7 august - The Reykjavik Grapevine

to perform. Having the dubious
honour of putting out an album
with one of the ugliest covers ever
printed, Hæsta hendin are much
more traditional than their peers in
Forgotten Lores. No instruments
- only a DJ and two MCs, although
they did have guest rappers on
stage during every single song.
Erpur Eyvindarson aka Blazroca or
Johnny Naz, formerly of Iceland’s
most popular hip hop band XXX
Rottweilerhundar, who opened last
year for 50 Cent, is one of Hæsta
hendin’s two MCs - and it says a
lot about the sound that night that
he was not heard once during their
whole set. It also says a whole bunch
that the playback actually sounded
like it was coming from a pretty poor
pair of PC speakers. The sound was
muddy, thin, ill-balanced and utterly
disgusting in every way imaginable.
But Hæsta hendin played on. As an
indication of the quality of their set,
its high-point was a medley of XXX
Rottweilerhundar songs performed
by the reunited members of the
now-retired band. An insider told
me Hæsta hendin were commanded
by Snoop’s crew (scary body-builder
guys) to cut the set short when they
still had more than ten minutes to
go and that would explain the chaos
that characterized the latter half of
their set.
It was now time for Snoopy.
He made it perfectly clear that he
No, sweetie. No, no, no.
was coming on stage when what
appeared to be a full-length feature
film started rolling on the large
screens on both sides of the stage.
It had 80s B-film style credits and
cheesy G-funk grooves. It started
out like a mysterious crime flick but
it didn’t take long to morph into a
lesbian-soft-porn movie, with tittie
licking and all. As I said previously
the crowd was mainly comprised of
kids barely 16 years old, and some
of the younger attendants were there
with their parents. I can’t imagine
what went through a parent’s mind
when it turned out Snoop wasn’t just
a rapper but a porn enthusiast, too,
and not afraid to display that side of
him in concert.
The porno movie soon gave way
to a performance of Murder was
the Case from 1993’s Doggystyle.
Half of the songs turned out to be
off that album, including What’s my
Name and Gin and Juice. The sound
hadn’t picked up - so nothing besides
Snoop himself, bass, drums and the
occasional keyboard could be heard
from the ten-strong Snoopadelics.
This was really sad, because I’m sure
the backing vocals and grooves were
a lot more interesting than Snoop’s
soulless performance of 12-year-old
songs. There I said it; Snoop was
a terrible performer. And he was
wearing the most distasteful clothes
I’ve ever seen, not because they were
obscene or anything; just so fucking
ugly you wouldn’t believe it.
Charlie Strand
But Doggystyle is one great
album. Actually, it’s my favourite
hip hop album of all time. I find
Dr. Dre’s (well, actually George
Clinton’s) grooves irresistible and
Snoop’s smooth delivery is one of a
kind. And this strong set of songs
managed to save the concert from
being a catastrophe. Of course, the
contents of the lyrics are debatable,
and there was actually some intense
debate going on in Iceland a few
days before the concert, where
rappers and feminists got to argue
in front of a camera without any
results or conclusions - only sparking
small talk on who “had won”. I don’t
know whether Snoop hates women
(according to his videos he’s actually
quite fond of them...) or if he’s just
getting people to think about the
world’s current status as all great art
should do, but he’s an egotistical
maniac – that much is clear.
Snoop Dogg played for 90
minutes and I’m positive he used
at least 45 minutes for having the
crowd shout “we love you Snoop”,
chant “Sha-na-na-na Snoop Dogg”
and regularly asking “what’s my
motherfucking name?” It was fun for
a while, but when he said “say it like
you mean it” and expecting a “we
love you Snoop” for the tenth time
in a row it wasn’t all that exciting
anymore.
When I left Egilshöll stadium
I couldn’t help but think only
Snoop Dogg dressed in the world’s largest “doo rag.”
one thing: It is insulting to an
audience that has paid 4900 ISK
(approximately $70 or 60 euros)
for their ticket to have the sound as
horrible as it was during this concert.
Throughout the whole show - that’s
four bands - the sound was always
ridiculous. I don’t know how the
consumer laws are on this kind of
stuff - but there should be laws, and
they should ensure that half of the
people that bought tickets for Snoop
Dogg will get at least half of the
price refunded.
By Atli Bollason
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