Albatraoz is a Swedish electro house-hip hop band from Borås, formed in 2012. The band consists of Aron "AronChupa" Ekberg, Nicklas "Savvo" Savolainen, AndyBar Maskinen and Sahlberg "Salle" Rasmus.
Career
In 2009 Aron Ekberg, Måns Harvidsson, Andreas Reinholdsson, Nicklas Savvolainen and Rasmus Sahlberg become members of the Swedish fourth division professional football club Byttorps IF and began their careers as footballers. In 2012 they formed the group as a hobby and recorded a demo produced by Aron. The group went professional when they signed with Sony Music. On 2 August 2013 their debut single was released, the self-titled "Albatraoz". The song reached thirty-six in Swedish Singles Chart and remained nineteen weeks on the chart. "Albatraoz" was certified platinum in Sweden. In January 2014 the song reached 8.5 million plays on Spotify and the group toured to promote the song. On 18 April 2014 the group released their second single, "Arriba", but the song didn't peak in the charts.
Controversy
During a concert in February 2017 in Bohuslän, Sweden, the group made headlines after the member Måns Harvidsson had pressed a female audience member's face towards his groin on stage. This was witnessed by both a security guardat the club and by friends of the victim, who had also filmed the act with her mobile phone. In the recording it can be seen how Harvidsson grasps the victim by her hair and then presses her face against his genitals before he let her go. In an apology to the victim Harvidsson later explains that the girls would never understand the feeling and he compared it with how actors enters a role in a film. He also said, according to the victim and her friend, "how should I know that she didn't want if I didn't try?". After the incident the record company Sony Music decided to terminate all cooperation between them and Albatraoz. Harvidsson was also fired from the band the same day, all members cut off contact with him and apologized for the former member's violence. Two years after the incident, in February 2019, Uddevalla District Court sentenced Harvidsson to 80 day-fines for sexual harassment. He was also to pay 5 000SEK in damages to the victim, which was half of what she had claimed. Harvidsson had during his case denied the charges and argued that in the event the court would find him guilty, no punishment should be given on the ground that his musical career had already suffered greatly. The court did however not find this reason enough. He was also accused by a second woman from the concert, who claimed that he had flicked her on the buttocks with a towel and kissed her on the neck. In this case the court dropped the charges citing lack of evidence.
