Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.04.2017, Blaðsíða 8

The hip-hop scene in Iceland is boom-
in’. From big names like Sturla Atlas to
newbies like JoíPé, it seems like every
Adidas-wearing boy is either a rapper
or a rap fan. It’s true though—new art-
ists come out of the woodwork on the
daily and since everyone’s watching the
scene, talented acts can quickly receive
hype and attention.
Take, for example,16-year-old duo
“Hrnnr & Smjölvi.” After putting out
their first song, “Rúllum á Bílum”
(“Roll Up In The Car”), they started
getting asked to play gigs. That’s right,
first song. (The song is awesome, by the
way.)
But you might be wondering: How
do these guys start out? If you’re a no-
body from Hveragerði with only 20
friends on Facebook, how do you get the
world to listen to those sick beats you
just made on Ableton?
This is where Facebook group “Nýtt
Íslenskt Hiphop” (“New Icelandic Hip-
Hop”) comes in. The group functions
as a message board for new songs and
videos. Everyone from famous kids like
Emmsjé Gauti to unknown SoundCloud
rappers put their tracks on the group.
Though it’s mostly videos or songs, oc-
casionally people post weird rants and
call-outs that are pretty entertaining.
The group also holds a poll at the end of
the year to determine things like “Best
Artist,” “Best Song”, etc.
For us at the Grapevine, Nýtt Íslen-
skt Hiphop is good to cruise when
we’re trying to hit up new songs for our
playlists and articles. We’ve gotten a
lot from the group, and while it’s true
that Nýtt Íslenskt Hiphop is currently
inundated with a ton of SoundCloud
rappers... what’s so wrong with Sound-
Cloud rappers? It’s not like any Icelan-
dic SoundCloud rappers start their
songs like, “Y’all know who dis is, it’s
ya boy MC Þórgrímur.” Nah, that’s just
Americans.
For more on Icelandic hip-hop,
check out our feature on page 21. Share this article:
gpv.is/groups
Words
Hannah Jane
Cohen
DIGITAL LIFE
Glatað
Around Iceland in
80 Facebook Groups:
Nýtt
Íslenskt
Hiphop
WORD OF
THE ISSUE
The word of the issue this issue is
glatað. This is a word you will hear quite
often in the everyday speech of Iceland-
ers. While it has the literal meaning
of “lost” (e.g. “glatað vegabréf,” a lost
passport), it is also used colloquially to
mean disappointing, upsetting, or just
plain lame. As complaining is pretty
much the national pastime in Iceland,
getting to know glatað will take you a
long way in everyday conversation.
Used in a sentence: “Framboð Davíðs
Oddssonar var glatað en viðbrögðin
við því voru enn glataðri.” (Davíð Odd-
son’s [presidential] campaign was
disappointing, but the reaction to it
was even more disappointing.) PF
8 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 05 — 2017
Reader
Letter
Dear Grapevine,
I’m from London and recently
came to Iceland for the first time.
Me and my boyfriend stayed in an
Airbnb (I know, I know) on Grettis-
gata. I had a lovely time walking
around the streets, and tasting puf-
fin (but not whale!), and went on
the Golden Circle, which was spec-
tacular (and more expensive than I
expected, thanks a lot Brexit!).
But I have to say, I’d hoped to
meet more Icelandic people. Most
of the people we saw were holiday-
makers like us. By the end of the
holiday, I found myself thinking,
are Icelanders themselves the Hid-
den Folk?
So I wondered if you could tell me -
where are all the locals hiding??
Smite on!
Jade, London
Hi Jade!
Iceland has a population of
340,000 people spread over the
entire island, and receives over
two million tourists a year—and
counting—mostly to the Reykja-
vík area. How likely is it you’ll be
surrounded by tourists? Do the
maths.
The main reason you haven’t
met any locals is, I hate to break
it to you, because they’re avoiding
you. Because, as a group, you are
annoying and everywhere. Does a
local want to spend their weekend
queuing behind a bunch of selfie-
obsessed tourists at the Golden
Circle? Or buying souvenirs at a
puffin shop? No. In the same way
you don’t spend your weekend on
the London Eye.
So in short, the locals are hid-
ing anywhere you are not.
- The Reykjavík Grapevine
send us a line at
letters@grapevine.is
Smjörvi means Butter, and
trust us, he's smooth
LÓABRATORIUM
WHERE WAS IT SHOT?
Prometheus
Words: Joanna Smith
If you liked ‘Alien’, then ‘Prometheus’
is also a film by Ridley Scott, about
aliens. Some would call it a prequel,
others would call it a sellout. Regard-
less of your opinion of the movie it-
self, you have to admit that Ridley had
pretty good taste in film locations,
choosing none other than Dettifoss—
Iceland’s and Europe’s most powerful
waterfall—for the film’s the opening
scene.
After you’ve stopped singing along
to the 20th Century Fox fanfare, watch
as some gross-looking body-builder alien
stands atop of Dettifoss, drinks some bub-
bly black stuff, freaks the hell out, and falls
into the waterfall. It’s pretty dramatic.
And the rest of the movie is pretty
dramatic too. I mean, *spoiler alert* a
robot gives some lady a pretty horrific
looking abortion, but *spoiler alert*
no aliens pop out of anyone's chest.
Needless to say, it got mixed reviews.
No offense to the guy that got ripped
for this film and then covered himself
in white paint only to be shafted down
a waterfall, but the waterfall itself sort
of stole the show here. If you get the
chance to head up north to see it, you
must go. But don’t get as close to the
edge as the alien did. You are human.
And you will die.
Our favorite postman