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Artist
Käärijä (real name Jere Pöyhönen, born on October 21, 1993 in Helsinki) is a Finnish rapper, singer and songwriter from Vantaa. Early life Jere Pöyhönen grew up in Ruskeasanta, a suburb of Vantaa near Helsinki. He played drums and hockey as a kid and started experimenting with music in his teens. In 2014 he underwent emergency surgery due to ulcerative colitis, a turning point that he later spoke about publicly. His stage name, Käärijä, comes from a nickname given by a friend during gambling nights – “kääriä rahaa” roughly means “to roll in money.” Career Käärijä began releasing music around 2016–2017. His first double single, “Koppi tules / Nou roblem”, came out in 2017 through Monsp Records. In 2018 he followed up with the EP Peliä, and in 2020 released his debut album Fantastista. Musically, Käärijä blends rap, pop, electronic, punk and metal influences into something unpredictable and very Finnish. His work often crosses genre boundaries with humor, energy, and rawness. Breakthrough: “Cha Cha Cha” and Eurovision 2023 In early 2023, Käärijä was selected to compete in Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu, Finland’s national Eurovision selection, with the song “Cha Cha Cha.” At the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool, he finished second overall with 526 points and won the public vote across Europe. “Cha Cha Cha” became a viral hit, topping charts in Finland and entering the UK Top 10 – the first Finnish-language song ever to do so. Style and stage persona Käärijä is instantly recogn