Reykjavík Grapevine - 14.07.2017, Síða 40

Shards of Glass and
Iron Scraps
Kött Grá Pje retires
Words: Steindór Grétar Jónsson Photo: Art Bicnick
“I feel average, which is something
I can’t be content with,” says the
artist and writer Kött Grá Pje. He
announced his retirement from rap
music on Twitter just this July 9. “I
made the decision after due con-
sideration, having taken a long and
tedious look at myself,” he tells The
Reykjavík Grapevine.
Kött Grá Pje broke through in
2013 on the track “Aheybaró” and
q u i c k l y b e c a m e
known as an electric
performer, dressed
in his trademark
flamboyant style and
connecting with the
audience through his
erratic physicality.
But the now-former
rapper, real name Atli
Sigþórsson, feels he
can’t express himself
like he wants in the
genre.
“I’m somehow at
odds with it and I
can’t adjust my per-
spective,” says Atli. “I
don’t have the stam-
ina to keep up with
trends aimed at young people. And
I feel like I haven’t accomplished
what I wanted in rap. I haven’t been
able to fine-tune my music like I’d
hoped. Grind it down to broken
shards of glass and iron scraps.”
The Devil’s control
In lieu of rapping, Atli intends to fo-
cus his efforts on writing. He’s sub-
mitted a collection of microstories
to the publisher Bjartur, which he
expects to come out this fall. The
manuscript is enti-
tled ‘Hin svarta út-
sending’, which loose-
ly translates as “The
Dark Transmission.”
“Since I delivered it
I’ve been adding to
it as if the devil con-
trolled my pen, but
it should be rescued
in editing,” he says.
“After this is pub-
lished I’ll once more
attempt the novel
which has plagued me
for the last few years.
It wants out.”
His interest in
rap still remains,
even if he won’t be in-
volved in the performance side him-
self. “I’ll still listen to rap as a critic
and fan, which I think will help me
understand the phenomenon as
is,” he explains. “Now I experience
greater artistic expression in writ-
ing microstories than rap lyrics. But
I haven’t stopped making music, I
feel a glut of weirdness gestating
within me.”
Catholicism, silver,
princes
In the past, Atli has been open about
living with depression and anxiety,
which he feels creative endeavors
can help alleviate. “The rap perfor-
mance has been so mentally impor-
tant to me that I’m forced to find
some successor, or else I’ll explode
or collapse like a black hole,” he con-
fesses. “Whether it’s spoken word
or electronic punk or contemporary
dance or I don’t know. Readings give
me sincere pleasure, but they lack
the madness and bedlam, which I
can’t be without.”
Atli is currently travelling in
Spain and says he feels touched by
the reception to his announcement.
“It surprised me in all honesty and
I don’t want to make anyone sad,”
he adds. “I’ll try my best to deliver
something frenetic and lovely in-
stead.”
A graduate of history and cre-
ative writing from the University
of Iceland, Atli claims a long-term
interest in Spanish and Iberian his-
tory. “It’s some kind of a vacation,
wandering around the central terri-
tories of Spain, drinking, sweating
and loving,” he says. “Catholicism,
silver and North African princes.
And cheap rum.”
Music 40The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 12 — 2017
“I don’t have
the stamina to
keep up with
trends aimed
at young peo-
ple. And I feel
like I haven’t
accomplished
what I wanted
in rap.”
gpv.is/music
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Atli Sigþórsson is going to concentrate on literature instead of hip-hop.
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