Gramatik

Gramatik
Birth name Denis Jašarević
Also known as Gramatik, Exmag
Born (1984-10-19) October 19, 1984
Portorož, Slovenia
Genres Chillhop, instrumental hip hop, downtempo
Occupation(s) producer, songwriter
Years active 2008–present
Labels Lowtemp
Associated acts GRiZ, Pretty Lights, Big Gigantic
Website www.gramatik.net

Denis Jašarević, better known for his stage name Gramatik, is an electronic artist from Portorož, Slovenia. His current sound falls under a mixture of hip hop, jazz and electro.

Early life

Jašarević’s began his interest in music at the age of three,[1] when his mother would catch him listening to American funk, jazz, soul and blues from his older sister’s cassette tapes. As he got older, he was entranced by hip-hop culture and listened to artists such as DJ Premier, Guru, RZA and Dr. Dre.[2]

At the age of 13, Jašarević started producing his first hip-hop beats on an early PC. He later began sharing his tracks through the online music store Beatport, which helped him create his following throughout the U.S. and Europe. Beatport was Jašarević’s gateway to emerging as an electronic artist and landing his first agent in the United States, Hunter Williams.[1]

Career

After Jašarević signed with his new agency, he moved to New York and released his first hip-hop album, Street Bangerz Vol. 1, in 2008. This album was on Beatport's Top 100 Chill Out chart for six months. In an interview with Britt Chester, Jašarević said, "I didn't even expect the album to sell one track on Beatport, nothing else was sold on beatport except techno and house. When I dropped my album and it started selling, I was really surprised, since I'd never seen a hip-hop album sell on Beatport. So when it sold, I was like 'Wow!' These were hip-hop beats, but it was labeled 'Chill Out' on Beatport. People saw it and thought it was awesome good chill out music, which is fine for me. I didn't expect it at all, and I didn't expect someone to reach out to me as a booking agent."[2]

A year after releasing his first album, Jašarević signed to the label Pretty Lights Music. At that time, the label consisted solely of American electronic artist Derek Vincent Smith, also known by his stage name, Pretty Lights.[2] The Pretty Lights Music label utilizes a fee-free music model, which ties in with Jašarević’s own philosophy about, “freeing music by making music free.” Speaking of one of his albums, #digitalfreedom, Jašarević says, "My new EP bears the title #digitalfreedom. As an artist that based his entire career on the platform of free file sharing, I'm dedicating it to the fight against severe internet censorship bills we've been hearing about so much in the past months. Bastards have been trying to cripple the internet on a global scale with bills like ACTA/SOPA/PIPA and I'm sure there's more of them coming, so this one goes out for spreading awareness! Reject them all, they will never stop the sharing, the Internet is our realm, DIGITAL FREEDOM!"

In 2013, Jašarević announced his departure from the Pretty Lights Music label in order to form his own label, Lowtemp. Jašarević came up with the name Lowtemp by abbreviating "low temperature" to indicate tracks from this label will be "cool".[3] His label now consists of artists Exmag (a side project of Gramatik),[4] ILLUMNTR, Gibbz, BRANX, and Russ Liquid. In 2014, Jašarević reissued his first seven albums—including the Street Bangerz series, renamed as SB—on the Lowtemp label with new or updated artwork.

Awards, Nominations, and Accomplishments

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

Compilations

References

  1. 1 2 "Gramatik Tracks & Releases on Beatport". Retrieved June 4, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 Chester, Britt (12 August 2011). "Gramatik on joining Pretty Lights Music and what he has in store for his show at Red Rocks". WestWord Blogs. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
  3. ↑ Jašarević, Denis (9 February 2013). "Gramatik (Facebook post)". Retrieved June 4, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Gramatik releases "Tilt Mode" from new live electronic group Exmag feat. Gibbz : Must-Hear first soulful debut single". September 11, 2013. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
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