Track By Track: ‘BIPOLAR’ By Ragga Holm

Ragga Holm might be best known from Reykjavíkurdætur, but her newly-released ‘BIPOLAR’ shows she can easily stand on her own two feet. The album, inspired by Ragga’s experiences with bipolar disorder, is a melange of pop, hip-hop and electro. We sat down to hear about it, track by track.

Komdu með mér

This song took me almost a year, but it’s a love story about a person I lost when I was in a bad place. The cherry on the top, though, was getting Svala on the song. She’s something else.

Dýragarðurinn

“Welcome to my zoo. Welcome to my crazy state of mind.”

Welcome to my zoo. Welcome to my crazy state of mind. ‘Dýragarðurinn’ is a cocky song. I’m really going for it, which I think is hard for girls to do, to be cocky. I even drop the word bukkake, which is kind of the worst word ever.

Sísí

‘Sísi’ is an Icelandic song by Grýlurnar. When I started writing music, I was really shy to sing about women. I thought it was, maybe, too gay? But this song isn’t necessarily about a girl I’m into, it’s just a girl. Sísi is really secure with herself. She’s just the girl everyone wants to be. Doing this song was amazing because Ragga Gísla gave me permission.

Tíminn

‘Tíminn’ is about teasing. The song says, “Don’t give me hopes that I can’t grab.” I only write love songs when I’m very depressed, but I never make them sad. There’s always hope. At the end, people are left questioning themselves and what really happened

Teggana með

This song is about my ex-girlfriend. We literally name-drop her, but I was still with her when it was written, so it’s not a diss or anything. ‘Teggana með’ means I take her with me everywhere I go, like she’s my trophy. So it’s like, even if you’re crazy or fucked up, I still take you with me.

Sjáðu mig nú

‘Sjáðu mig nú’ means look at me now. It’s very private and about a breakup that wasn’t fair. I’m saying that I’m relieved it happened. I can put my feet on the ground and know that life isn’t always dancing on roses. It’s a song about the end of an era.

Hvað finnst þér um það?

I don’t know how I ended up rapping about having sex with a guy because that only happened once but I’m talking about it like it’s dirty when it wasn’t actually like that. I put so much spice on the story that it is nothing like reality. Kilo then comes in rapping about how he’s the best. We were just in that manic state of mind.

Þorparinn

‘Þorparinn’ is a cover of a famous Icelandic song. It’s about an outlaw that returns to his hometown but always feels like he’s not supposed to be there. I connect with that. Sometimes I feel like I don’t belong. I think, I’m not supposed to be here.

RAGGAH RAGGAH

I was shy about putting this on the album because it’s not my style. Writing this, I was so high up that I’m just talking down, saying I’m a female DMX, that I’m so cool. At the end, though, I thought, fuck it, just put it on the record.

Af stað

When I play this live, I always say, “This is about two girls having sex,” and everyone starts yelling. It’s about two people who see each other in a club. There’s a teasing vibe, where I say, “I know you’re playing me, but I like it.” At the end, though, you know it’s probably going to go nowhere—but you still like it.