Icona Pop

This article is about the group. For their self-titled album, see Icona Pop (album).

Icona Pop
Icona Pop (Aino Jawo, left, and Caroline Hjelt) performing at the Way Out West festival in Gothenburg, Sweden, in August 2014
Background information
Origin	Stockholm, Sweden
Genres	Synth-pop[1] electropop[2] dance-pop[3] electro house[4]
Years active	2009–present
Labels	TEN Big Beat Atlantic Ultra Music Universal
Members	Aino Jawo Caroline Hjelt
Website	iconapop.com

Icona Pop (English: /aɪˈkɒnə ˈpɒp/ eye-KON-ə POP) are a Swedish synth-pop duo that formed in 2009, with electro house and indie pop music influences.^[5] Its two members, Aino Jawo (born 7 July 1986) and Caroline Hjelt (born 8 November 1987), 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".

Career

Beginning

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 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 play Iconic in the US and the album Icona Pop in Sweden. The duo have performed in the aforementioned countries as well as countries such as the UK, Germany, Italy, Canada and Hong Kong, and have also been interviewed by members of the Swedish and worldwide press.^{[citation needed]}

2012–2013: Breakthrough with "I Love It" and This Is... Icona Pop

Main articles: Icona Pop (album) and This Is... Icona Pop

Icona Pop at Michalsky StyleNite of Berlin Fashion Week, August 2013

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 Girls and 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 show Late 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" at the Billboard Music Awards, wearing custom lit outfits by designer Geoffrey Mac.^[21] The song was 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

Icona Pop at The Prismatic World Tour, May 2014.

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. 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.^[28][29] 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. On 23 February 2016, Icona Pop performed a new single, "Someone Who Can Dance" at the Grammis in Stockholm.^[30][31] 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".^[32] 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 Sweater Beats. 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.^[33][34] On 26 July 2019, the duo returned with the first single from their upcoming third studio album – "Next Mistake". The Swedish duo have signed to Ultra Music as of 2019.^[8]

Discography

Main article: Icona Pop discography

• Icona Pop (2012)
• This Is... Icona Pop (2013)
• Club Romantech (2023)^[35]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Aino's role	Caroline's role	Notes
2016	Trolls	Satin (voice)	Chenille (voice)
2017	Trolls Holiday			Short film
2020	Trolls World Tour
2023	Trolls Band Together

Television

Year	Title	Aino's role	Caroline's role	Notes
2023	Drag Race Sverige	N/A	Herself	Guest Judge (Season 1, Episode 6)
2024	RuPaul’s Drag Race	Herself	Herself	Guest Judges (Season 16, Episode 5)
2024	RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked	Herself	Herself	Guests (Season 15, Episode 5)

Tours

As supporting act

• Marina and the Diamonds' The Lonely Hearts Club Tour (North America, 2013)
• Miley Cyrus' Bangerz Tour (North America and Europe, 2014)^[36]
• Katy Perry's Prismatic World Tour (United Kingdom, 2014)^[37]
• One Direction's On the Road Again Tour (North America, 2015)^[38]

Awards

• Rober Awards Music Poll

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2012	Themselves	Guilty Pleasure	Nominated

• Rockbjörnen

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2018	Themselves	Årets livegrupp	Nominated

• P3 Guld

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2014	This Is... Icona Pop	Årets grupp	Nominated
	Themselves	Guldmicken (årets liveartist)	Nominated

• Sweden GAFFA Awards

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2018[39]	Themselves	Årets Grupp	Won

• Gaygalan Awards

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2014	Themselves	Årets Artist	Nominated

• Scandipop Awards

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2014[40]	This Is... Icona Pop	Best Group Album	Nominated
	Themselves	Best Group	Nominated
2017[41]			Won
2018[42]			Won

• Teen Choice Awards

Year	Nominated work	Award	Result
2013	"I Love It" (with Charli XCX)	Choice Single: Group	Nominated
2015	Icona Pop	Choice Music Group: Female	Nominated

• Billboard Music Awards

Year	Nominated work	Award	Result
2014	"I Love It" (with Charli XCX)	Top Dance/Electronic Song	Nominated

• MTV Europe Music Awards

Year	Nominated work	Award	Result
2014	Icona Pop	Best Swedish Act	Nominated

• Hungarian Music Awards

Year	Nominated work	Award	Result
2014	This Is... Icona Pop	Modern Pop/Rock Album of the Year	Nominated

• iHeartRadio Music Awards

Year	Nominated work	Award	Result	Ref.
2014	"I Love It" (with Charli XCX)	Best Lyrics	Nominated	[43]
	Icona Pop	Best New Artist	Nominated

• SESAC Pop Awards

Year	Nominated work	Award	Result
2014	"I Love It" (with Charli XCX)	Songwriter of the Year	Won
		Song of the Year	Won

• Grammis Award

Year	Nominated work	Award	Result	Ref.
2013	"I Love It"	Song of the Year	Nominated	[44]
	Icona Pop	Newcomer of the Year	Won
	Icona Pop	Electronic/Dance of the Year	Nominated
2014	Icona Pop	Artist of the Year	Nominated	[44]
		Electronic/Dance of the Year	Won
2016	"Emergency"	Song of the Year	Nominated	[45]
2018	Icona Pop	Electronic/Dance of the Year	Nominated	[46]

• APRA Awards (Australia)

Year	Nominated work	Award	Result	Ref.
APRA Music Awards of 2019	"Let You Down" by Peking Duk and Icona Pop	Dance of the Year	Nominated	[47]

• Other awards

Award	Nominated work	Category	Result	Ref.
Gaffa	Icona Pop	Swedish Breakthrough of the Year	Won	[48]
P3 Gold	I Love It	Song of the Year	Won	[49]
Elle Gala	Icona Pop	Best Dressed Duo	Won	[50]

See also

• Swedish popular music

References

1. Sheffield, Rob (3 December 2012). "Icona Pop: Iconic". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
2. Patel, Puja (25 June 2012). "Icona Pop Talk Shop: Swedish Duo on Romance and Revenge". Spin. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
3. Stewart, Allison (20 August 2015). "Icona Pop got started at – where else? — a party". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
4. Kent, Chloe (11 May 2013). "On the Verge: Icona Pop crash-lands into public eye". USA Today. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
5. Tweet Stockholm TT Spektra (15 June 2012). "Icona Pop gör dansmusik med punkattityd". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Svd.se. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
6. "Icona Pop gör dansmusik med punkattityd". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå. 15 June 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
7. "Svenska Icona Pop hyllas världen över!" (in Swedish). Universal Music Sweden. 13 June 2012. Archived from the original on 10 February 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
8. "Icona Pop Sign to Ultra Music, Share 'Next Mistake' & Reflect on 10 Years: 'We've Become Boss Ladies' (Exclusive)". Billboard. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
9. Rantanen, Kimmo (15 July 2014). "Suositulla ruotsalaisbändillä suomalaistausta: "Olen hyvin suomalainen"". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 9 August 2019. ... Hjeltin isän puolen isovanhemmat ovat suomalaisia.
10. Nika, Colleen. "Meet Icona Pop: Sweden's Latest Stylish Dance Invaders". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 14 October 2011. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
11. Patel, Puja (25 June 2012). "Icona Pop Talk Shop: Swedish Duo on Romance and Revenge". Spin. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
12. ""Tillsammans är vi odödliga" – Kultur" (in Swedish). SVT.se. 13 November 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
13. Sheffield, Rob (3 December 2012). "Iconic". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
14. "Icona Pop Know What's 'Good for You' – Premiere". Rolling Stone. 15 October 2012. Archived from the original on 9 April 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
15. "Rising: Icona Pop". Pitchfork. 25 May 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
16. Cragg, Michael (7 March 2011). "New music: Icona Pop – Top Rated". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
17. "Icona Pop | NEW! Artist – The Ace & TJ Show". Acetj.channel961.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
18. Coca Cola Light startet Jubiläumsjahr mit neuer "Night-Boost"-Kampagne Archived 21 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine – Press release of Coca Cola Company on 14 January 2013.
19. "Samsung Galaxy S4 TV Advert - Group Play" – via YouTube.
20. "30 Must-See Acts at SXSW 2013 - Photos - South by Southwest - Festivals - Fuse". Fuse (TV channel). Archived from the original on 11 May 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
21. Hawkins, R. (20 May 2013). "2013 Billboard Music Awards performance photos". Rollingout.com.
22. "Teen Choice Awards Nominations: Choice Music Breakout Group, Choice Single: Group". Teenchoice.com. Retrieved 4 July 2013.^{[permanent dead link]}
23. "Line Up festival, musique et arts Osheaga". Webarchive.loc.gov. 20 September 2013. Archived from the original on 20 September 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
24. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Icona Pop Plays 'I Don't Care/I Love It'". 17 December 2013 – via YouTube.
25. Harris, Aisha (23 June 2014). "Icona Pop's New Song Is a Perfect Addition to Your Summer '14 Playlist". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
26. "Icona Pop Still Shooting for Song of the Summer With 'Get Lost'". Time. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
27. Ehrlich, Brenna. "Icona Pop And Cobra Starship May Restore Your Faith in Love -- Or at Least Love Songs". MTV News. Archived from the original on 29 August 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
28. "Dance Club Songs". Billboard. 19 September 2015.
29. "FIFA 16 SOUNDTRACK". ea.com. EA Games. 10 September 2015.
30. "Icona Pop Debuts New Tune at Swedish Grammis Awards". abcnewsradioonline.com. ABC News Radio. 25 February 2016.
31. Lee, Ashley (14 May 2015). "'Pitch Perfect 2': Inside 9 of the Sequel's Intricate, Star-Studded Medleys". The Hollywood Reporter.
32. "Peking Duk (Ft. Icona Pop) – Let You Down", Genius.com, retrieved 1 September 2019
33. "iTunes - Music - This Is How We Party (with Icona Pop) - Single by R3HAB". iTunes Store. 8 February 2019.
34. "R3HAB (Ft. Icona Pop) – This Is How We Party". Genius.com. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
35. "THE RETURN OF THE CLUB: ICONA POP'S NEW ALBUM IS HERE FOR THE NEXT ROARING 20S". 18 May 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
36. Cyrus, Miley Ray (12 November 2013). "Guess who else is coming with me & @iconapop on #bangerz tour".
37. "Katy Perry To Be Joined By Special Guests Icona Pop On 'Prismatic' UK Arena Tour". Capital FM. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
38. "Icona Pop to Support One Direction on North America Tour". Billboard. 1 June 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
39. "GAFFA-Priset 2018 – här är alla vinnarna". gaffa.se. Archived from the original on 24 February 2020. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
40. "The 2014 Scandipop Awards: The Winners!". Scandipop.co.uk. 3 February 2014.
41. "The 2017 Scandipop Awards: The Winners!". Scandipop.co.uk. 16 January 2017. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
42. "The 2018 Scandipop Awards: The Winners!". Scandipop.co.uk. 25 January 2018.
43. "2014 iHeartRadio Music Awards Nominees Announced". 3 March 2014.
44. "Nominerade #Grammis17". Grammisgalan. 15 December 2016.
45. "2016 Archives - Page 2 of 2". Grammisgalan. Archived from the original on 24 February 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
46. "2018 Archives". Grammisgalan. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
47. "2019 APRA Awards nominees announced". noise11. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
48. Video (n.d.). "Icona Pop tackar för GAFFA-Priset" (in Swedish). Gaffa. Archived from the original on 17 January 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
49. Staff (18 January 2013). "Icona Pops "I love it" är årets låt!". Sveriges Radio (in Swedish). Retrieved 7 March 2013.
50. Staff (11 January 2013). "Årets Bäst Klädda (Duo): Icona Pop" (in Swedish). Elle (Sweden edition). Retrieved 7 March 2013.

External links

• Official website
• Icona Pop at AllMusic
• Icona Pop discography at Discogs
• Mark Savage (6 July 2013). "Icona Pop: The break-up behind I Love It". BBC News. Retrieved 8 July 2013.