From the start of the new millennium, Iceland has been home to a fertile hip-hop scene. However, recently, the acts within have been gaining traction internationally, and a big reason for this is the deliberate use of English in their songs, rather than their native Icelandic language. Sturla Atlas, whose Season 2 mixtape we covered last year, is a major innovator in this regard, and, once again, he has delivered a project that takes the very idea of hip-hop into new and uncharted territories. 101 Nights, Atlas' new project, finds him and his crew of creatives (Joey Christ, Logi Pedro, and Young Nazareth) imbibing on the snowy streets of downtown Reykjavik and struggling through internal strife over whirling, synth-based instrumentals. Their finest moments here are when their pop hooks are soaring and their accompanying verses are deeply personal and self-analyzing, and, in eight concise tracks, Sturla and company fuse Icelandic and American cultures to come up with something truly unique. Below, you can listen to selections from the mixtape, and you can download 101 Nights for free HERE.
Sturla Atlas