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PLAYLISTS OF THE PRO’S: MACIEK RUTKOWSKI

You’re sitting on the beach, anxiously waiting for your next heat. The sun’s blazing, your adrenaline’s pumping, and your headphones are on. Now’s the time to rock out. But the big question is… What’s on your playlist? Is it a chill track to calm your nerves, some soothing opera, dance beats or a head banging anthem to get you hyped enough to pull off something totally insane?

In case you missed this we are re-visiting the playlist of Maciek Rutkowski from our playlist of the pro’s feature…without doubt Maciek was the most passionate about his music so let’s find out what tracks he normally turns to and why…especially when fighting back onto the podium after a few mishaps on the opening day of Fuerteventura? Get ready to rock!

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MACIEK RUTKOWSKI

I’m one of those guys that have a few (or even one!) songs on repeat for a few weeks at a time – play the hell out of them on one trip or one situation and then the next trip or next month is a new set, so looking back I really remember which song I was binging at which contest and have some pretty strong associations – the music really makes me remember the vibe of the place and moment in time and what happened at that given trip, event or time of my life!

Rob Zombie – Dragula (around 2000)

This is the soundtrack to probably the best windsurfing video part of all time. “That’s 4th gear flat out” says Polakow, proceeds to jump a 50 meter gap on his dirt bike and from there the action only gets better.. Insane tail throws, massive jumps, big bails, just the absolute essence of windsurfing. This movie is still soo relevant today, that style is super timeless and will never be outdone + the editing is fast and really fits the music. I like Tonix, I like Taylor Steele I like a bunch of winter stuff but growing up Chili Video was the shit! It would’ve been the best windsurfing video part soundtrack if it wasn’t for…

(https://youtu.be/SEejUnl07q0?si=k3HHkBg2-qwa4ed7&t=1618)

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Phantogram – When I’m small (2011)

This song is insane. You can play it loud and get absolutely pumped on it, you can play it in the background and chill out to it. Plus, that part of Minds Wide Open with the guys absolutely ripping Cabo Verde must be one of the best of all time. It’s a vibe by itself. The only song that could ever possibly beat it for a windsurfing video is…

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozNR9G32fyw)

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Pendulum – The Tempest (2011)

This song has everything – a slow-paced intro for some impressive scenic shots, a powerful guitar section for some insane action and then that drum ‘n’ bass-ish finish for a crash part! When I listen to songs that I would use for a windsurfing edit I can see the shots before my eyes. And for this one I feel like I simply don’t have big enough action yet, so I’m saving it for a time when I sail good/strong enough to match that intensity. Chile could be the place, I’d really love to go back there! Hope nobody steals the song before though, now that I’ve put it out there haha! Actually, it’s been out there for years, the teaser of “All I Can”, a pretty sick ski film has it, so maybe that’s why nobody touched it afterwards…

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmxLE9RDPk4)

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Pearl Jam – Deep (Tenerife, 2014)

This is from probably my first edit that I can still watch without cringing haha! Some of the turns are actually pretty good for a Polish guy ha-ha! Super powerful song; would love to see it live and still blast it once in a while. Pearl Jam Twenty is a pretty great documentary as well!

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUinUKIPj-E)

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Eddie Vedder – Into the Wild OST (South Africa, 2014)

Before we move into the “rap phase” of my life, this is the album I had on repeat while driving around South Africa with Timo Mullen in 2014. Luckily in separate cars, cause “Into the Wild” is a pretty great film, gets me quite emotional and somehow this album really connects me to that pure, emotional, flow-y part of self. Great to calm down but not recommended before a big day of battling 100kg slalom guys in Pozo!

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39A7vRFfO6U)

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UNDADASEA – Jaszczur (Poland, 2018)

I love music but can’t sing for shit. But I love words and storytelling, so I’ve been writing raps since high school, not really showing them to anyone except the occasional freestyle with my beatboxing friend in history class when things got super boring. But in October 2018, right after sailing some pretty epic conditions in Poland I was meant to record a voiceover for a commercial for one of my sponsors. So, I went to my friends studio in Gdynia, did the voiceover quickly and before I knew it, it turned into a bit of a rap party. Everyone was playing beats, we finally decided to use this one super hard beat and write some words to it. Few hours later the song was ready and few weeks later it had a million views on YouTube. Thanks to that I got to perform in front of a few thousand people which is something I will absolutely never forget

P.S. This might be the most viewed windsurf video of all time ha-ha? If you count those 3 little clips of me windsurfing cut into the music video that is!

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f4OZRI3ujc) 

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Eminem – Lose Yourself (Denmark, 2019, first PWA podium and bullet)

I mean… that’s pretty obvious… Is there a better hype-up, motivational, me-against-the-world song then this?

In 2019 I was slowly starting to find my stride. In Fuerte I came 6th after an up and down performance but it was my best PWA Slalom result to date. Next up was Denmark. The second day served us 40-knot winds, big chops and even bigger rain squalls. I was pretty much the only guy to be consistent that day and climbed up into the top three. We had a lot more racing, but I managed to stay in 3rd util the last day, tied in points with the magician Julien Quentel and one point ahead Mr. podium himself, Ross Williams. Last day came, they announced it will be one elimination, the conditions were light, by far my least favourite. But somehow, with the help of this song I managed to get myself into the mindset of: “put it all on the line and whatever happens, happens” and truly put myself in the moment. Ben Proffitt came for an interview, asked me about the song and I rapped the whole thing on the PWA livestream, so safe to say I was pretty pumped. Ross lost on the semi, so it was me and Quentel in the final. I sat on him before the start, not caring about anything else but beating him. He knew exactly what was going on and went slightly early. In the last second, he slammed on the breaks, but I had a feeling we were not over early and went for it. It was a perfect start, I came down the first reach first, won the final and got the podium! All thanks to some mom’s spaghetti…

(https://youtu.be/6AOtp3dmHu4?si=HovyAP4a2LFnws8u&t=668)

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Taco Hemingway – W.N.P (Croatia 2021, probably best PWA event win)

Taco Hemingway is probably my favourite polish artist. The lyrics are quite often super insightful, clever and totally about things specific to my generation. Here where it gets weird. This song is about the fact that my generation generally had a normal upbringing, mostly 2 loving parents, yet sexual stuff was still super taboo, and nobody really spoke about it. Everyone secretly watched porn and at every school there was guys that somehow had it, sold it on CDs and then everybody kept it on their computers in folders like “Baldurs Gate” or “biology presentation”. The song is not like the best song ever but I got hooked on these 2 lines that go like “When a guy watches the Matrix he won’t go around jumping buildings, but when a guy watches step sisters he’ll start dreaming of his cousins”. Sounds way better in Polish and I just had that verse in my head every race, every first reach. I was flying that event, won 5 eliminations in a row across 3 days and won the event with a day to spare. Great memories with a very weird soundtrack!

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtYLfO08GiY)

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Queen – I Want it All (Japan 2022, PWA World Title)

In 2022 I was leading the Sylt event for 9 days, just to lose it on the very last one to Amado. I was a little bit tentative on the last day, trying my best not too loose and I lost. Coming into the title showdown in Japan I was looking for a similar mindset like in Denmark 2019. Do your best, be greedy for it, but don’t care what happens if you lose.

I needed something for that greed part. I was going through some old rock playlist on Spotify and that song showed up. “I want it all” – perfect! That Japan event was one of my best performances – compared to the guys I was fighting I was quite slow. But I kept finding ways to overtake people and pass heats. I kept choosing the right gear, the right settings and despite missing top speed I managed to bring the title home in some crazy circumstances!

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x5V6VaYXIU)

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Nicholas Britell – Succession (Garda 2023, event win)

The 2023 season opener was in Garda. Normally May there is sunny, windy, amazing. We got super unlucky, and the temperature never really got above 12 degrees, we had a lot of rain and very little wind. A lot of waiting, in and out of a never-drying wetsuit, super easy to get into a negative, nagging mood and not wanting to go racing. I had something to prove though – I won a world title without winning an event and of course I wasn’t the first one to do it that way but people tend to have short memories. In racing to perform sometimes one has to find that inner motherfucker, that bastard that doesn’t let up, that fights for every centimeter, is (again) greedy and doesn’t care what anyone else thinks. And who embodies that more then Logan Roy? So I was playing that on repeat before racing and it put me into exactly that  ruthless motherfucker mood. And again I wasn’t even close to the fastest guy out there but I managed to find a way to win the event, which was nice statement coming off of a world title.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0WzqanwlG0)

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Central Cee & Dave – Sprinter (Pozo 2024)

Since this is a British magazine, I figured I gotta put some UK sound in. Bonus points for saying SUVs are too small and one needs a Sprinter van. I guess we need it for different reasons, but still… I had this on repeat during Pozo 2024, the first ever event of Slalom X… it was mega fun!

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Kendrick Lamar – man at the garden (Currently..)

Since this latest GNX album came out in November I’ve had it pretty much on repeat. There’s at least like 8 great songs on there and I pretty much have a new favourite every week. It’s “gloria” feat. SZA if I’m driving and wanna sing and dance, “reincarnated” if I’m working out, but “man at the garden” hits home every time. Being a pro windsurfer, having this amazing life, it’s quite easy to suffer from something like impostor syndrome. The verse “I deserve it all” clears that up pretty good. On the other hand it helped endure the long, gnarly contract negotiations of 2025 when at time you really think “Am I really worth that little?

So “Tell me why you think you deserve the greatest of all time, motha….?!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiALRpD0Ztg