The Latin Kings (group)

The Latin Kings (TLK) was a Swedish hip hop group from the municipality of Botkyrka in the southern suburbs of Stockholm, Sweden. Their 1994 debut album, Välkommen till förorten, was promoted as "authentic Swedish rap" and incorporated local street slang, representing everyday life for youth living in Stockholm's immigrant suburbs. Their subsequent four albums incorporated themes and traditions from American West Coast hip hop.

Background
The members of the group are the rapper and frontman Dogge Doggelito (Douglas Léon) and the two brothers, DJs and record producers, Salla (Christian Salazar Campos) and Chepe (Hugo Salazar Campos). They all have roots in Latin America (Venezuela and Chile), which is why they took their name from the gang Latin Kings.

They grew up in the concrete suburbs in Botkyrka where a large proportion of the population are immigrants and refugees and the poverty is more visible than elsewhere in Sweden. The hip hop subculture has a large following in these areas of Stockholm. Their songs reflect life in the less affluent suburbs.

Recordings
TLK were, in 1994, among the first to release a hip hop album with lyrics in Swedish (the first was Just D). Swedish rappers had before that time almost always used English. The debut album was Välkommen till förorten (Welcome to the Suburb) and the very first single was "Snubben" (The Dude). The group felt like they had been ripped off by their record company and decided to start their own label, Red Line Records, on which they have signed a number of hip hop artists in Sweden such as Fattaru, Kalle Kath, Fjärde Världen and Ison & Fille.

If their contemporaries Infinite Mass were influenced by the West Coast sound, TLK has more of an East Coast flavor. The Latin Kings has become famous for rapping in the local Rinkeby Swedish, a "multiethnolect language" that is used in areas with many immigrants. This is a phonetically distinct form of Swedish, with loanwords from Turkish, Aramaic, Spanish, Finnish, Persian, Arabic and other languages.

Tracks by The Latin Kings, including "Snubben" and "Kompisar från förr", were included in Aekta-Svenska Hip Hop Klassiker 1990–2000, released by Warner Music Sweden in 2000.

Albums and singles

 * Välkommen till förorten (Gold 50 000 sold) (1994)
 * "Snubben"
 * "Kompisar från förr"
 * "Mecka"
 * "Fint väder"
 * "Halva inne"
 * Bienvenido a mi barrio (1995) Spanish version of Välkommen till förorten
 * "Latino somos"
 * I skuggan av betongen (Platinum 102 000 sold) (1997)
 * "Botkyrka Stylee"
 * "Borta i tankar"
 * Mitt kvarter (Gold 83 000) (2000)
 * "De e knas"
 * "Blend dom"
 * "Ainaziz"
 * Omertà (2003)

Collections

 * Familia Royal (2005)