What’s your stage name and where are you from?
I’m ZigZag-Zvor, and I am an independent rapper/producer from the west coast of Norway 🇸🇯.
What’s the story behind your stage name?
It is a combination of two separate nicknames from the high-school era: ZigZag (or more often Zag-a-lot, because of my heavy sagging and baggy jeans) and Zvor, a name that one of my friends called me back then. Why, I still don’t know, haha. But yes, the two together had a ring to it, so there… ZigZag-Zvor was born 💥😎.
Describe your musical journey in three sentences.
Me and a friend realized we actually made some dope stuff, so we sent a few demos to the national unsigned artist radio. We (our band Kontrollert Kaos) topped the charts for months, and from there on we rocked shows, dropped three albums, won a prize for our lyrical skills (2016), and also won a national song competition award. As a solo artist, I’ve also released three albums and got a few of my songs on national radio.
Share an interesting experience you had while creating your latest track.
It was Wednesday evening. From a lack of motivation, I had no inspiration whatsoever to make music. I wanted to, but just couldn’t. I had not been inspired to make music for over a year. I guess I was a bit depressed after a year with different hardships, and I actually considered quitting for good.
I forced myself to open up my laptop, browsed the net for some royalty-free samples… and there it was. The perfect sample! Download, open project, import sample, make a beat, write some stuff, record, mix… Done! Monday morning, three days later (with minimal sleep), my dopest track yet (in my opinion), “Livets Skuleelev” (Eng. transl. School of Life-Student), was made.
A few weeks later, I had my first EP in 5 years (coming soon!). For me, usually… inspiration knocks when it knocks. But you can’t hear the knocks with closed ears. I guess, sometimes you need to open the door to let inspiration in 😉.
What message do you want to convey through your music?
To stay true. Be cool, be funny, be wise, be hard… but always speak from the authentic you. I can be political or provocative, personal, or just lyrically playful and creative. But I think… whether I try to be funny, mad, or serious otherwise… I both hope and WANT people to regard me as being authentic. Be inspired by others, but don’t be a copy! Authenticity inspires and appeals. Be YOU.
Tell us about a challenge you faced during production and how you overcame it.
My biggest challenge, I guess, was the lyrical aspect—not the writing part directly, but rather being brave enough to not rewrite it because of its very personal content. Eventually, I convinced myself to believe that the only thing right for this song, lyrically, was to go with whatever inspired me to make it in the first place. Other than that, I was on auto-cruise for most of the ride.
If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be and why?
Tupac or Common. For me, Tupac was always my #1 inspiration and a teacher who taught me to not be afraid or embarrassed to express my true feelings or beliefs. Common, because of his style and lyrical genius. His storytelling has inspired me a lot and most definitely my writing.
Where do you see your music taking you in the next year?
First of all, I am a fisher, and that is where I have my income. I’m at sea half the year, so music has always been more of a hobby or a creative outlet for me. Whatever comes, comes. But I guess I can see a few more hands in the air and a few more people wearing t-shirts with my logo on. Maybe 😄. More shows, more fans… more music!
What’s the next big step for you as an artist?
As boring as it may sound, I do not have any immediate plans or ambitions other than to release my next album and play more gigs. I have been thinking about doing more collabs. Sounds boring, I guess, but my ambition is always to improve, do other types of stuff, and be better (or at least more interesting) than the “me” from last time around.
Where can we hear/watch your most recent work?
Search for ZigZag-Zvor or my band Kontrollert Kaos on YouTube. We have dozens of dope videos over there, most of them shot and directed by Britain-based underground hip-hop movie director Oliver Whitehouse (sektionred.com).
What is the best way to contact you if fans want to give feedback or if other artists/producers want to collaborate?
Check out my last single, Levemann, on Spotify. Also, check out the music video on YouTube 💥👊.
Social Media Contacts:
Facebook: @kontrollertkaos
Instagram: @zigzagzvor
