Icona Pop (English: /aɪˈkɒnəpɒp/) is a Swedish electropop duo that formed in 2009, with electro house and indie pop music influences.[5] Its two members, Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo, grew up in Stockholm and create what the Swedish press has described as music which "you can both laugh and cry to at the same time".[6][7] They signed to TEN Music Group in 2009 and are currently also in a label deal with Ultra Music.[8] Their biggest hit to date has been "I Love It".
Caroline Hjelt (born 8 November 1987, of a Swedish mother and Sweden-Finnish father[9]) and Aino Jawo (born 7 July 1986, of a Finnish mother and Gambian father[10]) attended the same music school in Stockholm,[11] but met by chance at a party in February 2009 and formed the duo. Four weeks later, they had written songs for their very first performance. Two years later, the two described their music as "classical pop melodies with drums and synths".[12]
The English-language press, including NME, The Guardian, Rolling Stone and Pitchfork Media, have praised the duo.[13][14][15]The Guardian described the debut single "Manners" as "effortlessly cool".[16] The duo have worked in the studio with producers including Style of Eye, Patrik Berger (Robyn), Elof Loelv (Niki & The Dove) and Starsmith.[17]
In fall 2012, they released an extended playIconic in the US and the album Icona Pop in Sweden. The duo have performed in those countries as well as, the UK, Germany, Italy, Canada, and Hong Kong and have also been interviewed by members of the Swedish and worldwide press.[citation needed]
2012–13: Breakthrough with "I Love It" and This Is... Icona Pop[]
In the summer of 2012, they took part in a number of festivals including electro music festival Summerburst in Gothenburg and also appeared at the Stockholm Stadium, at the start of an international festival and broadcast via Sveriges Television (SVT).
"I Love It", a pre-release of their self-titled debut album Icona Pop charted on Sverigetopplistan, the official Swedish singles chart. The song, which features vocals from British recording artist Charli XCX, was also featured in the 2012 video game Need for Speed: Most Wanted, in a German television commercial for Coca-Cola Light in January 2013,[18] the theme song to the MTV reality-television series Snooki & JWoww, and in an episode of the HBO comedy-drama television series Girlsand the popular vampire-teen drama television series The Vampire Diaries. The second single "Ready for the Weekend" was released on 11 September 2012. Both tracks appear on their second EP, released on 16 October 2012. "I Love It" was also used in the commercial for the Samsung Galaxy S4.[19]
Their EP Iconic EP peaked at No. 21 on the U.S. iTunes dance chart. In 2013, they embarked on a tour of the United States with Passion Pit and Matt & Kim. In January 2013, "I Love It" was featured in the third episode of the second season of Girls, the comedy-drama series created by Lena Dunham. Two months later, the duo was named one of Fuse's 30 must-see artists at the South by Southwest festival.[20] The same month, "I Love It" was featured in the 16th episode of the fourth season, "Bring It On", of The Vampire Diaries. On 26 March 2013, "I Love It" was performed on the week 2 results episode of Dancing with the Stars. On 3 May 2013, the duo performed "I Love It" on the NBC late-night talk showLate Night with Jimmy Fallon and on ABC's Good Morning America morning news/entertainment show. Three days later, "I Love It" was featured in the Fox musical-comedy series, Glee. The song was performed by the "New Directions" in Glee's 22nd and final episode of season four, "All or Nothing". It was also featured in a 2013 ShoeDazzle commercial.
On 19 May 2013 the duo performed "I Love It" on the Billboard Music Awards, wearing custom lit outfits by designer Geoffrey Mac.[21] The song also is featured in a commercial for the WNBA's forthcoming season that was aired during the 4th quarter of Game 7 of the Heat-Pacers Eastern Conference Championship game on 3 June 2013. It was also featured in a commercial during the Spurs-Heat basketball game on 9 June 2013.
On 4 June 2013, the duo released their single "Girlfriend". Icona Pop revealed in an interview that they recorded their international album with all new songs. They said that "the new album isn't just going to be sixteen tracks like 'I Love It'" and that they are trying new genres and sounds. In July 2013, they received two Teen Choice awards for Choice Music Breakout Group and Choice Single: Group.[22]
On 28 July 2013, "All Night" was released as the official third single from the album. It gained moderate success on European charts. On 4 August 2013, the duo visited Montreal, where they performed at the Osheaga Festival.[23] They also appeared on Ellen in December of that year.[24]
2014–present[]
On 23 June 2014 the duo released a new single called "Get Lost" which gained less international attention.[25][26] In the same period, the duo also performed as the opening act for Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus tours. They also collaborated with Tiesto for the song "Let's Go" and with Cobra Starship for the single "Never Been In Love"[27] which became a successful hit in Italy.[citation needed]
On 26 May 2015, the duo released the single "Emergency", a collaboration with Erik Hassle. The song peaked a few weeks later on the Billboard Dance Chart, making their second single to top that chart after All Night. The song was also featured in the video game FIFA 16.[citation needed] In July, the EP Emergency was released. It includes the critically acclaimed First Time and the smash-hit Clap Snap.[citation needed]
The duo was announced as an opening act for the North American leg of One Direction's "On the Road Again" tour in 2015. Also in 2015, their song "We Got The World" was featured in the movie Pitch Perfect 2.[citation needed] On 23 February 2016, Icona Pop performed a new single, "Someone Who Can Dance" at the Grammis in Stockholm.[citation needed] On 20 October 2016, the duo released their single "Brightside". On 16 June 2017, Icona Pop released a new single "GIRLS GIRLS", co-written by Tove Lo.[citation needed] In October 2017, they released a song with Australian duo Peking Duk called "Let You Down".[28] In late December 2017, the duo released an EP called "Så mycket bättre 2017 – Tolkningarna" including 7 covered songs.[citation needed] In early March 2018, the duo collaborated with Avon on a music video called "All My Girls". In late April 2018, the duo was featured on a song called "Faded Away" by . In late May 2018, Icona Pop said on their social media that they were currently working on their third studio album. In June 2019 the duo performed at St. Louis Pridefest. Icona Pop released a song with R3hab called "This Is How We Party" on 8 February 2019.[29][30] On 26 July 2019, the duo returned with the first single from the upcoming third studio album – "Next Mistake". The Swedish duo have signed to Ultra Music as of 2019.[8]
