iamamiwhoami

iamamiwhoami (/ˌaɪæm.æmaɪˈhuːæmaɪ/ EYE-am-am-eye-HOO-am-eye) is an electronic music and audiovisual project led by Swedish singer-songwriter Jonna Lee in collaboration with producer Claes Björklund.

iamamiwhoami is notable for its artistic multimedia output and the innovative use of YouTube and viral videos to disseminate music and visuals.

One video, titled "y", gained over 68 million views by October 2023 due to its unique position as the first link returned by Google if the word "youtube" is not fully typed into the browser.

The project has also remixed songs for Moby and The Irrepressibles, as well as performing live in concert tours revolving around the releases of Kin, Bounty and Blue.

[2] In an interview with Playgroundmag.net, Lee explained that iamamiwhoami was conceived as a response to "experiencing convention in its purest form," referencing her earlier solo work.

[2] The project's musical and visual style represents a significant shift from the guitar-driven alternative pop of her solo career, though Lee notes that "the change is probably more apparent from an external point of view."

Lee has explained they wanted it to "grow freely and [tear] the formerly [sic] by its roots and start over",[2] envisioning the ability to "physically visualize" their songs.

Lee began collaborating with visual directors Robin Kempe-Bergman, Agustín Moreaux, still photographer John Strandh, and most recently, fashion and costume designer Mathieu Mirano, who are credited as part of the visual team of iamamiwhoami,[2][4] and Lee has defined the collective as being herself in a "collaboration with amazing people" that she loves, also stating "iamamiwhoami is not something [she] can shake off.

"[6] Lee states that essentially, "the core of iamamiwhoami is our music, where the lyrics are the script for the story happening and being shared in real time.

[11] The first two iamamiwhoami videos were uploaded to YouTube on 4 December 2009, and were forwarded from an anonymous email account to a number of music journalists and blogs.

Imagery associated with the folklore of the mandragora (the flowering humanoid, berries, dogs used to pull out the mandrake, and semen of a hanged man) recurs throughout iamamiwhoami's videos.

Having blogged about the videos, MTV journalist James Montgomery received a package by a messenger, which included a lock of blond hair, a piece of bark, and a pictogram of the six animals with the question "Says what?

"[7] This initial stage of the project received positive, if sceptical reviews and many websites found themselves asking readers to guess the identity of the blonde woman within the clips.

iamamiwhoami was speculated to be a project of many artists, including Lady Gaga, Goldfrapp, Björk, The Knife, Trent Reznor and Christina Aguilera.

Garnering positive reviews for its dramatic change in style and heavy use of a piano as well as vocal distortion techniques, the song was the first to be uploaded to the iTunes Store, being offered as a paid digital download on 15 March 2010.

"[18] Despite this, her involvement in the project was eventually thought to be confirmed with the release of the video for "t", in which her face was fully revealed without any makeup or distortion to conceal her identity.

The conclusion of the live performance art event IN CONCERT of 2010 reveals that the onomatopoeia used to represent the animals' calls can be made to approximate the pronunciation of the English word "Bounty".

One month later, on 16 November 2010, a live online concert was streamed on To whom it may concern's website where ShootUpTheStation was led through the forests of iamamiwhoami by Lee and brought to be buried and burned inside a paper box.

On 1 February 2012, iamamiwhoami's YouTube channel once again became active with the posting of the video "kin 20120611", which was sent to music blogs much in the same manner as the original release.

[28] In terms of imagery, much of Kin contains large hairy creatures which interact with Lee throughout the narrative, which she explained as "represent[ing] a part of me and most others.

"[2] The release resulted in the first interviews conducted by Lee in promotion of the album, for the first time describing the process of creating the iamamiwhoami visuals and music.

In preparation for the release, iamamiwhoami were signed to Cooperative Music, a British group of independent labels founded by V2 Records.

The Italian branch of the label was the first to announce the release of the series as an album, which would be audiovisual and distributed both physically and via digital download on 11 June 2012.

[32][33] iamamiwhoami was nominated for "The Best Tease of the Past 12 Months" category by BBC Radio's 6 Music Blog Awards, with fellow contenders being Lana Del Rey, Elliphant, Battlekat, Savoir Adore and The Sound of Arrows.

[34] On 2 March 2012, iamamiwhoami was declared the winner on BBC Radio by Tom Robinson, and the project received their first large airplay debut with "O" after the announcement.

[27] Originally distributed as a series of singles spanning 2010 and 2011, "Bounty" was later consolidated into an album released on 3 June 2013, under iamamiwhoami's label, To whom it may concern.

Following "Fountain" were three singles "Hunting for Pearls", "Vista" and "Tap Your Glass", which were sporadically released on 25 February, 28 April, and 4 August, respectively.

[42][43][44] On 8 July, the third audio visual album was officially announced, titled Blue, released on 10 November in exclusive physical and digital editions.

[50] Jonna Lee stated that she is influenced by Kraftwerk, Cocteau Twins, Depeche Mode, Christopher Nolan, Air and Vangelis.

She also added that she enjoys listening to Blood Orange, Arca, Denis Villeneuve, Chromatics, Four Tet, Björk, Todd Terje, Disasterpeace and Mozart.

Lee, seen performing here in 2008, developed iamamiwhoami with Björklund after the release of her second album in 2009
iamamiwhoami's first concert before a live audience at Way Out West portrayed their unconventional performance style and featured Lee singing to the audience on a bed made of toilet rolls. The audience being filmed and projected, watching themselves during the concert. The appearance continues the events in the videos of "; john" and "clump" that were released simultaneously to the Way out west performance.