Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.12.2015, Side 20

tinually stresses the lyrical and topi-
cal importance of hip-hop. “It’s sort of
necessary,” he says, “since everyone
speaks Icelandic, for us to have some
form of poetry to play with the mod-
ern vocabulary.” He pauses. “So you
can talk about, I don’t know, Insta-
gram, Snapchat, selfies or whatever
and place that into an Icelandic con-
text.”
At the same time, though, Auðunn
admits he’s a slave to production.
Though his musical roots lie in garage
rock bands and progressive metal, he
later studied jazz before turning to
electronic music. “I am so obsessed
with chords and being able to manip-
ulate every single sound,” he tells me.
This intricate technical understand-
ing of music is obvious when you hear
his tracks: his beats beautifully inter-
weave and play off each other.
Auðunn premiered Auður at Air-
waves, shortly after starting the proj-
ect—which admittedly leans towards
the R&B side of hip-hop culture.
Auðunn knows his hip-hop though,
aptly demonstrating his abilities in
his production of Emmsjé Gauti’s
recent hit song “Strákarnir.” “It’s
basically just about chilling with his
friends,” Auðunn tells me. He pauses.
“Uhm.” Then he laughs, with a big
boyish grin, “Yeah, pretty much just
that.”
Lord
Pusswhip
Members: Þórður
Ingi

Listen to:
“Wavelordz on
Thee River Ov
Time”
soundcloud.com/mantisfromdamudgang
“Hip-hop and making beats, for me,
is like making a tapestry or collage,”
Þórður Ingi, also known as Lord
Pusswhip, tells me. “You can take
from everywhere around you and re-
mix it.” Absolutely, Þórður’s beats do
have a collage-like mélange quality
to them. You’ll get comfortable with
the song and then out of nowhere he’ll
throw in something that completely
throws you off. Then you’re back to
square one. When you listen to Lord
Pusswhip, you never know what
you’re going to get.
Þórður started his musical career
playing in punk bands when he was
younger, before becoming obsessed
with eclectic and abstract hip-hop
that he found online. He started mak-
ing beats, rapping, and eventually
working under the Lord Pusswhip
title in 2010. “A friend of mine start-
ed calling me that… endearingly,”
Þórður says, stressing “endearingly”
with a smile. “At first it was DJ Puss-
whip and then a year later it became
Lord Pusswhip.”
Only a few weeks ago, Þórður re-
leased his debut album, ‘Lord Puss-
whip Is Wack’, via Cosmic Seagull.
He also recently moved from Reyk-
javík to Berlin. “This album was two
or three years in the making—it took a
long time to finish it.” He grins. “Now,
I’ll be able to focus on other things.”
Herra
Hnetu-
sMjör
(Pronounced Hair-uh Who-too-s-more)
Members:
Herra Hne-
tusmjör
Listen to:
“Selfie”
facebook.com/HerraHnetusmjor
Herra Hnetusmjör is often named as
Icelandic hip-hop’s most technically
skilled young rapper, and it’s easy to
understand why. At the tender age
of 19, he has already mastered an im-
pressive variety of flows and styles,
often employing several different
ones within the confines of a single
track, or even verse. His chosen name
translates to “Mr. Peanut Butter,” but
the rapper is quick to clarify that he
decided on the moniker before ‘Bo-
jack Horseman’ (which features a
character named Mr. Peanutbutter)
came about.
“It’s kind of weird to say, but I never
really listened to Icelandic rap grow-
ing up,” he tells me. “It didn’t seem
that cool to me, Icelandic rap. I ac-
tually started rapping as a joke, be-
cause I really didn’t like it.” Then he
smiles. You can tell his comments are
all in good fun. “But when I started
getting good at it, I was like, ‘Fuck it!
I’m an Icelandic rapper!’”
Now, he professes to love the scene.
“It’s amazing,” he tells me, naming
Gísli Pálmi and Úlfur Úlfur as his per-
sonal favourites.
“Well, I’m 19, so most of my songs
are just about being a stupid teenager
who drinks a lot,” he explains. His
lyrics are funny; he plays on words
while rapping about things like In-
stagram and selfies. “You know, if in
five years I have a baby, then I’ll rap
about that—but right now, I’m stupid,
I’m young, and I’m partying.”
What’s next for Herra Hnetusmjör?
“Taking over,” he responds with a
cheeky smile. “That’s the plan.”
Reykja-
víkur-
dætur
(Pronounced Wreck-yeah-vik-uh-die-
tore)
Members:
Anna Tara
Andrésdóttir,
Ásthildur
Sigurðardóttir,
Bergþóra
Einarsdóttir,
Guðbjörg Ríkey
Thoroddsen
Hauksdóttir,
Jóhanna Rakel
Jónasdóttir,
Katrín Helga An-
drésdóttir,
Kolfinna
Nikulásdóttir,
Salka Sól Eyfeld,
Salka Valsdóttir,
Sigurlaug Sara
Gunnarsdóttir,
Solveig
Pálsdóttir,
Steiney
Skúladóttir,
Steinunn
Jónsdóttir,
Sunna Ben,
Tinna
Sverrisdóttir,
Valdís
Steinarsdóttir,
Vigdís Ósk
Howser
Harðardóttir,
Þórdís Björk
Þorfinnsdóttir,
Þuríður Blær
Jóhannsdóttir
Listen to:
“Hæpið”
facebook.com/shlengideng/
“My first rap, I made when I was sev-
en years old. It was a Christmas rap,”
Tinna, a member of the rap collec-
tive Reykjavíkurdætur (“Daughters
of Reykjavík”) tells me. She’s since
turned to more political topics. “One
of my first songs with the group was
about sexual violence,” Tinna reveals.
“We performed it at the SlutWalk.”
Fellow rapper Vigdís shares Tinna’s
affinity for tackling serious topics, ex-
plaining that her songs, “range from
being about love to sexual assault,
politics and puffins.”
With seventeen members and a killer
stage presence that always draws a
crowd, Reykjavíkurdætur are hard
to miss, an increasingly vital presence
in Reykjavík’s music scene. The girls
came together a few years ago, forg-
ing their bond at women’s rap nights.
At the first one, Tinna tells me, she
performed a rap about blackheads.
“Don’t ask me why! Still, the audience
went crazy—not necessarily because
it was good, but because it was brave!”
Vigdís says that while she was grow-
ing up, the Icelandic rap scene was
completely controlled by men. “They
think they are in control, well the men
do, but it has changed. More women
are coming in with fierce lyrics and
attitudes,” she tells me. “We’re gonna
rule the world!”
Still, Tinna says the group happily be-
longs to the Icelandic hip-hop scene:
“For me, it’s like an erupting volcano,
creating a new landscape.” Bergþóra,
another member, concurs. “It's tutti
frutti,” she tells me. “It’s always get-
ting better!”
“The energy and power within the
group is totally unique and inspi-
rational,” Tinna says. And she’s ab-
solutely right—Reykjavíkurdætur’s
energy and power are indeed conta-
gious, palpable even. Attending their
shows, you cannot help but feel in-
cluded and inspired.
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