New Era Explores The Icelandic Rap Scene

New Era presents the latest instalment of its music documentary series, this time set in Reykjavik. The series, which debuted with a trip to examine the youth culture of Accra in Ghan, earlier this year, sees New Era travel around the globe to explore underground music scenes and meet emerging creatives from different cultures and providing funding and support to fuel their creativity and work. 

Thischapter of New Era’s documentary series focuses on the rising sounds of hip-hop culture in Reykjavic. Heading north into the volcanic fields of Iceland, New Era settle at a venue called Prikið – a coffee shop by day and bar and club by night. Known as the beating heart of the Icelandic rap scene, Prikið has left an indelible mark in the music culture of Iceland. “It’s our church,” says Joey Christ, one of the city’s most acclaimed rappers. “It’s where artists get their first chance and where legacies are cemented.”

At the heart of the creative community in Reykjavik is Geoffrey Þór Huntingdon-Williams, the manager of Prikið and founder of Sticky Records.  “Iceland is a creative and magical place to grow up,” says Geoffrey. “We’ve always had this reemergence and disappearance of rap in Reykjavik. You could get deep about it, and relate it to the history of old Norse rhymes and how we have always liked to play with words. But something about the energy of rap music translates very well here.”

Check out the second instalment of New Era’s documentary below.

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