Kuba Szmajkowski after his TTBZ performance. “All forms of racism are alien to me.”

Kuba Szmajkowski’s performance on the show “Twoja Twarz Brzmi Znajomo” has become a topic of discussion not only at home, but also abroad. The international media criticised the young artist for his use of blackface make-up. Szmajkowski’s first reaction was a post on TikTok, which caused mixed feelings. He then decided to issue an official statement on Instagram.

Szmajkowski’s reaction to the controversy surrounding “TTBZ”

Kuba Szmajkowski and the creators of the Polish programme “Twoja Twarz Brzmi Znajomo” certainly did not expect such an echo after the performance of the artist who played the role of the dark-skinned rapper, Kendrick Lamar. It wasn’t so much the performance of the song that caused the controversy, but the make-up that referenced negative stereotypes. Following a wave of criticism, Szmajkowski originally posted the video on TikTok with the comment: “Me after making another bad decision, but I don’t care, because after all it’s for the sake of the storyline“. However, he later decided to convey a more thoughtful stance in a statement: ‘

The convention of the Your Twarz Brzmi Znajomo programme has invariably been, for nineteen editions, to impersonate specific characters that fall to us by lot. (…) We sing original lyrics from their songs, we imitate their original behaviour, movements and gestures, and the styling, make-up and hairstyle are supposed to make us look like the artists we are imitating, because that is what the show is about.

Szmajkowski went on to emphasise his perspective on the whole situation:

Impersonating Kendrick Lamar by wearing a mask resembling his image and make-up is not blackfacing and has nothing to do with any racism!

It

does not serve to reproduce negative stereotypes, it is not of a mocking nature.

In his conclusion, the artist emphasised that racism is alien to him.