Mariska

Mariska (real name Anna Maria Rahikainen, born Feb 19, 1979 in Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish pop & jazz singer-songwriter, who was formerly known for her career as a rapper. She uses different music styles in her music and her lyrics often deal with politics. Mariska has also gained recognition from writing successful songs for popular Finnish artists like Jenni Vartiainen and Anna Puu.

Mariska used to sing in a punk band called Oheisvasara. She has also lived in England, where she studied ancient Greek and Latin in university. Her English friends produced her first demo, called "Tee ze", which she took to the record companies in 2001. In summer 2002 she moved back to Finland to record her debut album Toisin sanoen, and her songs got played in radio a lot. Her second album Memento Mori was released in Feb 2004.

In 2004 Mariska performed her song Mari-Johanna in TV. The song raised fuss about its lyrics. The song can be understood in two ways: either it's about a woman or - this is where the fuss was all about - it's about cannabis.

In August 2005 Mariska released her third album Suden hetki. The critics say it's far from hip hop, but they still liked it.

From 2010 to 2013 she led a band called Mariska & Pahat Sudet (English: Mariska & The Bad Wolves). The band consisted of Mariska, Jaakko Jakku, Klaus Suominen ja Luis Herrero.

Mariska's biggest hits have been Tarkasta Tämä (2002), Anteexi (2002), Murha (2004) and a duet with Lord Est Hellä Ori (2005).

Albums

* Toisin sanoen (2002 - #23)

* Memento mori (2004 - #9)

* Suden hetki (2005 - #11)

Singles

* Tarkasta tämä / Tarkasta tämä (Jayem-remix) (2002 - #6)

* Anteexi / Tee ze / Hiphoptauti (2002 - #9)

* Matematiikkaa (2003)

* Hetken kestää elämää / Hetken kestää elämää (remix) / Matematiikkaa (live) (2004 - #11)

* Murha (2004)

* Keinu - radioversio / albumiversio / Lex L. remix / JM dub (2005)

* Sivustakatsoja (2005)

Music Videos

* Anteexi (2002)

* Murha (2004) Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.