By Mette Røgilds
Culture
Hip hop and urban music has become a major scene in Denmark. A lot has happened since the mid-80s, when there was breakdance on the street corners and the now very popular MC Einar and Rockers By Choice were the leading wild rappers. Today, the urban music scene embraces many different kinds of rappers, singers, toasters and producers – from hip hop, new soul and fusion to crunk, dancehall, R&B and multicultural mix. A kaleidoscope of musical productions now characterises the Danish urban music genre. This has happened because the Danish – and global – music industry, the consumers and the times all demanded an expansion in the scene. ’Danish urban music’ has now become an innovative, lively and colourful genre and culture. Denmark is a small country where the artists tend to network and co-operate, because they all know each other from the scene. This means that there is a solid inner core of artists who work in various combinations to ensure that Danish urban music and hip hop retain their unique impact and qualities.    Danish rap language has become popular, as hip hop has gradually become a respected part of the musical culture. At the same time, the growth of globalisation has meant that more and more English-speaking artists have appeared on the scene.		Nobody Beats the Beat
Music collectives
Producer and rap collectives have a strong culture which offer many possibilities to artists. In recent years, collegial links have also been forged between Danish and foreign artists, such as in the producer collective and band Nobody Beats The Beats, in which a number of Danish producers, rappers, musicians and foreign artists have come together in a single project focusing on hip hop, soul, jazz and funk. Guru, Grand Pupa, Brand Nubian, Erick Sermon, ADL and TY have amongst others made guest appearances on Nobody Beats The Beats' albums, which are released by Sonny B. Recordings, a label managed by hip hop entrepreneur DJ Typhoon (other releases: Ashtiania & Baltzer). Other collectives with international appeal and distinctive solo producers, DJs and musicians include Pelding and Booty Cologne. Booty Cologne has worked with the rapper Wildchild from the USA (Stone's Throw), and  Track 72 (aka Tue Track) from BC has chosen to feature the foreign rappers Craig G (Juice Crew) and J-Ro (Alkoholiks) on his debut album. Other artist groups include: Bikstok Røgsystem, Sky Juice Sound System, RubADub, Universal Sound, People's Choice and the Prunes. Most of these are reggae or ragga sound systems, which in their nature are based on collectives. The collectives have become strengthened as the dancehall scene has become a part of the urban music market.		Bikstok Røgsystem Photo: Rune Johansen
Snapshot of the producer landscape
The Danish hip hop and urban music scene encompasses a large number of talents on the producer side. Nobody Beats The Beats is, as previously mentioned, one of the collectives that include a number of recognised producers in the field of hip hop and the cross-over to jazz, electro, funk and soul - other gifted producers: Track 72, DJ Peder (The Prunes and Pelding), DJ Noize, DJ Steen Rock, DJ Scratchmagic, Robin Hannibal & Philip Owusu (Ubiquity), Nick Nack and Context. Several of the producers work with foreign names and labels. The producer group Lounge Lizzards has made its mark in the borderland between hip hop, soul and electronic music. The group produced several tracks on Arrested Development's latest release 'Among The Trees'. In relation to fusions of R&B, clubbing & hip hop, producers such as the Providers, Maximum Risk, Saqib, Picch Shifters and Mintman are among the leading and innovative musicians on the scene. In relation to hip hop, rap & clubbing, the artist group Natill & Static is an English-speaking producer and rap team whose shows have won them much recognition in the industry and abroad, as well as an invitation to take part in Scribble Jam in Ohio, 2003. Nik & Jay , with the two producers Jon & Jules as anchormen, are the best-selling urban/pop stars in the Danish firmament. Madness 4 Real is an older, popular urban music and hip hop producer group who previously comprised 2/3 of the rap group Den Gale Pose with the rapper Jokeren as front man. Madness 4 Real have produced many artists and rappers over the years. At the start of the 1990s the group lived in Los Angeles, where they produced the American rappers Eazy E, Ice Cube and Rakim, since when several more names have been added to the list. In 2005, they will release a solo album by the Danish R&B singer Elizabeth, and are also the team behind the up and coming rapper Mortito. The producer Ezi Cut is old school on the Danish hip hop scene. Back in the late 80s he was a popular radio host, and was also a club DJ in Copenhagen for many years. In the mid-90s Ezi Cut moved to Los Angeles, where he established a career as a producer for amongst others Tupac and Kurupt. Back in Denmark, Ezi Cut has produced a couple of albums for Jokeren, and produces for a large number of Danish rap names, including USO. In the near future he will be launching his own label, Drop Dead Music. The producer Phase 5 (owner of  Zu-J Records) also belongs to the first generation in Danish hip hop. With a long list of productions, releases and international co-operation behind him, he is much in demand as a producer, and has taken the rappers N.O.B.L.E., Clemens and L:Ron Harald under his wing. For more producer groups, go to www.danskrap.dk ( ’artists’).		Jokeren
Management
Soulcamp Entertainment is one of the leading urban music management agencies in the country, and also functions as a record label and publishing company, under the leadership of Thomas Børresen, general manager. Soulcamp has a number of leading artists in its stable, including Outlandish, Burhan G and Majid, as well as a number of well-known producers: Mintman, Maximum Risk, Saqib and the Providers. The Providers produced most of the critically-acclaimed album by the rapper Ataf Khawaja, ’Paraderne Nede’. Saqib is a leading producer of Outlandish's recordings, in co-operation with the hip hop entrepreneur/producer Jeppe Bisgaard. Rappers and singers – from hip hop to R&B. Major talents who have emerged from the underground include Jokeren (owner of Flamingo Records), Per V. , L.O.C, USO and Johnson (also known as the trio B.A.N.G.E.R.S.), Johnson & Malone, Johnny Hefty, Gisli, Niarn , Clemens , Al Agami, Ataf , Ufo & Yepha, Bikstok Røgsystem and Outlandish.		Burhan G
Female requested
R&B singer Karen, who issues recordings on her own Tophund label, has made an impression with Danish-language R&B.  Karen has her own radio programme, ‘Karen & Szhirley’, where she presents the latest offerings from the R&B, soul and hip hop front every Saturday evening with her colleague, singer Szhirley. Szhirley has made one album and has provided backing vocals for a wide range of artists, including Outlandish, Den Gale Pose and Miss Mukupa. In the eighties, Karen Mukupa linked up with the female dancehall toaster Natasja (former Lil’ T) in the legendary duo No Name Requested. Natasjas first solo album  has just been released, created in London in co-operation with DJ Pharfar and Mad Professor, amongst others. Camille Jones represents the rawer side of urban music – she mixes contemporary R&B with soul, guitar rock, hip hop and folk. Female Danish hip hop MCs are a niche. The best-known rappers are Mis Marie, MC Angie (a former member of the group Pimp-A-Lot), the rap group Looneyteknix aka KCL and Prinsesse Liv, MC Nina and the rap duo AidaIda, who are signed to Sony BMG.		Karen Photo: Agnete  Schlichtkrull
DJs  Danish hip hop DJs are well respected abroad, with DJ Noize being among the most famous. He is considered a turntablist virtuoso, but has in recent years functioned as an international DJ, and has won many competitions, such as the highly coveted ‘DMC World DJ Championships’. Every Friday evening, he hosts the hip hop radio show ’DJ Noize’ on the P3 channel. Other leading hip hop/urban DJs include DJ Static from Aarhus, DJ Knud and Uggerløse, DJ Rob Monies, DJ Ezi Cut, DJ Phil, DJ Atilla and DJ Møller (from Rent Mel), DJ Talkback, Dj Scratchmagic, DJ Steen Rock, DJ Typhoon, DJ Carsten, DJ Malachy (RubaDub) and DJ Pharfar (Bikstok).  Festivals and events 'Aarhus Took It' is one of the few purely hip hop festivals in Denmark, held in Aarhus, the second-largest city in Denmark. Artists such as Big Daddy , M.O.P  and Masta Ace have guested the event, which is organised by the promoter Kong Winther. The festival is held in the late summer/early autumn www.aarhustookit.dk Hip hop can also be experienced at large festivals such as Roskilde Festival, which regularly features major rap stars, and at larger music venues such as Vega, Rust and Voxhall. Management agency and concert organisers Soulkitchen are exponents of both the foreign and Danish scenes, (previously in collabaration with the legendary hip hop company Boulevard Connection).		Natasja
Local DJs, club promoters, rap and producer crews often hold jams at which up and coming names appear. All of these concerts, jams and club events are listed at ’where to go’ sites such as Onpoint.dk  –  Denmark's largest hip hop event calendar. The country's premier hip hop event is the popular rap competition MC Fight Night, organised by Primo Entertainment. The original idea behind MC Fight Night was to mix the most accessible part of the hip hop culture, namely the competition element (also known as battling), with the most crowd-appealing elements of a boxing match, namely the show aspect. Improvised rap is added to this mix, creating an entirely new kind of rap competition. The experience could be described as a blend of stand-up comedy, a hip hop concert and a boxing match, without being any of these.   ‘DMC Danish DJ Championships’ is the official Danish championship competition for DJs, and has been held since 1987. The event is held in co-operation with the British organisation DMC, which has branches all over the world. The winner goes on to represent Denmark at the ‘DMC World DJ Championships’.		DJ Noize
Links: www.danskrap.dk www.rapspot.dk www.flavourz.dk www.hiphop.dk www.urban.dk www.dancehall.dk www.soulportal.dk www.dr.dk/musik/urban www.actionspeax.dk November 2005