Reykjavík Grapevine - 06.01.2017, Page 22

22The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 01 — 2017

Born To Do It
GKR is Grape-
vine’s Artist of
the Year
Words JOHN ROGERS
Grapevine’s artist of the year award
goes to the musician or performer
who somehow helped to define the
zeitgeist during the preceding twelve
months. This year, our panel selected
22-year-old rapper Gaukur Grétuson,
whose optimistic, playful, colourful
version of Icelandic-language rap as
GKR seemed to personify the spirit of
the scene in 2016.
So, how does it feel to be the Grape-
vine’s artist of the year? “Yeah… shit!”
exclaims Gaukur, over a crackling
phone line. “It feels awesome. It’s al-
ways nice to get recognition for the
work you do, and confirmation that
you’re doing a good job. It’s a good
stamp on the GKR name.”
Arrival
GKR has been honing his craft for
three or four years. “The first time I
was doing stuff under the name GKR
was on the video game Counterstrike,”
laughs Gaukur. “But the first time
I made music as GKR was 2012. The
scene was still small then, but Gísli
Pálmi was building his name. Emmsjé
Gauti was releasing a couple of tracks,
and Blaz Roca and Rottweiler. Hip hop
was just starting to build up again.”
GKR started out online, making
connections to like-minded producers
via SoundCloud and YouTube. When he
released his first track track in 2014 he
got immediate positive feedback. After
the release of his 2015 single “Ballin,”
he played his first live show at Prikið,
and ended up rapping standing on a
table in the crowd. It was a formative
experience. “I was scared of going on
stage at first,” he recalls, “but then in
the third track, I just got this feeling.
I was so confident. I felt a moment. It
was completely me. It was what fit me
best. It came very naturally.”
The big stage
Since then, GKR has performed on
some of Iceland’s biggest stages, in-
cluding Harpa’s Silfurberg and the
Laugardalshöll sports hall. But to
Gaukur, the size of the show isn’t what
matters. “It’s all about the people,” he
says. “There’s no difference for me
between playing to 5000 people or at
Prikið—it’s the same feeling. It’s all
about the crowd and the energy they
give.”
That energy has been growing as
Icelandic rap hit the mainstream in
2016. “Things have changed so much,”
says Gaukur. “If you were talking about
rap five years ago in Iceland, people
would think of grey hoodies in the ga-
rage, or listening to it on the bus like
Eminem in ‘Eight Mile’ or something.
This year is the first time the Icelandic
Music Awards will have a category for
hip-hop and rap—it used to be mixed
in with rock, or country, or whatever.
And now I see a lot of kids, like my
cousins—just eleven or twelve—lis-
tening to mumble rap. They’re listen-
ing to Lil’ Yappy a lot. It’s super fun, it
seems very positive to me.”
Gaukur is determined to ride the
wave and reach out beyond Iceland’s
shores, including a gradual mixing
up of the Icelandic and English lan-
guages. “I want to work harder than
I’ve ever worked before,” he says. “I’m
gonna work so hard that it will be an-
other level. I want to move past Iceland
and play in other places. I’m not great
in English, but I want to incorpo-
rate English words into the Icelandic
tracks. If the hook of a super powerful
track like ‘Meira’ was in English, but
with Icelandic verses, it could work
in any country. In my opinion, energy
can always deliver.”
GKR
WHY GKR WON
The artist of the year award is
about presence. It’s about creat-
ing noise, creating a scene, and
generating local and international
attention. It’s about excitement.
And, oh yeah, it’s about music.
2016 was a loud year, and a few
bands and artists rose quickly to
the top. But, as one panellist put
it: “This is a fucking music award.
Not a PR award. All of that is con-
cerned, but it has to be good mu-
sic. It’s a package.”
GKR delivered. He showed up
in grocery stores near you and
has his warped “GKR” logo spill-
ing down the chests of teens and
festival-goers all around town. His
self-titled album was unanimously
agreed on as one of the top albums
of the year. He’s young, enthusiastic
and blowing up. Just like he prom-
ised.
“I knew we were going to do
this,” said one panellist after GKR
was agreed on. “It makes sense.”
22 The Reykjavik Grapevine Music Awards 2016
West-Iceland