Swedish hip hop

Emerging in the first half of the 1980s,cite web | url = http://www.streetzone.com/content/historia/svensk_historia/index.asp | title = "Guide till Svensk Hip-Hop Historia"| accessdate= 2007-09-06 sv icon] Swedish hip hop was first heard from the cities of Stockholm and Malmö. In the early days, most rappers in Sweden rapped in English. Just D and The Latin Kings, two very different acts united by their innovative use of the Swedish language, debuted a decade later and paved the way for a second, and bigger, breakthrough for Swedish hip hop. Today, some of the most popular rappers use Swedish, often in the form of "Rinkeby Swedish", the youth vernacular of many suburbs dominated by immigrants.

History

The beginning

Percussionist Per Cussion along with Grandmaster Funk is generally credited with bringing hip hop to Sweden. In 1984 they released the songs "Don't Stop", "Snow Blind" and "Payin´ The Price". Breakdancing had arrived a year earlier and spread quickly, its forerunners known as Robot Lasse, Mark, Spirio and Perkeles.

In the summer of 1984, following a major dance competition, Double M Crew, Abdula & The Rockers, Rock Ski, Almighty T and MC II Fresh joined together to form the hip hop collective Ice Cold Rockers, a crew consisting of rappers, scratchers, dancers and graffiti artists. Broadcaster D and One Eye Que (later recording under the name Ayo) started their collaboration.

Sweden, outside of Stockholm, soon became familiar with hip hop when the popular movie "Stockholmsnatt", which featured the IC Rockers, came out. Pop-C and Snoopy were on the soundtrack and had a hit in 1986 with their single "Next Time".cite web | url = http://www.qd3.com/executive_bios.php#qd3 | title = "Quincy "QD3" Jones, III: Executive Bio"| accessdate= 2007-09-07]

New artists followed in their tracks. Rob'n'Raz produced the album "Competition Is None" and introduced Papa Dee's dub and dancehall influenced rap to the Swedes. See-Que, from Stockholm, collaborated with the American label Priority Records on their compilation album "Basement Flavor".

The first real rap song in Swedish "Jag Är Def" came from MC Tim in 1989. The year after, Just D was formed and their decision to rap in Swedish would earn them a huge fan base, and introduce rap to the general populace.

The first breakthrough

In the end of the 1980s, hip hop became increasingly more popular in Sweden. The international success of rapper/singer Neneh Cherry's crossover album, "Raw Like Sushi", made the Swedish media take a closer look at the genre in the context of Sweden's native artists. The Swedish Championship in Rap was held for the first time in 1989 and the winner was ADL's group Sons Of Soul. The runner-up was Ms Melodie, who went on to have a career as Leila K. Briefly picking up the torch of Neneh Cherry, Leila K had an international crossover hit with the rap track "Got To Get". There was now a solid market for rap music and record companies were taking notice.
Just D's ironically titled album "Rock N Roll" became popular with many people who had yet to embrace hip hop. Snoopy (aka Quincy Jones III) had moved to the USA to produce acts like Young MC, LL Cool J and Ice Cube. The Sure Shot Groove (MC Stranger and Complicated C) debuted with the 12-inch "Rhymes R Flowin"'. The collective Infinite Mass won the Swedish qualification finals for the World Rap Competition and released their EP "Da Blackmass". One of their songs, "Shoot The Racist", was on the soundtrack for the 1993 movie "Sökarna" and became hugely popular. It was later renamed "Area Turns Red" due to some media controversy over the lyrics.

The Latin Kings ushered in a new wave of Swedish hip hop artists. They used ”Rinkeby Swedish”, sometimes described as a kind of a pidgin language, to describe life in the 'Million Programme' suburbs of Stockholm. Their 1994 debut album "Välkommen till Förorten" (Welcome to the suburb) was a success in the charts and favorite with the critics.cite web | url = http://www.djungeltrumman.net/v2/ICms/?Scope=&I=2614&P=0,512,621,624,2614 | title = Djungeltrumman.se: "Dogge Doggelito"| accessdate= 2007-09-07 sv icon] The coming generation of Swedish hip hop artists would be distinguished from the first by their inclusion of Swedish language rhymes, as opposed to the exclusive use of English rhymes by Sweden's first generation of rappers.

The second breakthrough

In 1998 Petter debuted with the album "Mitt sjätte sinne", which became an enormous success and started the Swedish hip hop boom of the late 1990s.cite web | url = http://www.svd.se/kulturnoje/musik/artikel_537397.svd | title = "Pappa hiphop" | publisher= SvD | accessdate= 2007-12-08 sv icon] With him came an array of artists, such as Thomas Rusiak, DJ Sleepy and Eye-n'-I. Other artists that achieved mainstream popularity following Petter's break include Ken Ring and Ayo. Feven released her acclaimed album "Hela Vägen Ut". Looptroop developed a middle class revolutionary style. Timbuktu, a native of Lund, emerged and went on to gain a reputation as one of Sweden's most popular MCs.

In the 21st century

Recent acts that has achieved nationwide recognition include: Promoe, Snook, Ayesha, Fjärde Världen, Fattaru, Ison & Fille, Advance Patrol, Lazee and Adam Tensta.

Many of these artists have been exposed to a domestic hip hop culture since they were born, or very young. In a sense the Swedish scene has become less volatile, and also less vulnerable to becoming extinct. Influence from the U.S. culture is no longer as significant; American hip hop is still important but outside influences also come from French, British, Danish, and Japanese hip hop, and other regions around the world with vibrant and innovative music scenes.

Due to file sharing via the Internet and changing consumer markets, the number of records an artist has sold is not necessarily indicative of how popular or important that artist is.cite web | url = http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=2622&a=622981 | title = "Nya kanaler lyfter svensk hiphop" | publisher= DN | accessdate= 2007-12-08 sv icon] There are Swedish hip hop acts who release records for what they know is going to be an economic loss, in hope of earning their money through concerts and other ventures.

The hip hop genres represented in Swedish hip hop are plentiful. Alternative hip hop is, most likely, bigger than Gangsta and Hardcore combined. There are also many fusion genres such as Neo soul, Grime, and Reggaeton.

Swedish rap often deals with themes of multiculturalism and positive suburban identity. Many rappers affirm their ethnic and racial background, but tend to identify more with their community and with Swedish minorities in general rather than with specific ethnic cultures, or with mainstream Swedish culture. Rapper Adam Tensta, for instance, takes his name from the suburb of Tensta and rhymes in his "Banging on the System": "Every burb the same man / and we got every color / we all the same man / at least to them we are / we all immigrants".cite web | url = http://www.myspace.com/adamtensta | title = "Banging on the System" | accessdate= 2008-10-16]

2008 is a European Year of Intercultural Dialogue and part of this effort was a hip hop summit in Stockholm called Make it blast!, which took place on the 27th of May. Chaired by Timbuktu, the festival featured rappers from Sweden and elsewhere in Europe and aimed to create dialogue between artists and between audiences of the European urban music scene.cite web | url = http://www.border-blaster.com/makeitblast/ | title = "makeitblast" | accessdate= 2008-10-16 sv icon]

Well known artists

The list of people who have made a name for themselves in Swedish hip hop can be made very long. With a few exceptions (Feven, Melinda Wrede, Remedeeh), most of the artists are men.cite web | url = http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=1058&a=264145&previousRenderType=2 | title = "De kom, de rappade, de försvann" | publisher= Sydsvenskan | accessdate= 2008-01-14 sv icon] Acts that has had some international success include QD3, Looptroopcite web | url = http://svt.se/svt/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=33068 | title = "LOOPTROOP Vägen från underjorden.." | publisher= SVT | accessdate= 2008-01-14 sv icon] , Max Peezaycite web | url = http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=2198&a=511461&previousRenderType=1 | title = "Svensk hiphop bedårar britterna" | publisher= DN | accessdate= 2008-01-14 sv icon] , and Million Stylezcite web | url = http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=2198&a=652406 | title = "Dunderhet på dansgolvet" | publisher= DN | accessdate= 2008-01-14 sv icon] .

Non-commercial hiphop

There have always been elements within the Swedish hip hop scene that has reacted against the commercial aspects of the music industry and have tried to find alternative distribution and marketing channels for the music. Internet has had a significant impact in how media is communicated, and through various online communities people without record deals have also been able to find audiences for their music. Examples of such communities that are centered around Swedish hip hop are Frizon and Whoa.nu.

Other popular websites that are used for sharing (and promoting music) include YouTube, Facebook, and MySpace.

The graffiti culture

Graffiti is, to a large extent, seen as an art form belonging to hip hop.cite web | url = http://sydsvenskan.se/skane/article259737.ece | title = "Tågmålarlegendaren, mossig ... och nyskapande" | publisher= Sydsvenskan | accessdate= 2007-12-09 sv icon] In the early 1980s, the American films "Style Wars", "Wild Style" and "Beat Street" would have a great impact and influence many would-be artists, as would the Swedish cult classic "Stockholmsnatt" a few years later. The first graffiti artists in the Stockholm area had names such as Disey, Ziggy, Razor, Merley (aka Liam Norberg), Puppet and Zappo.cite web | url = http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=1058&a=363173&previousRenderType=2 | title = "Graffitiveteranen är trogen gatukonsten" | publisher= DN | accessdate= 2007-12-09 sv icon]

In 2004, the rapper Promoe had a hit with the track "These Walls Don't Lie", recorded and mixed by Soundism, which dealt with the Swedish graffiti culture, and the dangers of creating illegal art at difficult locations.

ee also

* Music of Sweden#Hip hop
* European hip hop#Sweden
* List of Swedish hip hop musicians
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Swedish_hip_hop_musicians Category:Swedish hip hop musicians]

Notes

Books

*cite book | last = Almqvist | first = Björn | authorlink = Björn Almqvist | coauthors = Emil Hagelin & WUFC | title = Writers United. Historien om WUFC | edition = 1st ed. | year = 2005 | publisher = Dokument förlag | isbn = 978-91-973981-3-8 (About Writers United Fotball Club, a graffiti crew from Nacka)
*cite book | last = Andersson | first = Per | authorlink = Per Andersson | title = Medan Svensson åt plankstek | edition = 1st ed. | year = 2005 | publisher = Norstedts | isbn = 9789113012414 (About a group of graffiti artists from the suburbs of Stockholm)
*cite book | last = Jacobson | first = Malcolm | authorlink = Malcolm Jacobson | title = Dom kallar oss klottrare | edition = 1st ed. | year = 2000 | publisher = Dokument förlag | isbn = 9789163086113 (Interviews and photographs from the Swedish graffiti scene)
*cite book | last = Jacobson | first = Malcolm | authorlink = Malcolm Jacobson | coauthors = Tobias Barenthin Lindblad | title = Overground. 2 | edition = 1st ed. | year = 2006 | publisher = Dokument förlag | isbn = 9789197398145 (Interviews with eight Scandinavian graffiti masters)
*cite book | last = Ludvigsson | first = Emma | authorlink = Emma Ludvigsson | coauthors = Jonas Frank | title = The Latin Kings portafolio | edition = 1st ed. | year = 2005 | publisher = Wahlström & Widstrand | isbn = 9789146211402 (A biography)
*cite book | last = Palmgren | first = Johan | authorlink = Johan Palmgren | coauthors = Oskar Ponnert, Karolina Ramqvist | title = Shoot! | edition = 1st ed. | year = 2004 | publisher = Gidappa Förlag | isbn = 9789163156304 (A collection of photos of the greatest hip hop acts between 1996-2004)
*cite book | last = Sernhede | first = Ove | authorlink = Ove Sernhede | title = AlieNation is my nation | edition = 1st ed. | year = 2007 | publisher = Ordfront förlag AB | isbn = 9789170373237 (About the hip hop culture in Gothenburg)
*cite book | last = Strage | first = Fredrik | authorlink = Fredrik Strage | title = Mikrofonkåt | edition = 1st ed. | year = 2001 | publisher = Bokförlaget Atlas KB | isbn = 9789189044890 (Facts and rumors about most of the Swedish hip hop artists)
*cite book | last = Sännås | first = Per-Olof | authorlink = Per-Olof Sännås | title = Graffiti : ett gäng hip hopare och deras konst | edition = 2nd ed. | year = 1996 | publisher = Action bild | isbn = 91-7970-777-7 (About the Swedish graffiti culture)

External links

*Links to (English language) Swedish hip hop resources
** [http://www.capitalsthlm.com/en_index.html CapitalSTHLM] Graffiti site from Stockholm
** [http://www.djbattle.net/guide.php?switch=2 Djbattle.net] DJ/Scratch related site
** [http://www.qd3.com qd3.com] Hip hop broadband channel (founded by Quincy D. Jones III)
*Links to (Swedish language) Swedish hip hop resources
** [http://www.frizon.info/ Frizon] Hip hop site (established in 2001)
** [http://www.justdet.se/ JustDet] Newsmagazine about the Swedish hip hop scene
** [http://www.kingsizemagazine.se/index.php Kingsize Magazine] Hip hop magazine
** [http://www.sr.se/cgi-bin/sidor/amnessida.asp?ProgramID=2842&grupp=3871 Metropol Ametist] National Radio-show focused on Swedish hiphop
** [http://www.streetzone.com/ Streetzone.com] Hip hop site (established in 1996)
** [http://www.whoa.nu/ Whoa.nu] Hip hop community

*Links to Swedish hip hop labels
** [http://www.looptrooprockers.com/ David vs. Goliath]
** [http://www.flejvarecords.com/ Flejva Records]
** [http://www.jujurecords.com/ JuJu Records]
** [http://www.redlinerecords.com/ Redline Records]
** [http://www.royalty.se/ Royalty Music]