Quarashi is the debut hip-hop

Hip hop music

Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

 album by the group of the same name

Quarashi

Quarashi was a rap and hip-hop group from Reykjavík, Iceland. It was composed of Hössi Ólafsson , who was the lead vocalist and frontman of the group, Ómar Swarez , rapper and hype man, and Steini a.k.a. Stoney , also rapper and hype man...

, released on October 13, 1997 in Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

 (see 1997 in music

1997 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1997.-January:*January 9 – David Bowie performs his 50th Birthday Bash concert at Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA with guests Frank Black, The Foo Fighters, Sonic Youth, Robert Smith of The Cure, Lou Reed, and Billy...

). Already popular in Iceland thanks to the EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

, Switchstance

Switchstance

Switchstance is the first and only EP by Quarashi. It was also the first record they ever released. It quickly became a hit in Iceland thanks to the title track. Only 500 copies were made of Switchstance, but all 500 copies were sold in a week...

, Quarashi released their first full-length album with more of the hip-hop infused rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

, techno

Techno

Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...

, and funk

Funk

Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...

 that brought them fame in the first place. 6,000 copies of Quarashi were made, and all 6,000 copies were soon sold, making the album go gold in Iceland. Like Switchstance, it is rare to find a copy of Quarashi today, but the CD is known to show up on eBay

EBay

eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...

every once in a while.

Because an egg appears on the album cover, fans have come to call Quarashi, "The Egg Album" in order to avoid confusion between the group and the name of their first album.

Track listing

1. "Ouzo" (Translates to "Intro") [Instrumental] – 0:56
2. "Thunderball" – 3:27
3. "Framogtilbaka" – 3:04
4. "Catch 22" – 3:32
5. "Switchstance" – 3:33
6. "Superwoman" (featuring Omar Swarez) – 2:56
7. "Herra Jinx" [Instrumental] – 2:27
8. "Lone Rangers" (featuring Magga Stina) – 4:20
9. "The Next Movie" – 2:48
10. "Beam Me Down" [Instrumental] – 1:22
11. "Mr. Amber Shades" – 3:21
12. "S.E.T.I." [Instrumental] – 4:10
13. "Beam Me Up" – 4:07
14. "Speedo" [Instrumental] – 4:48
15. "Delphi" – 3:19
16. "Mr. Caulfield" – 10:34