Facts: Previous Swedish alcohol songs in selection
Large: “Rum & Kush”
The National Theater: “Life is a party”
Mange Makers: “Party at Mange’s”
Eddie Meduza: “More brandy”
Lill Lindfors: “Rus”
Wilmer X: “Only Happy When I Drink”
Ison & Fille feat. Veronica Maggio: “Late Nights, Empty Glasses”
Kjell Höglund: “A big strong”
Kick: “Party with me”
The lucky buddies: “Drink booze and shut up”
— It cannot be a coincidence. It is the first summer without a lot of restrictions. I think it has to do with finally being free. Even those who are under 18 have experienced an existence with many restrictions, says Sara Kinberg, entertainment journalist and presenter at P3.
The group with the context-appropriate name Bolaget is currently second on the Swedish charts with the song “Kan inte gå”. Their collaboration with De vete du, “Supa”, is in sixteenth place and the song “Dum” in twenty-eighth. “Fingerarna i halsen” and “Brände hele lengen” also remain in the top 100.
The band was formed by Oliver Norqvist, William Ahlborg, Adam Bergestål and Gustav Jörgensen at a pre-party in Falun 2019. None of them had a musical background – or the ambition to become an artist.
— There was a pre-party at my house and we had the music program on the computer. Then there was a beer on the table, from the brand “Fem komma dwoan”, and then someone pointed to it and we started writing a song, says Adam Bergestål.
The members of the band Bolaget. Top from left: William Ahlborg, Oliver Norqvist. Bottom from left: Gustav Jörgensen, Adam Bergestål. Press image.”Triple the audience”
The song got a lot of attention, but this was before the pandemic. It’s only this year that things have really begun to unravel for the band. “Can not go” went to first place on the Swedish charts on Midsummer Eve itself.
– We have had a rough boost since we were allowed to come out and play again. After the pandemic, the curve has gone steadily upwards and in student times our catalog started to fly, says Gustav Jörgensen.
— If we compare now with six months ago, we have tripled our audience and our listenings, adds Adam Bergestål.
The last few years’ dominance of gangster rap on the charts may not be said to be broken, but there are more than the Company who have had success with alcohol-related music lately.
Guest “epa raggare”
Rapper Adaam features on Loam’s “Fakka ur,” a collaboration that drew criticism from some fans on Instagram for featuring an “epa raggare.” The “epa-dunk” genre has achieved great success in recent years, something that is clearly visible in the top lists where “Bubbel på balkongen”, with well-known party artists Sofie Svensson, Dom Där, Elov & Benny, is third.
— When you talk about youth music, party bands and epa-dunk have gained more traction in the countryside, while those who live in the cities may feel closer to rap. In the country people sing about being too drunk at a party instead of rapping about guns and crime. Then it’s clear that young people all over Sweden listen to gangster rap, says Sara Kinberg.
The record companies show cool interest in the party bands, which fill public parks and harbor festivals around the country – especially now during the summer. The band Bolaget’s weekends are booked up and live up to the band’s lyrics, while weekdays bear witness to small-town boredom.
— Sunday to Thursday we have very boring lives, as we just sit in our studio and play video games or make music. We still live in Falun and all our friends have jobs, while we sit and wait for the weekend to come so we can go out and play, says Adam Bergestål.
“Nothing better for itself”
Sara Kinberg herself grew up in the countryside outside Uppsala. Björn Rosenström and Eddie Meduza were played extensively at the parties and she describes how peer pressure – a harmless kind – contributed to her fascination with music that lacks any form of political correctness.
— There is nothing to do in the countryside. You hang out in someone’s basement and have nothing better to do, while you have to get everywhere by car. Then it’s not Celine Dion you listen to, but cool and tough party songs while you’re longing for the weekend when you can crack a folk beer or get someone to buy one for you.
TT: Do you think the genre will ever die out?
– No I do not think so. It will always be tempting to do things that the adult world doesn’t think is okay. Having a teenage brain means that there is a love for texts like this that may not be so pk today, that’s part of it.