Music in Greenland

What do Greenland and Hawaii have in common?

Quite a lot, if you listen to the sliding notes from Jens Hendriksen’s pedal steel guitar in Greenland’s first popular music genre, Vaigat music. Despite the genre’s dance-friendly and feel-good vibe, Vaigat music holds a gloomier place in the collective consciousness of Greenland, as it is considered the sound of the mining town Qullissat, which was closed by the authorities in 1972. The town’s population was relocated to various other towns and settlements, but many continued to feel deprived of their hometown for the rest of their lives.

Vaigat music originated in the 1950s and is named after the Vaigat Strait between the Nuussuaq peninsula and Disko Island. It is no coincidence that the genre originated in Qullissat. The town was a unique example of industrialisation in the country. Here, the population worked primarily with coal mining and not with the more traditional activity of hunting and fishing. Perhaps it is therefore that there was a significant need for entertainment, and the local orchestra, under the direction of Jens Hendriksen, raised money for the purchase of the first instrumentarium in Greenland, which included a pedal steel guitar, which characterises the sound of Vaigat music.

Vaigat music consisted partly of versions of American country and western songs, such as Andy Williams’ track, “A song of old Hawaii”, which in Greenlandic became the song “Hawaii” or “Nuna Hawaii” (The Land of Hawaii). The Vaigat Orchestra released some of the earliest EPs in Greenlandic music history, and the genre still has a few connoisseurs. The sandy beach just outside Qullissat is also still there, so it’s simply a case of throwing off your shirt, sticking the Vaigat Orchestra in your ears, and watching the icebergs sailing by while the midnight sun shines over Disko Bay. However, mosquito spray is highly recommended!  

The Eskimos

You may have heard that the word ‘eskimo’ is no longer politically correct. But this has not always been the case. When rock music came to Greenland in the 1960s, it was a popular band called The Eskimos, a group of students from Nuuk, who played the international hits of the time like “Mr. Twist” and “My Bonnie”, with a focus on international stars such as Cliff Richard, Elvis and The Beatles. But… When music was played for dansemik in community centres, there was no avoiding  kalattuut. So The Eskimos’ discography consisted of approximately 50% kalattuut played on rock ’n’ roll instruments.

Sume

Sume, photo by Ebbe Knudsen with permission from ULO and DEMOS

You cannot talk about Greenlandic rock music without mentioning the band Sume. Their significance to Greenland is comparable to the importance of The Beatles internationally. Just like The Beatles, Sume had two very different frontmen, and the band’s creative explosion happened amidst the dynamic between these two individuals and their collaboration with the anti-imperialist movement in Copenhagen in the 1970s. On one side there was the politically conscious and socially critical singer and guitarist Malik Høegh, and on the other side was the more civilly educated, but more musically experienced, Per Berthelsen.

During the 1970s, Høegh and Berthelsen, along with a constantly changing crew of musicians, created three of the most important records in Greenland’s music history. But they created much more than that. At a time when Greenland was being modernised in line with the Danish model, Sume was the spearhead of a political and cultural movement, which fought for the reintroduction of Greenlandic culture and language, and which led to the introduction of Home Rule in 1979. The music was in Greenlandic. It centred around Greenlandic culture and history and used cultural symbols, such as the frame drum, and the music was strongly critical of the Danish influence in Greenland. This paved the way for the development of a society that functioned to a greater extent on Greenlanders’ own terms, but also for a kind of rock music that was more than simply a copy of international trends.  

Zikaza

Zikaza, photo: Iben Andersen

In the 1980s, Greenlandic-language rock music thrived, and this was when many of the great icons who still play to this day came into being. The equilibrist band Zikaza, with Siiva Fleischer as the frontman, delivered one of history’s best albums, “Miki Goes to Nuussuaq” in 1988. The focus was taken away from Denmark in Siiva Fleishcer’s songs, and eyes and ears were opened to the world. The music was in Greenlandic, but Greenlanders were people, and people were equal, and deserved to live in peace and with mutual respect.

Ole Kristiansen

Ole Kristiansen Photo: Leif Josefsen

The following year, another mastodon in music history appeared, when Ole Kristiansen released his debut album. With clear inspiration from intellectual artists such as David Bowie and the Dane Lars H.U.G., he stepped onto the Greenlandic music scene and became Greenland’s dark and mysterious poet. His abilities as a lyricist are hailed throughout Greenland, and you would have to look long and hard to find someone in Greenland who cannot sing along to hits such as “Arnarulunnguaq”, “Zoo Inuillu” (Zoo and Humans) and “Mannik” (The Egg). Ole Kristiansen’s music is about man’s inner universe, but nature is also ubiquitous, as an illustration of man’s emotions, and as the environment in which one explores his innermost existence.

Mariina

In the 1990s, the group Mariina, led by Marina Schmidt, appeared, and released one of the bestselling albums in Greenland’s music history, “Utaqqivunga” (I am waiting). Although the guitarist and accompanying singer Hans Lange was a key figure in the band, Mariina contributed to rock music by having a woman as the lead, and Mariina became a key source of inspiration for many female singers who flourished in pop music throughout the 1990s. In the group’s huge hit Tupilak, the band elevated the track using elements of throat singing, and helped to create an increased awareness of this Inuit tradition, which originated in central Arctic Canada.

Chilly Friday

At the turn of the millennium, the group Chilly Friday released their debut album “Inuiaat 2000” (Man in the Year 2000). The band’s international inspiration was obvious, partly because the record mixed English and Greenlandic lyrics, and partly due to the fact that the grunge wave, and especially Pearl Jam, clearly offered many role models for Chilly Friday. But Greenland was ready for grunge, and Chilly Friday delivered some of the 00s’ bestselling albums and most packed concerts.

In 2002, Chilly Friday received competition from DDR (Disko Democratic Republic). As the name suggests, this was a band from Disko Bay. DDR’s music was on the softer side compared to Chilly Friday’s, and the band sang exclusively in Greenlandic. At least until the Danish producer Henrik Marstal asked the group re-record Danish music legend Kim Larsen’s protest song “Cape Farewell to Ümanarssuaq” for the album “Protestsange.dk”, which came out in 2006. Although the song’s words came from Kim Larsen, it had a certain impact in Denmark when it was suddenly a Greenlandic band singing: “That white man – send him home!”

Nanook

Nanook, photo: Anders Berthelsen

2009 was also the year in which the band Nanook released their debut album “Seqinitta qinngorpaatit” (Our Sun Shines On You) that quickly made the band famous in Greenland. With the brothers Christian and Frederik Elsner up front, and a detailed soundscape which draws inspiration from, among others, the Icelandic post-rock group Sigur Rós, the band has since gained international acclaim and is, for example, the first Greenlandic band to be released in Japan.

Small Time Giants

Small Time Giants, photo: Steen Olsen

Small Time Giants are even more rooted in the post-rock genre than Nanook, and are a chapter all of themselves. The band has challenged conventions for live concerts in Greenland, by breaking down the divide between the stage and the audience. In addition, the band’s lyrics are almost exclusively in English, which has otherwise been a no-go in Greenland since Sume. Nevertheless, Small Time Giants have gained a significant fanbase in Greenland and have also played concerts in the United States, the Nordic countries and Germany. With Small Time Giants, Greenlandic rock became acceptable in English once again, although since Sume there has emerged a strong tradition of Greenlandic-language rock music, which deals with themes that are particularly relevant in Greenland. Many of the aforementioned musicians have also entered politics, and there are very few places in the world where it is more true to say that rock music has helped to change the world.  

The division between pop and rock music is in Greenland, as in many other places, extremely fluid. A lot of music moves in the space between the two genres. In addition, most musicians in Greenland would rather be rock musicians than pop musicians. But there is a tendency for solo artists to be more comparable to the pop genre than bands.

In reality, however, various different forms of pop music have been being released in Greenland for a long time, also by bands. In the early years of popular music, this was primarily in the form of suassat music (soup music), like Jens’ Trio. This genre is still alive and well, driven by names such as Enok Poulsen and Suernerit (Wind). Sume’s lead singer, Per Berthelsen, also released a number of well-known and beloved folk-pop albums in the 1980s together with his sister Birthe Olsen, after he had moved back to Greenland and Sume had been temporarily dissolved.

Zedna

A milestone in recent Greenlandic pop music was the album Zedna from the year 2000, on which a string of the most beloved contemporary pop singers in Greenland collaborated. Of these, Nina Kreutzmann and Julie Berthelsen in particular turned out to be two of Greenland’s most important voices.

Julie Berthelsen

Julie Berthelsen – private archive

Julie Berthelsen built her music career primarily in Denmark. After participating in the Danish talent show Popstars in 2002, she became one of Danish pop’s most hyped artists, and her debut album Home managed to reach number 1 in the Danish charts. She has since released a number of albums and remains one of Danish TV’s personalities.

Nina Kreutzmann had already made a name for herself in the late nineties as the lead singer of the group Qulleq (oil lamp). After a world tour as a backing singer for the Icelandic artist Björk, she began recording of her solo album in 2003, entitled “Eqqissineq” (Serenity), but it would be 5 years before the album was finished. When “Eqqissineq” finally hit the shelves in Greenland, the album became a big selling success. The album was a mixture of new interpretations of well-known artists as well as new compositions, and Siiva Fleischer’s cosmopolitan national anthem “Silarsuaq takuiuuk” (Have you seen the world?), in particular, was given new life by Nina Kreutzmann’s interpretation.

Nina Kreutzmann could have chosen to follow up “Eqqissineq” with another Greenlandic language album, but she was an artist with something to say, so she chose instead to release a self-written Danish language album entitled “She Stands in the North Wind”, to emphasise the existence of Danish-speaking Greenlanders. The album was not a sales success, although an associated collection of short stories of the same name was praised by critics and highlighted Nina Kreutzmann’s potential as a writer.  

Nina and Julie have been friends since high school in Nuuk, where music was an interest they shared. Although their musical paths parted when Julie became famous in Denmark and Nina continued her career in Greenland, the two friends have occasionally come together to demonstrate what they can create together. This happened, for example, when they, together with a choir from Greenland, won the choir competition AllStars on Danish TV in 2010. In 2019 they reunited on another project, when they participated in the Danish Eurovision Song Contest with the track “League of Light”. Nina and Julie went all the way to the Danish final and got the most votes from the viewers, but the Danish judges chose to send the track “Love Is Forever” to the Eurovision final instead.

Kimmernaq Kjeldsen

The list of well-known Greenlandic singers cannot be complete without including Kimmernaq Kjeldsen. Although she is an actress by education, and did not have much musical experience when she went into the studio with her friend and songwriter Pilu Lynge to record the album “Tunissut” (The Gift), the album became a huge hit when it was released in 2007. On the sequel “Uani” (Here) from 2013, Kimmernaq collaborated with songwriter Frederik Elsner, and managed to deliver yet another solid album.  

Nick Ørbæk

Nick Ørbæk is one of the newer names on the Greenlandic pop scene. He is a bit of an ‘odd one out’ on the scene, for the sole reason that it is primarily female artists we find here, but Nick Ørbæk may surprise outsiders for several reasons. To put it bluntly… Nick Ørbæk is blonde, but yes… he is a Greenlander, and Greenlanders can also look like this. He is also an incredibly talented singer with an almost feminine tone of voice, which surprised many of his fans when he released his danceable solo album “Saappara” (I turn away) in 2018, after having been known from a series of upcoming names in the heaviest corners of the rock genre.

Inuk

Used with permission from Inunnguaq Petrusse

Inuk is the band that disproves the theory that pop is made by solo artists. The band released their debut album back in 2008, although it did not receive great attention. The sequel, “Aanngalerneq” (Man Is About To Disappear), did, however, when it was released seven years later. With minimal production, complex chord progressions, a silky soft voice and a very talented backing band, lead singer Inunnguaq Petrussen created the timeless “Oqaluttuannguaq” (A Little Story). On the band’s third album “Qalipaatit” (Colours) from 2018, little brother Gustav Petrussen was awarded a more prominent place in the band, but the band has retained its analogue pop sound, which draws clear inspiration from folk music.

Today, folk music in Greenland mostly lives on as a fusion genre – as a style that many bands draw on without their music belonging completely to the genre of folk. Nanook frontman Frederik Elsner’s solo project, F, for example, flirts heavily with the genre. The internationally successful group, Nive and the Deer Children, is often classified as indie-folk, and it is hardly coincidental that Nive Nielsen’s father, Kasper Skifte, frequently appeared on the Aasivik records in various different folk groups.

Rasmus Lyberth

Rasmus Lyberth – Photo Anders Rye Skjold Jensen

Rasmus Lyberth’s music is, for many, the very sound of Greenlandic music. His big voice and characteristic body language has managed to break down the linguistic barrier that the Greenlandic language often creates for listeners. It is, therefore, also interesting that Rasmus Lyberth’s folk-inspired style does not take up much space on the Greenlandic music scene in general, where pop-rock is the main genre.

But Rasmus Lyberth has collaborators. When he released his debut album, “Erningaa” (My Son) in 1975, Juaaka Lyberth was also active in a number of musical contexts, including the political and cultural Aasivik rallies, where folk music was also cultivated by other artists.

Nive Nielsen

Nive Nielsen – private archive

Rasmus Lyberth is still an actively producing and performing musician today, and Nive Nielsen tours far and wide in Canada, Europe, Asia and the USA with The Deer Children, when she is not busy being an actress in major international productions such as AMC’s gruesome series The Terror, in which she has the lead female role, or the Disney movie Togo. The folk genre is thus strongly fixed in the international awareness of Greenlandic music. Even stronger than it is on the Greenlandic music scene.

Hip-hop culture, and its vocal expression as rap, has become the voice of the marginalized across the globe.

Nuuk Posse

Hip-hop culture, and its vocal expression as rap, has become the voice of the marginalized across the globe. This is also the case in Greenland today, although Greenlandic rap has seeped down through the social strata since the first Greenlandic rap group Nuuk Posse emerged in the early 1990s, after the group’s members had already been cultivating hip-hop culture for a number of years. The result at the time was a lighter, humorous rap music that blended Greenlandic, Danish and English, and put Greenland on the rap world map with concerts in Europe and Canada. Even today, there are few other names in the genre, if anyone at all, who can gather an audience like Nuuk Posse. Although the group’s fans have now grown up, they can still sing along to hits like “Qitik” (Dance) and “Inupiluaqqat” (Little Thieves).

Prussic

In the following decades, rap music became an underground culture in Greenland and set new standards for what could be said through music. The group Prussic, in particular, was the spearhead of this movement. They harshly criticised their parents for neglect and thereby took an important step towards putting these themes on the agenda in a society in which talking about unpleasant topics has typically been avoided.

Tarrak

As computers, the internet, sampling programs and Android phones have become ubiquitous in Greenland, the production of rap music has exploded. It’s only a fraction of this music that actually reaches beyond the artists’ immediate circles of friends, but the rapper Tarrak is a recent example of this. Today, Tarrak is the biggest name in the third wave of Greenlandic rap, which comes out of the producer Uyarakq’s home studio, and partly also through collaborations with the more experienced rapper Peand-eL. Tarrak puts his middle finger up in all directions – towards Danes, Greenlandic politicians and irresponsible parents, whilst at the same time trying to re-establish an Inuit identity, which might represent a new way to negotiate the meeting between tradition and modernity. In this way, he summarizes trends in Greenlandic rap music, as well as political themes in Greenlandic music in general. And he does this pretty well.

It is said in Greenland that the further north you go, the heavier the music becomes. However, if you expect a heavy metal scene a la Norway’s black metal or the Faroese Viking metal, Greenland will disappoint you. Perhaps because music here is so much about creating community, niche music has a tough ride, and let’s just admit it… heavy metal is not for everyone. However, the country has fostered its fair share of underground bands within the heavy, punk and nü metal genres. A select few of these have achieved national recognition, played bigger concerts and released albums.

Siissisoq

The genre’s flagship in Greenland is the group Siissisoq (Rhinoceros). The band broke through the sound barrier with a riff-based heavy rock album about the animals of Africa in 1994. Despite the obvious humor in the music, the group consists of a handful of serious and professional musicians from Uummannaq in North Greenland, who have managed to maintain their base in this more secluded part of Greenland, despite the logistical challenges that this presents.

Pukuut, X-it, I124Q, Arctic Spirits

It is also in Uummannaq, and the area around the even more northern town of Upernavik, that we find the members of the groups Pukuut (Oatmeal), X-it and I124Q (try saying it out loud in English), which have some known overlaps in band members. If we go a little further south, to Disko Bay, we find the band Arctic Spirits from Qeqertarsuaq, which has released a number of heavy albums over the last 10 years.

Uummat,  Malik

If we go even further south in Greenland, we find pop-punk such as Uummat from Aasiaat, or heavy grunge in Nuuk from Chilly Friday’s former lead singer Malik (Kleist) – but the well-known heavy bands come from North Greenland. So there’s probably some truth behind the expression.

There is not a very long tradition of electronic music in Greenland. The legend Ole Kristiansen has flirted with the genre since the mid-1980s, but otherwise there are simply sporadic releases, like the G-60 keyboard player Aqqa’s beautiful, but almost forgotten, electronica album Sialuit from 1986, and the dance release Nanu Disco from 1998, which has represented the genre in Greenland.

Uyarakq

In recent years, however, electronic music has gained a few prominent performers on the Greenlandic music scene. In recent years, DJ Uyarakq has put out a number of releases on digital platforms such as Spotify and Soundcloud. Genre-wise, the music has moved from Dub Step over towards House, and Uyarakq has simultaneously been active on the Greenlandic hip-hop scene in collaborations with rapper Peand-eL and the new hope in Greenlandic rap – Tarrak, among others. On these collaborations, Uyarakq’s background in electronic music, as well as his technique of sampling well-known Greenlandic hits, has revolutionized Greenlandic rap. Uyarakq is both a provocative and a humorous artist who, along with his collaborators, challenges everything from gender norms to the writing of history in Greenland.

Da Bartali Crew

In the wake of a number of festivals in Nuuk which were dedicated to underground and electronic music, the musical name Da Bartali Crew emerged. Behind the name is the event technician Hans Ole Amossen, who, in collaboration with Ole Mørch, Kasper Mathiesen and a number of other Greenlandic musicians, singers and rappers, has played numerous major concerts around Greenland, which must be said to be a breakthrough for a niche genre like electronic music. In terms of genre, Da Bartali Crew move widely within the electronic subgenres and also like to flirt with rap, but you can sometimes hear inspiration from the French house icon Daft Punk between the lines of Da Bartali Crew’s music.