Bob Marley, the Rastafarians, the holy herb, dreadlocks, Jamaica. This is what usually comes to our minds when someone mentions the word ‘reggae’. But after the success of the aforementioned ‘Tuff Gong’ which basically led to the spreading of reggae to every corner of the world, reggae music has manifested itself in a variety of countries; surprisingly, one of these countries is Finland.
“I’m a peace-loving guy and I do appreciate His Majesty’s work and words of wisdom, but I am not a Rastafarian. But Rasta has helped me to find a lot of new perspectives to history, spirituality and humanity,” says Jukka Poika (translation: Jukka Son), perhaps Finland’s most-loved musician at the moment. Hooked on reggae from the age of sixteen after receiving a Max Romeo & the Upsetters cassette tape from his friend, Poika had the fifth best-selling album in the Finnish charts in 2012 and is currently starring in a reality TV show with six other musicians.
Indeed, the land of a thousand lakes, minus 25-degree dark winters, alcohol and heavy metal, has in the past few years fallen increasingly in love with reggae. Relying on offbeat rhythms and mellow harmonies, Finnish reggae could be described as rich in sound, easy-going, upbeat, and in Jukka Poika’s case, poppish. There are also more contemporary artists such as Puppa J and Lord Est, who makes mainly dancehall music, but ‘mainstream reggae’ is quite careful in incorporating dub and ragga elements into their music.
But Finnish reggae can be cool. Whereas roots reggae artists often sang about their faith, experiences and poverty in Jamaica, the artists born and raised in Finland have been able to find themes from their country.
For example, one of Jukka Poika’s chart hits ‘Älä Tyri Nyt’ encourages a depressed young adult living in a small town surrounded by forest to not give up and to wait for better times; one day he can leave the town and start his life in the city – something that is common in a country where more than 70% of the land is covered by forest.
Raappana, a slightly more melancholic artist, provides another great example of mixing reggae music and local experiences in ‘Soronoo’, a song which includes lyrics that can be very roughly translated as the following: “I’m feeling cold/ It’s cold and slippery/sodden wood and a broken sauna/the fire is dying/this wintery nation is surprisingly gutsy/one goes to work, it’s dark/one leaves work to go home, it’s even darker/have to be quick and go inside to drink rum, honey and lime.” However Poika also stresses the importance of thinking positively and coping with life even though it sometimes seems difficult, a sentiment present in most of his songs.
His music does not concentrate solely on the hard life in Finland, but rather on the more prominent and universal themes appreciating or examining love and life. Jukka Poika says that his inspiration comes from “love, nature, human action, things happening around me, humour, absurdity, the state of the world and mystery in its different forms”, and this is what his and reggae’s popularity in Finland just might be based on.
The poetic and optimistic lyrics of themes familiar to everyone combined with relaxed rhythms and laid-back attitudes appeals particularly to the somewhat stiff and melancholic people of Finland. It brings the Finnish mainstream music scene something exotic and fresh, acting as a counterforce to the excess seriousness and greyness in life.