Julio Kompoloi (stylised JUΛIO) is a Cypriot rapper and visual artist whose work is rooted in the language, contradictions and everyday realities of Cyprus. Writing and performing in the Cypriot Greek dialect, his music combines personal storytelling with social and political commentary, addressing identity, migration, inequality, racism, anti-fascism, collective memory and working-class experience. His distinctive use of dialect has placed him among the artists associated with the emergence and growing visibility of Greek Cypriot dialect hip-hop.
Born and raised in Cyprus, Julio developed an early interest in hip-hop culture alongside poetry and the visual arts. He studied graphic design before continuing with postgraduate studies in Fine Art, later working professionally as a graphic designer while developing his musical career. This background in visual culture has remained closely connected to his work as a musician, with sound, language and imagery forming different parts of the same artistic practice.
Emerging from Cyprus’s underground hip-hop scene in the early 2010s, Julio began performing live in 2013 and released his first material the following year. Over the decade that followed, he built an extensive independent catalogue of albums, singles and collaborative projects. Rather than adopting standard Greek as his principal lyrical language, Julio made the Cypriot dialect a defining feature of his work, using it to document contemporary life on the island from within. His work extends beyond his solo catalogue.
Julio is a founding member of Barco Pirata Collective, an interdisciplinary collective bringing together musicians, graffiti artists, photographers, filmmakers and designers. He is also a founding member of Anemourio, a Cypriot rock-rap band combining hip-hop, rock and experimental elements with lyrics centred on social issues and everyday life in Cyprus.
Julio’s live and collaborative work has connected the Cypriot scene with the wider Greek-speaking hip-hop community. In 2022, he was invited to perform at Greek rapper Anser’s 15 Χρόνια Εν Δράσει anniversary concert at Technopolis in Athens. His festival appearances include Fengaros Festival, AfroBanana Festival and This is AfroBanana x Athens, while in 2024 he performed alongside Greek hip-hop pioneer Sadahzinia at Savino Live in Larnaca. He has also appeared at TEDx University of Nicosia.
Julio’s contribution to Cypriot hip-hop has attracted academic attention. His music and lyrics have been examined in peer-reviewed research concerned with Cypriot Greek, language ideology, identity and public space. Maria Kouvarou identifies him as one of the principal artists associated with Greek Cypriot dialect hip-hop, while the music video Άκου, Θώρε, Νιώσε (Listen, See, Feel) has been analysed academically for its representation of urban Cyprus and its engagement with racism and social exclusion.
In 2024, Julio’s music video ΤΡΑΒΑ (Trava) received three awards at the Cyprus Music Video Festival: Best Cypriot Production Song, Best Director (Cypriot Production), and Best Lyrics (Cypriot Production). Across music, visual art and collective projects, Julio’s work remains grounded in Cyprus while looking beyond its borders. The Cypriot dialect is not simply a stylistic element of his music but part of a wider artistic approach concerned with who gets to speak, whose experiences are represented, and how contemporary Cyprus can be documented through its own language.
