Xeneizes

Xeneizes is an album by the Icelandic hip hop group Quarashi, released on October 25, 1999 in Iceland (see 1999 in music). Like Quarashi's self-titled debut album, Xeneizes was a hit in Quarashi's homeland, topping the Icelandic album charts. 6,000 copies of Xeneizes were made, and once again, all 6,000 copies were sold, making Xeneizes the second Quarashi album to go gold in Iceland.

Xeneizes is also notable for being the album that caught the attention of American record labels. After turning down all offers from several United Kingdom record labels, Quarashi was contacted by EMI Music Resources to perform at the Iceland Airwaves Music Festival hosted by EMI in conjunction with Flugleiðir in New York City in the fall of 1999. The group performed two shows to rave reviews. Less than a year later, on August 31, 2000, Quarashi announced that they had signed a six-album deal with Columbia Records, and were now finally going to be able to release their music all over the world.

Xeneizes is named after the nickname given to fans of the Argentine football (soccer) team, Boca Juniors. The album has several South American influenced beats, joining the hip-hop, rock, funk, and techno beats from the previous album. This is said to come from Sölvi Blöndal's trip to South America in 1998, where he became obsessed with the culture, particularly the passion South Americans have for soccer. The trip to South America heavily influenced Blöndal during the making of Xeneizes.

Track listing

"Stick 'Em Up" (featuring Omar Swarez) – 3:49
"Tarfur" – 2:43
"Punk" (featuring Omar Swarez) – 2:59
"Jivin' About" – 3:50
"Brasilian Mongo" [Instrumental] – 3:22
"Model Citizen" – 3:50
"Tambourine Cut" – 2:44
"Xeneizes" – 3:08
"Mayday" (featuring Úlfur Kolka) – 3:35
"Surreal Rhyme" – 4:17
"Show Me What You Can" – 3:12
"Fuck You Puto" – 3:05
"Dive In" – 4:00
"Bless" [Instrumental] – 2:24

Bonus Media on CD

15. Fly To The Sky (Bonus Track)

16. Stay Funky [Instrumental] (Bonus Track)

17. Show Me What You Can [Instrumental] (Bonus Track)

18. Mayday [A Capella] (Bonus Track)

Personnel

Hössi Olafsson - Rapper, Singer on "Dive In"
Steini a.k.a. Stoney - Rapper, Singer on "Jivin' About"
Sölvi Blöndal - Producer, Drummer, Keyboardist, Percussionist
DJ Dice - DJ
Omar Swarez - Rapper
Úlfur Kolka - Rapper
Hrannar Ingimarsson - Producer, Engineer, Mixing, Keyboardist
Gaukur Úlfarsson - Bassist
Smári "Tarfur" Jósepsson - Guitarist
Vidar Hákon Gislason - Guitarist

Miscellanea

Sölvi Blöndal once said in an interview that he used to joke with the group that "Stick 'Em Up" (which, according to Sölvi, sounded like something Limp Bizkit would do) would get the group noticed in America. It turned out that "Stick 'Em Up" was the song that got EMI Music Resources attention, and would lead to the group signing with Columbia Records.
DJ Dice is credited on Xeneizes as the fourth member of Quarashi (as the DJ).
The Xeneizes CD contains a DVD-ROM link that allows people to visit the official Quarashi website (as it looked in 1999), an a cappella version of "Mayday", instrumental versions of "Jivin' About" and "Show Me What You Can", the music video for "Surreal Rhyme", and two unreleased tracks, "Fly To The Sky" (another song in which Hössi sings), and "Stay Funky" (an instrumental track).
Omar Swarez officially joined Quarashi shortly after the release of Xeneizes, becoming the third rapper and fourth member of the group.
There were rumours for some time that Sölvi Blöndal had starred in a South American soap opera during his trip to the continent in 1998. This has neither been confirmed nor denied by Blöndal himself.
"Mayday" was the first song in Quarashi history that only featured one of the rappers, without the other rapper doing background vocals.
"Surreal Rhyme" is the only music video that was made for a song on Xeneizes. It was directed by Gaukur Úlfarsson, who played bass for Quarashi during their live performances.
"Stick 'Em Up" was the first single from Xeneizes, and was released in June 1999.
"Dive In" looping four-chord piano arpeggios are sampled from a recording of "Claire De Lune" from Debussy's Suite Bergamasque.

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