JJ, styled as jj, is a Swedish band who has released music through the

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

-based independent label Sincerely Yours and the

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, Indiana, Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside ...

-based label

Secretly Canadian Secretly Canadian is an American independent record label based in Bloomington, Indiana, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin. Secretly Canadian is a label included in Secretly Group, which ...

. The band consists of Joakim Benon and Elin Kastlander.

History

jj met in their hometown of

Vallentuna Vallentuna is the seat of Vallentuna Municipality in Stockholm County, Sweden, with 33,219 inhabitants in 2018. Vallentuna's cultural landscape is well preserved, and human habitation in the area has been traced back as far as the Stone Age. Archeo ...

, outside of

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, and began playing together at a local youth center. They released their debut jj n° 1 in early 2009 and a couple of months later they released their debut album ''

jj n° 2 ''jj n° 2'' is the debut studio album by Swedish indie pop band JJ. It was released on the Swedish record label Sincerely Yours on 1 July 2009. A vinyl edition, titled ''jj n° 2.1'', was released in late December 2009. Reception ''jj n° 2'' ...

''. Both the debut single and the debut album received a ''Best New Music'' inclusion from

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

with ratings of 8 and 8.6 respectively. On December 24, 2008 it was announced that the American record label

had signed jj to their roster. At the same time, the release date for jj's second full length album was slated. The album, named ''

jj n° 3 ''jj n° 3'' is the second studio album by Swedish indie pop band JJ. It was released by Sincerely Yours and Secretly Canadian on 9 March 2010. In April 2011, the first half of the first song from the album, "My Life", was featured in a gamepl ...

'', was released in the United States and Sweden on March 9, 2010. jj works with both Sincerely Yours and Secretly Canadian, depending on the location, and hence didn't leave Sincerely Yours for Secretly Canadian. Aside from their official releases, jj has also done several covers and new takes on contemporary songs. For example, they've recorded covers of Akon's "

Troublemaker Troublemaker, The Troublemaker, Trouble Maker, or Trouble Makers may refer to: Film * Troublemaker Studios, a Texan film production company founded by Robert Rodriguez and Elizabeth Avellan * ''Trouble Makers'' (1917 film), a lost silent film dra ...

", Jeremih's "

Birthday Sex "Birthday Sex" is the debut single by American singer Jeremih. It is the lead single from his debut studio album, ''Jeremih'' (2009). The song was written by Jeremih, Elliot Prince, and Keith James and produced by Mick Schultz. "Birthday Sex" peake ...

" and the "

Theme Song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

" for the

Welcome Back, Kotter ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' is an American sitcom starring Gabe Kaplan as a high-school teacher in charge of a racially and ethnically diverse remedial education class called the "Sweathogs." Recorded in front of a live studio audience, the series ...

TV-series. All of these were released for free on the internet, making it similar to a

mixtape A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...

. From March to April 2010, jj was on a nationwide tour in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

with the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

band

The xx The xx are an English indie rock band from Wandsworth, London, formed in 2005. The band consists of Romy Madley Croft (guitar, vocals), Oliver Sim (bass guitar, vocals), Jamie Smith, also known as Jamie xx (beats, MPC, record production), a ...

. Following the US tour, jj went on a minor tour through

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

with dates in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

among others. jj's next release, following ''

'', was a mixtape named ''

Kills Kill often refers to: *Homicide, one human killing another *cause death, to kill a living organism, to cause its death Kill may also refer to: Media *''Kill!'', a 1968 film directed by Kihachi Okamoto * ''Kill'' (Cannibal Corpse album), 2006 * ...

''. It was released as a free download on

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation ...

2010, at Sincerely Yours website. In late March 2011, jj collaborated with fellow Swedish artist Yves Saint Lorentz to make an official remix of Rebecca & Fiona's single "Bullets". The remix was named "The End of the World". jj's song "My Life" from ''

'' was featured in an official trailer for

Battlefield 3 ''Battlefield 3'' is a 2011 first-person shooter video game developed by DICE (company), DICE and published by Electronic Arts for Windows, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is a direct sequel to 2005's ''Battlefield 2''. In ''B ...

that was released in April 2011. In summer 2011, jj collaborated with the American R&B singer

Ne-Yo Shaffer Chimere Smith (born October 18, 1979), known professionally as Ne-Yo, is an American singer, songwriter, actor, dancer, and record producer. He gained fame for his songwriting abilities when he penned Mario's 2004 hit " Let Me Love You ...

and released the song "We Can't Stop" as part of the Adult Swim Singles Program 2011. Later in 2011, they were involved in another collaboration with American rapper Don Trip to make the song "Cheers (jj’s Save Our Souls Remix)" for the magazine

The Fader ''The Fader'' (stylized as ''FADER'') is a magazine based in New York City that was launched in 1999 by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. It was the first print publication to be released on iTunes. It is o ...

. In September 2013 they collaborated with

Adrian Lux Prinz Adrian Johannes Hynne, better known as Adrian Lux (born 1 May 1986), is a Swedish disc jockey and music producer. His biggest chart success is " Teenage Crime". Adrian Lux released his debut album on the 3rd of April, 2012. The self-titled al ...

on the song "Wild Child". In May 2014, jj announced their third studio album entitled '' V'', as in ''jj n° 5''. At the same time they released the single "All White Everything" from the album. '' V'' was released on August 19, 2014. On August 12, 2015 jj released the EP "Death" consisting of five new songs.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (2009) * ''

'' (2010) * '' V'' (2014)

Mixtapes

* ''

'' (2010)

Singles and EPs

* " jj n° 1" (2009) * '' a jj 12"'' (2009) * "jj n° 4" (2012) * ''High Summer'' (2012) * ''Death'' (2015)

References

External links

Sincerely YoursSecretly Canadian
* * * * {{Authority control Swedish electronic music groups Electronic music duos Musicians from the Balearic Islands Secretly Canadian artists