Greenland

Greenland is known for rock and pop sung in Greenlandic, a tradition that begins precisely in 1973 with Sumé's album Sumut, the first rock record in the language and an open attack on Danish colonial rule. Alongside that sit older traditions the popular catalogue does not cover: drum dance and drum song, kalattuut or Greenlandic polka, and the choral singing that shapes daily musical life. Hip-hop has been part of the picture since Nuuk Posse started in the mid 1980s, and Tarrak carried Greenlandic-language rap to an international audience in 2016.

Sumé were a band of Greenlandic students in Denmark, led by Malik Høegh and Per Berthelsen, whose 1973 debut Sumut was the first rock album sung in Greenlandic. The lyrics argued against Danish colonial rule at a time when home rule was still six years away, and roughly one in five Greenlanders is said to have bought a copy. They released three albums in four years. Every later Greenlandic act is measured against them, and a 2014 documentary took its title from the phrase the sound of a revolution.

Mostly Greenlandic, and that is usually a deliberate choice rather than a default. Sumé, Rasmus Lyberth, Nanook, Tarrak, Naja P, Andachan and Ivaana all record primarily in Greenlandic, which is spoken by around 50,000 people. Others work in Danish or English for reach: Julie Berthelsen built a Danish career, and Nive Nielsen, Simon Lynge and Small Time Giants release in English through European labels. Several artists move between all three depending on the record.

A small one, and it has always depended on a handful of institutions. ULO, founded in Sisimiut, released most Greenlandic music from the 1970s onward, and Atlantic Music in Nuuk carries much of the catalogue now. Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa has been the main broadcaster, and the Nipiaa festival in Aasiaat is the best-known live event. The current generation mostly bypasses labels entirely and releases straight to streaming.

Last reviewed: 2026-09

Largely outside this page, which is a popular-music route. Greenlandic drum dance and drum song, performed on an oval frame drum, are the oldest musical practice on the island and were suppressed under missionary rule before being revived in the twentieth century. Piseq, personal songs about daily life, and katajjaq-style vocal games belong to the same world. These traditions are documented and performed but rarely enter the dated commercial catalogue that a page like this is built from.