Artist · chart history
Quarashi
Band Reykjavík Iceland Active 1996–2005
Quarashi formed in 1996 in Reykjavík, Iceland and was active until 2005. Quarashi has 11 chart appearances on 10 radio countdowns from 9 stations on RockLists, spanning 2001–2002. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Stick 'Em Up”, which appears on 10 lists with a best position of #61. The station that charted Quarashi most often is WBER (Rochester, NY), with 3 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 2002.
Quarashi came out of Reykjavík in 1996 with an idea that nobody expected from Iceland: rap and rock, shoved into the same room and told to get along. The group was built around four rappers, Hössi Ólafsson, Ómar Örn Hauksson, Steinar Orri Fjeldsted and Sölvi Blöndal, who doubled as producer, songwriter, keyboard player, percussionist and drummer. On stage they bulked up into a full band, with Smári "Tarfur" Jósepsson on guitar, Gaukur Úlfarsson on bass and DJ Dice, later DJ Magic, on the decks.
Jinx arrived in 2002 on Sony Music, and "Stick 'Em Up" is the calling card: shouted hooks, crunching guitars and the swagger of a crew crashing somebody else's party. Hössi eventually handed his spot to Egill Olafur Thorarensen, and after five studio albums between 1996 and 2005 the group called it a day.
It didn't stick. They regrouped in 2016, and in 2026 they marked 30 years with a hometown show at Laugardalshöll, where old collaborators including Tarfur turned up on stage and a new single, "Do It Again", got its first airing. A four-track EP, Days of Strange, is due in December 2026.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Quarashi on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stick 'Em Up | 10 | #61 | – | 2002 | |
| 2 | Mr. Jinx | 1 | #49 | – | 2002 |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Year-end chart timeline
Combined year-end countdown points per year. Taller bars mean more songs placing higher across more stations.
Every countdown appearance
| Year | # | Song | Countdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 96 | Stick 'Em Up | Q101 Top 101 Songs of 2002 |
| 2002 | 67 | Stick 'Em Up | WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 2002 |
| 2002 | 92 | Stick 'Em Up | The End Top 107 Songs of 2002 |
| 2002 | 92 | Stick 'Em Up | Y100 Top 100 Songs of 2002 |
| 2002 | 95 | Stick 'Em Up | The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2002 |
| 2002 | 49 (tie) | Mr. Jinx | WBER Listener Countdown 2002 |
| 2002 | 61 | Stick 'Em Up | Buzz 103.1 The 103 Most Played Buzz Cuts of 2002 |
| 2002 | 68 (tie) | Stick 'Em Up | WBER Listener Countdown 2002 |
| 2002 | 88 | Stick 'Em Up | WMRQ Top 104 Songs of 2002 |
| 2002 | 100 | Stick 'Em Up | Radio & Records Top 100 Songs of 2002 |
| 2001 | 107 (tie) | Stick 'Em Up | WBER Listener Countdown 2001 |
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