Adrian STACHOWSKI

Publisher, editor, translator and - sometimes - freelance journalist.

There are two things that make me tick - books and music. Books fill out my day from the moment I wake up: the ones that I work on as an publisher and editor, the ones that I translate and the ones that I read for pleasure (It all converges). My work is done mainly while sitting down at the desk or walking around reading, so I need music. I listed to all kinds of music (hip-hop, jazz, classical, experimental), but since I put this resume together for a 2Pac project, I'd like to write about my love for hip-hop and my story I have with Tupac in particular. I am an avid, lifelong hip-hop fan (my current top 5, no order: Black Thought, Nas, Phonte, Tupac, Kendrick Lamar) and it all stared with Tupac. It was my brother who put me on to him. I think it was in 1998, I am sure that the "Greatest Hits" were out, because "Changes" were a huge hit even in Poland. But the first song I liked was "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted" with Snoop Dogg. I try to think of the reason why, because I didn't understand the lyrics back then (I was 10 years old). It probably was the sing-songy cadence of Tupac and Snoop, and the beat, I don't know. But anyway – I was hooked. A couple of years later I managed to gather a nice collection of 2Pac cassettes (I couldn't afford CD's), and in 2002 I had them all with the exception of "Thug Life" (somehow I managed to make a connection that Makaveli was 2Pac, I can't remember how, I didn't have internet access back then, but I did browse the net at my mother's office, so maybe that's how I found out). My favorite album was "R U Still Down?" – It was the one that I listened to the most and it still holds a special place (I had all of the lyrics printed out and I used them to learn English). For me Tupac is just someone I had around me when I grew up. From Tupac I went on to Nas, Gang Starr, The Roots, A Tribe Called Quest, Common... the list goes on and on, but Tupac will always be at the beginning. I started listening to Tupac when I was 10. Now I’m 36. 

What drew me to him? At first it was his voice and charisma, but as I grew older I finally could appreciate who he was as a person and as a songwriter. I still get moved to tears when I listen to songs like „Me against the world”, „Dear Mama”, „Papa’z song” and „Only God can judge me”. The way that he conveyed raw emotion is on par with the best artists in history. 

So when I got the news that the first authorized biography was coming out, I was pretty excited. At first I tried to get it published at my own publishing house, but I couldn’t convince my board that it was a good fit for our audience (I admit, it was a stretch). But when I got the word that my colleagues at SQN were interested too, I began pestering them to consider me as a translator. And here we are.

Tupas was a passionate artist. One of the things he taught me was the importance of passion in life. Now I can’t do anything unless I am passionate about something, otherwise it just seems like a waste of time. And now I am ready to make this book my passion project for the next 6 months – and I know that I’m equipped to do it right. And I want to do it. Please, let me do it.