Paleface & Räjähtävä Nyrkki

One of Finnish hip-hop’s top dogs, Paleface became a nation-wide treasure practically overnight, when he changed from English to Finnish on his platinum selling fourth album, Helsinki-Shangri-La, which truly nailed the economic and mental condition of Finland right now, while spicing his hip-hop ethos with old working-class rallies and etnic hues ranging from the Finnish Romanis to the tuaregs of Sahara.

Karri ”Paleface” Miettinen studies English language linguistics and works both in radio and tv. He got his artist name from his black friends, when he was an exchange student in the US. Born in the small town of Järvenpää in southern Finland, Paleface lived for several years in Tampere, but resides now in Helsinki.

Before changing the language of his rhymes, Paleface made three excellent rap albums (The Pale Ontologist, Quarter Past, Studio Tan). He also belongs to the Finnish-Swedish reggae-influenced rap act Conscious Youths, and has worked with Fat Beat Sound System, Suhinators and the Q-Continuum.

Inspired by blues, soul and Gil Scott-Heron, as well as selected rappers, Paleface now has a new killer band, featuring truly funky Q-Continuum players, like soul brother Tuomo Prättälä.