaniak (born as Michelle Urbaniak in 1980 in New York City) is an American pop singer. She is a daughter of prominent Polish jazz musicians Urszula Dudziak and Michał Urbaniak. Born and raised in the United States, she’s been living in Warsaw and London since 2001. Her style is a mixture of pop music, jazz and hip-hop.[1] In 2010, she won the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry award Fryderyk in the category Album of the Year - Pop.[2] She then proceeded to join forces with an extraordinary singer, composer and producer, Victor Davies. He produced Mika’s second album, Follow You, which one the Top Trendy Journalist Award and was accepted with much critical acclaim. A mix of different genres, rock, pop, and new wave, this fresh sounding album was Victor and Mika’s project together, the beginning of a long term music collaboration. In 2012 Mika Urbaniak was invited to perform with Quincy Jones at The Solidarity of Arts Festival in Gdynia. After leaving Sony Music POLSKA, Victor and Mika created their next album together. A bow to Mika’s Jazz roots they created and Swing Pop album all with Victor’s original material. They’ve toured with this material while working on their next project, a duet album of carefully selected cover songs. It was to be released in January 2019.

Mika Urbaniak
Mika Urbaniak at Łódź Czterech Kultur festival in 2012
Born
Michelle Urbaniak

1980
New York City, New York, United States
Parent(s)Michał Urbaniak
Urszula Dudziak
RelativesKatarzyna Urbaniak (sister)
Musical career
GenresPop, R&B, jazz, jazz rap
Years active1998–2011
LabelsSony Music Entertainment Poland Warner Music
Associated actsAndrzej SmolikQuincy JonesVictor Davies
Websitemikaurbaniak.co.uk
Mika Urbaniak and her mother Urszula Dudziak performing at Łódź Czterech Kultur festival in 2012
Mika Urbaniak at Łódź Czterech Kultur festival in 2012

History

Mika Urbaniak started writing her own songs at the age of 11 and when she was 14, she performed on stage for the first time. A year later, the first song with her vocals was released.[1] For many years, she was collaborating with major Polish artists, such as Smolik, Michał Urbaniak, Grzegorz Markowski, Mieczysław Szcześniak, Novika, O.S.T.R., Liroy and Kayah.[1][3]

Mika's debut album Closer was released on 27 April 2009 through Sony Music Poland and peaked at no. 2 in the Polish sales chart OLiS.[4] The album was promoted by singles "In My Dreams" and "Lovin' Needs a Deadline", which charted at Polish Radio's chart LP3.[5] In 2010, Closer won Fryderyk award for the Pop Album of the Year.[2]

The second album Follow You, released on 24 April 2012, peaked at no. 12.[6] Two songs promoting the album were released in 2012, "Pixelated" and "Don't Speak Too Loud", and both charted at LP3.[5] A music video for title track "Follow You" was released onto YouTube on 1 February 2013.[7]

Discography

Studio albums
Title Album details Peak chart positions
POL
Closer
  • Released: 27 April 2009
  • Label: Sony Music Entertainment Poland
 2[4]
Follow You
  • Released: 24 April 2012
  • Label: Sony Music Entertainment Poland
 12[6]

Music videos
Year Song Album Source
2009 "In My Dreams" Closer [8]
2012 "Pixelated" Follow You [9]
2013 "Follow You" [7]

Awards and nominations

Fryderyk
Year Nominee / work Award Result
2010CloserAlbum of the Year - PopWon[2]
gollark: All part of his evil plan, I'm sure. Or he's just being very madlad.
gollark: You mean aren't, right?
gollark: It's not an apocalypse, just... a few percent of one?
gollark: And the computer science conspiracies, the mathematics conspiracies, the astronomy conspiracies, the entomology conspiracies, the etymology conspiracies, the rock climbing conspiracies, the nutritionist conspiracies... are we just going to ignore those?
gollark: #karens-corner-of-coronavirus-tales maybe?

References
  1. "Polska sztuka " Mika Urbaniak" (in Polish). polskiemuzy.pl. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  2. "Nominees and Winners 2010 :: Fryderyk music award". Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  3. "MIKA URBANIAK - KONCERT - Och-Teatr" (in Polish). ochteatr.com.pl. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  4. "OLiS - sales for the period 01.06.2009 - 07.06.2009". OLiS. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  5. "Archiwum Listy Przebojów Programu Trzeciego" (in Polish). lp3.pl. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  6. "OLiS - sales for the period 11.06.2012 - 17.06.2012". OLiS. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  7. Mika Urbaniak - Follow you YouTube
  8. Mika Urbaniak - In my dreams YouTube
  9. Mika Urbaniak - Pixelated YouTube
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