Úlfur Úlfur have been one of my favorite Icelandic hip hop artists since the duo put out their seminal “Tarantula” video a decade ago, a video featuring two of my favorite things – burnouts and hot dogs. If you’ve never seen it, I’m just gonna put it right here for your viewing enjoyment. Consider it your pre-work before reading the rest of this review.
Last year the boys returned to action with Hamfarapopp, their third full-length album and their first in six years. It’s chock full of features from Icelandic hip hop royalty – Emmsjé Gauti, Salka Sól, Birnir, and the collective Reykjavíkurdætur, just to name a few (or a lot considering how many members of Reykjavíkurdætur there are!). With over half the songs including features, one might be concerned that Hamfarapopp lacks continuity, but have no fear my friends, because Úlfur Úlfur skillfully blend beats, pop sensibility, and flow to give us a real treat of an album. Sure, they’ll sneak in some rock guitars on tracks like “Myndi Falla” and some ambient neo-classical parts on “Dínamít”, but it all fits together. And there’s still plenty of room for old-school super-fast rhyme-spittin’ on jams like “Sitt Sýnist Hverjum” alongside guest Herra Hnetusmjör, one of the best jams on the album. Hamfarapopp is simply a fun listen from start to finish – no need for a skip button here, just hit play on the opener “Þú Hér” and let it go.
Released digitally in 2023, Hamfarapopp got the mint-green-splatter vinyl treatment earlier this year, and the quality is fantastic. Grabbing a copy is probably going to require mail order, and one place it’s currently available is from my friends over at Reykjavik’s Lucky Records HERE. I believe this is self-released, meaning the print run was probably small – so get it while you can.