Reykjavík Grapevine - 02.06.2017, Page 42

No Acceptance
Needed
Horror rap and feminism from Fever Dream

Words: Hannah Jane Cohen Photo: Video Still
“I want people to be afraid of me,”
proclaims Vigdís Ósk Howser
Harðardóttir, the feminist rapper
and poet known as Fever Dream. Her
new track “Reyndu
BARA” is out, with
an accompanying
music video that’s a
scathing attack on
the male dominance
of Icelandic hip-hop.
V igd í s, a for-
mer member of the
feminist collective
Reykjavíkurdætur,
maintains that a hi-
erarchy has already
been established in
the nascent scene.
“You can’t talk about this stuff with-
out them getting defensive,” she says.
“I’m just pointing out the obvious
inequality. As soon as the discussion
becomes difficult to them, we’re just
annoying, we should watch what we
say.”
Provocative existence
Reykjavíkurdætur faced opposition
from day one, and were famously
berated by established rappers for
their “bad music.” As she’s grown
more confident in her abilities, Vig-
dís says that now, she doesn’t need
acceptance. “Every time I put out
new music I was scolded, told I suck,
shouldn’t be doing this, and that
somebody should rape
me,” she says. “It really
went that far.”
“I don’t need to
do a track with the boys
to feel like, ‘Yes, I’m fi-
nally in,’” she contin-
ues. “They just hype
each other because
they’re friends. They’re
not my enemies, but I
don’t need their accep-
tance anymore. People
act like I’m something
new, but I’ve been per-
forming for three years with Reyk-
javíkurdætur, and released a bunch
of stuff. I’ve had festival promoters
tell me, ‘Well, you
haven’t really done
anything yet,’ and
I’m like, ‘Yeah sure,
I just played to a crowd of 20,000 at
Roskilde last year.’”
Last year, Vigdís left Reykja-
víkurdætur to focus on her own mu-
sic. “Those girls are awesome,” she
exclaims. “Reykjavíkurdætur didn’t
even need to do anything provoca-
tive. We just existed, and that was
provocative in itself. We never had
the leeway to be amateurs, we start-
ed rapping and everyone shouted
how much we sucked, as if every Ice-
landic rapper is great from day one.
The music I made two years ago, it’s
not something I’d make now. But
there has to be the scope to improve
and participate. Why do sixteen-
year-old boys get more flexibility
than adult women?”
Horror rap
Vigdís has been making waves as
a live performer, with her repu-
tation on the stage preceding her
solo studio releases. Her experi-
ence as a performance poet plays
a part. “I’m direct in my delivery
and I enunciate,” she says. “I’m
not mumbling half-sentences of
made-up words. My lyrics have a
message. When I try to move away
from that, I’m like, ‘Now you’re
writing a party track, Vigdís, just
be chill and leave out the political
stuff’—even then, there’s always
the underlying seasoning of the
politics I identify with.”
An EP is set to drop in late June,
produced by her collaborator Mar-
teinn Hjartarson, aka BNGR BOY.
“We’re creating ‘Twin
P e a k s ’ - i n s p i r e d
soundscapes—hor-
ror rap,” she says. The
“Reyndu BARA” video showcases
what’s to come and features her five
adorable dogs. “I love and worship
them,” she finishes. “There’s also a
bunch of friends from my crew, par-
tying and striking poses. The video
is inspired by classic rap videos with
a horror film twist.”
Music 42The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 09 — 2017
“Every time I
put out new
music, I was
scolded,
and told I
shouldn’t be
doing this.”
Twin Peaks-inspired horror rap in action
gpv.is/music
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