Käärijä

Käärijä (real name Jere Pöyhönen, born October 21, 1993 in Helsinki) is a Finnish rap artist who records for Monsp Records.

Käärijä has spent most of his youth in Ruskeasanta, Vantaa. He played hockey for a long time and played the drums. The enthusiasm for making his own music started in 2014. In the beginning, Käärijä’s themes revolved very strongly around gambling, and the same theme is partly present in today’s productions as well. His stage name comes from a joke among friends and refers to winning money, or “rolling” in gambling.

Käärijä published music on his own until the end of 2017, when Monsp Records released his first double single “Koppi tules” / “Nou roblem”. The A-side of the single was well received, and Käärijä signed an extension contract with Monsp Records. From the beginning, Aleksi Nurmi has been responsible for the production of Käärijä, who has also produced, for example, the music of Töölö Ketterä, Sonny and Adi L Hasla.

In 2023, Käärijä won UMK, the Finnish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. At the contest itself, he was one of the favourites for the victory. The televoting audience voted him to the first place. In the overall result Käärijä became 2nd.