1001 Other AlbumsNuuk Posse – Kaataq (1996, Greenland)
Our next spotlight is on number 414 on The List, submitted by Almoehi.
Originally formed in 1984-85 as a DJ/breakdance trio (of 12-year-olds), Nuuk Posse as a rap crew of five released their first single/EP in 1992 (Sussa Appinnagu! Don’t Play It!) and then, as a crew of six, released their debut album NP in 1995. If the beginning of the video for the EP’s first (banger of a) track “Qitik“[1] is accurate, it seems that Nuuk Posse wasn’t just a rather influential group in Greenland’s hip-hop scene, but they were the first Greenlandic rap group! They rapped primarily in Kalaallisut/West Greenlandic and Danish (with a bit of English) with socially conscious lyrics that combined some traditional Inuit elements with modern hip-hop. The album here, put out by Belgian label Sub Rosa, is technically their 2nd studio album, though it seems to have almost all the same tracks as their debut NP (put out by Greenlandic label Ulo).
It’s hard to find much else on Nuuk Posse in English aside from the same paragraph repeated over and over. Though it appears that Kaataq was the crew’s final album (and, sadly, founding member Henrik Pedersen Broberg died in 2014), it seems a 30th anniversary concert spawned a reunion of sorts, as a single from 2018 (“Nunarput“) also exists on the streaming services. Perhaps we’ll hear again from them.
