Finnish hip hop or rap ( fi, suomiräp, räp) or (''suomirap, rap'') is a variant of hip hop music from

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. The rapping (räppääminen) is mainly done in

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

. Many rappers use Helsinki slang words; general slang and

Finnish dialects Finnish (endonym: or ) is a Uralic language of the Finnic branch, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official languages of Finland (the other being Swedish) ...

are used too by some artists. Many early rappers ( fi, räppäri) used the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

. Some Finnish rap was already recorded in the early 1980s and some popular artists 1990s but it was not until the 2000s that it finally reached mainstream popularity. The first recorded Finnish rap song was "I'm Young, Beautiful and Natural" in the English language which was made by an artist called General Njassa in 1983. Rap music in Finnish language made its first breakthrough in 1990 when groups Raptori and Pääkköset and artist Nikke T got their records to Finnish charts. Raptori in particular became a nationwide phenomenon. These artists had a style greatly different when compared to American rap music. Their music was highly influenced by the dance-pop of the 1980s and their approach to music was largely humoristic. Later Finnish rappers tend to despise this wave of the early 1990s. Niko Toiskallio (Nikke T) himself has later stated that he regrets his humoristic dance-influenced rap recordings and he claims that so-called humour-rap deprived the credibility of Finnish rap scene which did not recover until many years later in the late 1990s.''Ylioppilaslehti'' (the weekly paper of university students), 2007, 5.11
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Notable artists

;Mainstream rap artists and crews * Eevil Stöö *

Mikael Gabriel Mikael Kristian Gabriel Sohlman (born 25 February 1990), professionally known as Mikael Gabriel or MG, is a Finnish rapper. He has released six solo albums and appeared as a featured guest on songs by artists such as Cheek, Lord Est, Robin and U ...

* JVG * Gettomasa *

Cheek The cheeks ( la, buccae) constitute the area of the face below the eyes and between the nose and the left or right ear. "Buccal" means relating to the cheek. In humans, the region is innervated by the buccal nerve. The area between the insi ...

Uniikki Dan Ahti Tolppanen (born 11 June 1981) is a Finnish rapper, better known by his stage name Uniikki (meaning unique). He is the co-founder in of Rähinä Records (founded in 1998) with Elastinen, Iso H, Andu and Tasis. Uniikki was born to a Je ...

Teflon Brothers Teflon Brothers is an Finnish hip hop group originally from Helsinki, Finland. The band consists of Pyhimys, Heikki Kuula and Voli. Commercial success Teflon Brothers released their first single "Matkal kotiin" in 2006. It was also featured ...

Mäkki Gert Kaasik better known as Mäkki, is an Estonian-born Finnish rapper and DJ.Elastinen Kimmo Ilpo Juhani Laiho (born 1981), better known by his stage name Elastinen (meaning ''elastic'' in Finnish), is a Finnish rap musician and also known as one of the founders and is the CEO of the Finnish independent rap label Rähinä Records ...

Spekti Samuli Huhtala, professionally known as Spekti and previously as Aspekti and Uncle Damn, is a Finnish rapper. Career Spekti started his career in a band Trilogia in 1999. Since then, he has appeared as a featured artist on several songs, such as ...

* Daco Junior *

Ezkimo Mikko Mutenia (3 February 1980 – 21 June 2015), better known by his stage name Ezkimo, was a Finnish hip hop musician. He died on 21 June 2015. Discography Albums * ''Iso E'' (2002) * ''Vaa ämsee'' (2004) * ''Muteniaatikot'' (2009) Si ...

Nikke Ankara Niiles Hiirola, professionally known as Nikke Ankara, is a Finnish rapper. His first single "Perjantai 13.", produced by Henri "MGI" Lanz, was released in May 2014 through Universal Music Finland. He also appears as a featured guest on fellow rap ...

* Kapasiteettiyksikkö * Petri Nygård *

Redrama Lasse Mellberg (born 2 October 1977), better known by his stage name Redrama, is a Finnish rapper. He made a breakthrough in 2003. Redrama, who performs primarily in English, but also in Swedish and Finnish was part of a hip-hop group Alien Allie ...

* Juju *

Pyhimys Mikko Kuoppala (born 28 October 1981), professionally known as Pyhimys (in English ''The Saint''), is a Finnish rapper, songwriter and founder of the record company Yellowmic Records. He has gained success both as a solo artist and as a member o ...

* Kube *

Heikki Kuula Heikki Kuula (born 27 January 1983) is a Finnish rapper, record producer and graphic designer. He is known for his frequent collaborations with the fellow rapper Pyhimys who has also served as an executive producer on Kuula's albums. Career begi ...

* Cledos ;Underground rap artists and crews *

Amoc The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is part of a global thermohaline circulation in the oceans and is the zonally integrated component of surface and deep currents in the Atlantic Ocean. It is characterized by a northward f ...

* Notkea Rotta * Steen1 * OG Ikonen * Paleface * Raimo *

Ruudolf Ruudolf (born Rudy Frans Kulmala in 1983) is a Finnish hip hop artist. He is known for his calm flow and energetic live performances. He rhymes in Finnish. His debut album ''Doupeimmat Jumala Seivaa'' climbed on the 18th place on Finland's off ...

* Ruger Hauer * Iso H * SMC Lähiörotat

References

External links

Finnish hip hop portal based around the "Basso" magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finnish Hip Hop