Something which seemed unthinkable only a few weeks ago has just happened. 'Killing In The Name', a 1992 song about police brutality and racism has beaten the X Factor and Simon Cowell to the Christmas number one. The final festive chart topper of the decade is by fiercely radical rap metal group Rage Against The Machine. It's a story that has captured the public imagination, and captivated the corporate mass media.

The room smelled like a beer-drenched cement basement. Industrial piping hung low, visible in the moody lighting only when flash bulbs popped. As soon as Polish hip-hop artist Fisz took the back-room stage at Cargo Sunday night, mobiles slid out of pockets to snap photos and hands drew cameras out of their purse holsters. Fisz and his band, along with producer Emade, are musical mavericks in Poland. They capped off the "Fertilizer Festival: Good Shit from Poland" in a night that was as surprising as the words "Polish hip-hop."