Silvana Imam (Stockholm, Sweden)

In December 2013, in Stockholm’s suburb of Kärrtorp, a group of neo-Nazis attacked an anti-racist demonstration, held in response to a spate of swastika graffiti that had appeared in the area. A week later, rapper Silvana Imam took part in a rally protesting the attack. She performed a verse from "Tystas Ner," a track that takes on the rightwing Sweden Democrats (SD) with lyrics about “Nazis sitting in Parliament.”

Imam, a feminist, lesbian, anti-racist rapper who was born in Sweden to a Lithuanian mother and Syrian father, has been making waves there over the past few years for her uncompromising lyrics: “You say my love is breaking the law/I say you have super thin dick/Go kiss your fucking swastika” she raps on “Imam Cobain.” Her most recent EP, När Du Ser Mig • Se Dig quotes Judith Butler’s gender theory (“gender is a kind of imitation for which there is no original”); calls out racial discrimination in the labor market (“15 million people in the world are called Mohammed but whose name do they want to see on the CV?”), and more or less calls for a feminist revolution (“the patriarchy must be overthrown”). She also takes a moment to raise a band of freedom fighters (“we are power pussies”) and challenge her rapper peers: “take the cake and throw it back at him, Anna-Mae.” Silvana, a conscious rapper, who writes with from her own perspective and since the narrative is written through a lesbian-immigrant-woman’s perspective, it's labeled as "political.”

Imam is releasing her second EP called "Jag Dör För Dig" in early spring. This one is more personal and is all about the passion for the art, her girlfriend, her crew, and her fans. It's intense, and this is her gift and her curse. This is real life, Silvana is not just rapping for rapping's sake. Silvana recently released her first single, ”För Evigt" of the new EP and occurred at made a unique performance at the P3 Awards on National TV, the song has since then had highest rotation on swedish national radio. Silvana is now prepping for her summer tour, together with style advisor designer Erik Bjerkesjö (Designer for Maison Martin Margiela), where she has shows at major festivals like Roskilde (Denmark), By:Larm (Norway), Trailer Park (Denmark), and Liseberg. She's also doing shows in Paris and Belgium. Seventy percent of all plays of "Imam Cobain" were from people in LA—her art doesn't have a language. She's been breaking all sorts of barriers since she was six years old, and art is universal. When Silvana Imam put on a show, she makes it interesting. Here is some of the accomplishments of 2014.Swedish Grammy nominee of 2014Best Artist

Best Hip Hop

Best Songwriter Nominee of P3 GOLD (Swedish National Radio)

Goldmic (Best Live Performance)

Best HipHop/SoulP3 (Swedish National Radio)

Best song of the year (I•M•A•M)

A (Highest) rotation on song ”För Evigt” for 3 monthsNöjesguiden (Sweden’s Biggest Free Magazine in PopCulture)

Music of the year (Artist of the year)

1# Song of the year (I•M•A•M)Stockholm Pride

Lesbian of the yearQX Magazine Awards (Biggest Gay Magazine)

Homosexual of the yearNominee of Kingsize Magazine Award

Best Artist

Best EP

Best Live PerformanceNominee of Gaffa Magazine

Best Swedish HipHop/Soul

Best Solo Artist

Best Debut Artist