Jury's reasoning: Pål Tøien, under his stage name OnklP, has long since become an established word artist in the Norwegian rap community. Tøien has experienced great success with several of his albums and songs, and is well-known through his many collaborations with other artists. However, it is rare to experience that the average listener in beautiful association […]
/ 28/09/2015 / codexThe jury's reasoning:
Pål Tøien, under his stage name OnklP, has long since become an established word artist in the Norwegian rap scene. Tøien has experienced great success with several of his albums and songs, and is well known through his many collaborations with other artists.
However, it is rare to experience the average listener openly embracing Norwegian rap lyrics in beautiful association with mayors, public health nurses and psychologists.
In 2014, we witnessed how "The Ugly on the Back" struck a nerve with the public with its brutal honesty and raw description of the innermost, taboo darkness. The text puts into words in a rare open way that is both deeply personal, yet universally valid – while remaining true to the genre and spiced with timely, humorous images. In a society where mental health problems among young people and adults are a growing problem, Tøien tells in simple but intricate terms how we can be our own worst enemy. Perhaps even more importantly, he provides a personification of anxiety, "nerves and drama."
With OnklP, it got a cool name. And even though it's dark and lonely: There's something extraordinarily liberating and harmless when all of Norway – young and old – agrees that Styggen på røggen has become one of our closest friends.