Poland's pop princess

CNN's Phil Black talks to Polish pop star Natalia Kukulska about her music and why Poland inspires her.

Meet one of Poland’s biggest music stars, Natalia Kukulska, rehearsing in the musical studio at her Warsaw home. It’s the title track from her new Album Sexi-Flexi. Natalia is just 32, but she’s worked a long musical journey.

I was 6 years old when I sang my first song.

In the mid 80s, little Natalia was an unconventional pop star, but Poland loved her. Three childhood albums sold more than 2 million copies.

I don’t look so nice, so pretty. I like a lot of girls because of my glasses and I was a little bit fat, and I think that people like me because they saw, “oh, this is a typical girl.”

Natalia comes from a famous family, both celebrated and tragic.

My daddy is a composer and my mother, my mother was a singer. I said she was a singer because she’s gone.

Natalia’s mother Anna Jantar was one of the biggest Polish performers in the 70s. She was killed in a planned crash when Natalia was just four. Poland watched Natalia grow up and came to terms with that loss.

That was hard, because you know every, every time when I was on the stage, I know the people are looking at me, but they, they see also (没听出来) my mother in me.

In 1996, she launched her adult career. Six albums later, she’s confident people see her as an artist in her own right, successful, diverse and happy.

That the most important, I think, to me in my job is to do what I want, not what I should do. And I think that I have the time now. It’s a good time.

As Natalia grew, her country transformed from communism to thriving democracy.

Communism was so sad. Everything was uncolored, let’s say, and music was one of the things that make, make people more believe in the future.

Poland’s future is now one of great optimism. And Natalia says that brings great energy to the country’s contemporary music.

Everything is changing around you, and that’s inspiring.

Polish music was on show at this recent concert in London’s Wembley Arena. Natalia performed with the lineup at the country’s biggest music ?. While this art says she’s inspired by her homeland, she also hopes her music is influencing ? new sense of impalement.

Phil Black, CNN, Warsaw.