André Eriksen
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André Eriksen (born 22 October 1975) is a Norwegian multi-platform artist with a career as an actor, rapper, and graffiti artist. He is best known as one of the lead vocalists in the Norwegian rap group
Warlocks A warlock is a male practitioner of witchcraft. Etymology and terminology The most commonly accepted etymology derives ''warlock'' from the Old English '' wǣrloga'', which meant "breaker of oaths" or "deceiver". The term came to apply speciall ...
, which had commercial success in
Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
in the 1990s. He is considered a pioneer of Norwegian
hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
.


Early life

Eriksen grew up in
Stovner Stovner (traditionally pronounced Stomner) is a borough located to the far north east of the city of Oslo, Norway. Historically, Stovner was the name of a farm in the municipal borough "Østre Aker Stovner (traditionally pronounced Stomner) is a ...
bydel, a low income neighborhood in
Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
with a 53% immigrant population. He dropped out of school as a teenager and started making music and painting
graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...
with friends in his neighborhood. Both his music and art were anti-establishment and Eriksen was arrested several times for graffiti. In 1995 he was in police custody when his first album with the band Warlocks was released. The incident caught media attention and made Eriksen a public figure. Together with his brother Kevin Eriksen and friend Håkon Lund they became spokesmen for the controversial Norwegian graffiti community. Eriksen won the Norwegian break dance championships in 1997, both solo and with the crew Atomic B-Boys. Together with the rest of the members of Atomic B-Boys, Eriksen wrote, directed, and played in "Evolution of Style", at
Black Box Theatre A black box theater is a performance space, typically a square or rectangular room, with black walls and a black, flat floor. The simplicity of the space allows it to be used to create a variety of configurations of stage and audience interact ...
, later picked up by the Norwegian
Riksteatret Riksteatret (English: National Traveling Theater) is a Norwegian touring theatre. It was established by law in 1948. Its first performance was in Kirkenes in 1949, with Sigurd Christiansen's play ''En reise i natten''. The theatre plays on about ...
,
Kiasma Kiasma is a contemporary art museum located on Mannerheimintie in Helsinki, Finland. Its name ''kiasma'', Finnish for chiasma, alludes to the basic conceptual idea of its architect, Steven Holl. Kiasma is part of the Finnish National Gallery, an ...
in Helsinki and
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in Stockholm. This was the first of many theatre shows he did with Atomic B-Boys. Eriksen performed in several contemporary dance performances with the Swedish ensemble Moves Per Minute, and toured with the
National Swedish Touring Theatre The National Swedish Touring Theatre () is the largest touring theatre company in Sweden. It serves as Sweden's national stage on tour. The company is owned and funded by 240 local economic associations spread throughout the country. Their mai ...
several times.


Film career

Eriksen debuted his acting career in the film '' Nokas'' (2010), directed by Erik Skjoldbjaerg, about a real bank robbery that happened in downtown
Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...
in 2004. Skjoldbjaerg then hired Eriksen to play Aksel Hennie’s brother in the film '' Pionér'' (2013). Since then, Eriksen has appeared in a variety of American and Scandinavian television shows and movies. He has played Norse god Odin in ''Vikings''. In 2021, he worked with Aksel Hennie and
Noomi Rapace Noomi Rapace (; ; born 28 December 1979) is a Swedish actress.Karen Olsson, ''The New York Times Magazine'', 27 May 2012, p. 26. She achieved international fame with her portrayal of Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish film adaptations of the ''Mil ...
on '' The Trip'', and in 2022 had a supporting part in ''
Violent Night ''Violent Night'' is a 2022 American Christmas action comedy film directed by Tommy Wirkola and written by Pat Casey and Josh Miller. It follows Santa Claus (portrayed by David Harbour) as he fights mercenaries who have taken a wealthy family ...
''.


Filmography


Music/Hip Hop Career

Andre Eriksen (stage name "Tech Rock"), his brother Kevin Eriksen ("Karma"), and their friend Håkon Lund ("Hawk") formed the hip-hop trio Warlocks (band) in 1992, releasing their debut album Lyrical Marksmen, on a local independent label (dBut Records) in 1995. Following the success of Lyrical Marksmen, they were picked up by
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
’s leading rap label Tee Productions (owned by
Tommy Tee Tommy Flåten (born 18 December 1971), best known by his stage name Tommy Tee, is a Norwegian record producer, rapper, broadcaster, record executive, concert promoter and magazine publisher. He is known as the godfather of Norwegian hip hop. Tee ...
), releasing three additional studio albums and a variety of singles in collaboration with Tee Productions over the next several years, including the widely popular song "Takin Ova" (feat N-Light-N, Diaz, Warlocks,
Opaque Opacity is the measure of impenetrability to electromagnetic or other kinds of radiation, especially visible light. In radiative transfer, it describes the absorption and scattering of radiation in a medium, such as a plasma, dielectric, shie ...
, and Father Blanco) (1998). The album ''Afterlife'', released in 2001, won the 2002 Norwegian Alarm Prize (category: hip hop / rap). Warlocks released their final album entitled ''The Never Ending Story'' in 2005 with C+C Records. Andre has toured Europe and Scandinavia numerous times with Warlocks and has shared stages with artists like
The Beastie Boys ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
,
House Of Pain House of Pain was an American hip hop trio that released three albums in the 1990s. The group consisted of DJ Lethal, Danny Boy, and Everlast. They are best known for their 1992 hit single " Jump Around", which reached number 3 in their nati ...
,
Wu Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, Ol' Dir ...
,
50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and television producer. Born in Queens, a borough of New York City, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 1996. In 1999–2000, ...
and many more. Discography Break Dance André Eriksen was a member of the break dance crew Atomic B-Boys, together with Lars "PayTwo" Undli and Bjørn "Sean" Hagen. The crew represented Norway in several international competitions and "jams" and held the title as Norwegian champions 1997–2000. Andre won Scandinavian Battle Of The Year 2000 together with the group Nasty9 and represented the Nordic countries in International Battle Of The Year 2000.


References


External links


Andre Eriksen IMDb

TP AllStars - Takin Ova
(Live at Spellemann 2016)
Warlocks Spotify
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eriksen, Andre Norwegian musicians Living people 1975 births Norwegian actors Norwegian graffiti artists