Gabriele Dellisanti
September 30th, 2016

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Mary J Blige is coming to Copenhagen (photo: musicisentropy)

Mary J Blige
Oct 21, 20:00; Falconer Salen; 1,030kr
The US singer and songwriter is currently touring Europe – a perfect chance for you to see ‘the queen of hip-hop soul’ live in the Danish capital.

With her own record label and ranges of sunglasses and perfume, Blige has of late transcended her pop royalty status to become a brand in her own right.

Hugely influential, the New Yorker credits her albums What’s the 411? and My Life with inventing “the sample-heavy sound that reinvigorated urban radio and became a blueprint for nineties hip-hop and R&B”.

Furthermore, it contends that her “duets with the Wu-Tang Clan’s Method Man and Ghostface Killah set the trend for collaborations between rappers and R&B songbirds like Mariah Carey”.

Her work has not gone unrecognised. Nine Grammy awards from 30 nominations, eight platinum albums and numerous accolades confirm that Billboard was within its rights to name her as the most successful R&B artist of the past 25 years. VHI meanwhile placed her in its top 10 of ‘The 100 Greatest Women in Music’.

Her latest release, The London Sessions, came out in November 2014: the result of her move to the English capital a few months earlier to experiment with new sounds, and her album includes collaborations with Disclosure and Emeli Sandé.

Phlake
Oct 29, 20:00; Vega; 250kr (waiting list)
Phlake’s 2016 album Slush Hours has cemented their standing as one of Denmark’s biggest emerging bands.

“We call our sound rhythm ’n’ balls,” the band told Soundvenue magazine. “We mix R’n’B with the hardness of a hip-hop rhythm track.”

Their hit ‘Pregnant’ was widely popular this year. Although the single was released in late 2015, the video was not produced until March 2016, propelling it across the net and the world.

It was a far cry from their first single, ‘So Faded’, which in 2015 failed to rank on the Danish top singles chart.

The Chainsmokers
Oct 23, 20:00; Amager Bio; 250kr
While ‘#Selfie’ was a fun hit with a relatively short shelf life in 2014, it’s proven prescient as The Chainsmokers’ most recent releases have taken their music to a new level: a meme level.

This summer, ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ and ‘Closer’ were played on repeat on radios worldwide, with the latter reaching number 1 in the main US chart and staying there for six weeks, memed to the same extent as ‘Gangam Style’ and ‘Harlem Shake’.

It is something of a coup that Copenhagen is welcoming the American DJ duo, Andrew Taggart and Alex Pall, as they don’t get much bigger.

You will be addicted!

Justin Bieber
Oct 2, 18:00; Parken; 800kr
The summer is over, but it is not too late to say ‘Sorry’. Or at least sing along when the world’s biggest male pop act comes to Copenhagen, ready to perform to his Beliebers and recent converts to the guilty pleasure of actually liking the one-time teenage brat’s music.

Kakkmaddafakka
Oct 7, 21:00; Vega; 155kr
The name might sound unfamiliar (and weird), but this Norwegian indie-rock band is gaining popularity thanks to their energetic performances. They are touring Europe and their final date is at Vega in Copenhagen.

Passenger
Oct 16, 20:00; Vega; 310kr
Passenger (first a band, now a solo act) is getting pretty used to requests to play ‘Let It Go’ from Frozen, even though the Brit’s melancholic hit ‘Let Her Go’ topped charts worldwide. Passenger (aka Michael David Rosenberg) is currently touring Europe.

Fifth Harmony
Oct 22, 20:00; Falconer Salen; 395kr
Make sure you don’t have to work work work, because American singers Fifth Harmony are performing in Copenhagen. The X-Factor girl group debuted with ‘Worth it’ and gained popularity this summer with ‘Work from Home’.

Twenty Øne Piløts
Oct 30, 20:00; Falconer Salen; 360kr
If you’re not put off by the spelling of their name using Danish vowels (a quote from an Arthur Miller play, or were they co-respondents in his divorce proceedings?), you could do worse that this US pop/rap duo whose single ‘Stressed Out’ was a big hit.