Lukas Graham, "ghetto pop"

[Adam]

Going to plug Lukas Graham here. A band from Christiania, Copenhagen, Denmark they self-describe their genre as "ghetto pop", being an interesting combination of soul, funk, hip hop and pop. Intelligent lyrics and a voice big enough to carry them without autotune, and very catchy melodies. The band has already become big across Europe, but hasn't really reached the US yet, hence the plug.

Graham and his band are part of a coterie of some 15 friends who’ve literally grown up together, many back to early school days, and they wouldn’t take any precious popstar behaviour, not that he’s likely to offer any. “Your friends just see you as you,” he says. “They might be proud of you, and happy for you, but they’re still going to do what they can to make sure you don’t change.”

So Graham’s incredible new success is all the more reason to celebrate one of the hottest names on this year’s charts, who’s already expanding his audiences far across Europe. So far, the tally includes a No. 2 debut hit with ‘Ordinary Things,’ a No. 1 follow-up with ‘Drunk In The Morning’ and another top five single in ‘Criminal Mind.’ All of them are on a self-titled debut album crammed with intelligent lyrics and ridiculously catchy melodies, which has devoured the Danish chart, racing straight to No. 1 in early April.

Below is a selection of my favourites.

7 Years​

Happy Home​

Criminal Mind, Better Than Yourself​

Mama Said​

 

[Crabs]