(Eng.:
Heavy water)
Norwegian rap band, although they don't view themselves as
hip-hop style musicians, they only use the style to convey the message. The band consists of
Poppa Lars on rythm & tables, and
Jørg-1 on vocal. They have released two albums, both very influenced by the adolesence in the cold north of Norway, named "
Mørketid" (Dark time of the year) and "
Nord og ned" ("
Down the drain"). The band has caused some noise in the Norwegian music industry as they rebel against, well,
everything. They hate the established music industry, as expressed in the song "
Bransjehora" ("
Buisness Bitches") and they were not allowed to play their hit single "
Pøbla" ("Punks") on a kids' show. Being the first band ever to be banned from that program gave their career a
cable start. But it wasn't until they appeared on
Åpen Post as the regular band, that Tungtvann became a household name in Norway. Tungtvann rap in
dialect, and was the first rap-band to win a prize for promoting dialect in Norway. The dialect is North-Norwegian, a bit difficult for me to understand. Sadly, they bluffed in an interview and created severeal words for the occasion, losing several respect points from the public.
There are roughly two schools of rap in Norway. On one side, there's the american wannabes, rapping in English about gunfights (Although the only time they ever saw a gun was in the military) and the "hard" life on the wrong side of the tracks. Then there's the school of bands that rap in Norwegian, usually about their lives as youth. Both schools have advantages and disadvantages but overall, Tungtvann is a good example of the Norwegian school of rap. High quality, non-posers and lyrics you can relate to. As a Norwegian youth, that is.