The seventh and final song of this year’s Uuden musiikin kilpailu (UMK) has been released. You can listen to the song ”Vox Populi” by Mikael Gabriel x nublu here:
Finnish Mikael Gabriel and Estonian nublu are both very successful rap artists in their home countries. Mikael Gabriel is the artist name of 33-year-old Mikael Kristian Gabriel Sohlman. He was born in 1990 in Helsinki to Estonian mother and Swedish Finn father. He began to reach for a career as an artist in 2007, when he participated in the auditions of the Finnish Idol, but didn’t qualify for the next round of the contest. In Idol Gabriel performed as a singer, but after the auditions he decided to become a rap artist.
In 2008 Gabriel made a recording deal with Helsinki Freedom Records, and his debut album ”5 miljoonaa muuta” (”5 million others”) was released in 2009. In 2010 he chanced his recording company to Universal Music, and his second album ”Pohjoisen poika” (”Son of the North”) came out in January 2011. Gabriel’s career took a huge step forward in 2015 after the releasing of his fouth album ”Versus”. The singles of ”Versus” were streamed over 10 million times already before the album was officialy released. One of these singles was ”Viimeisen kerran” (”For the last time”):
After 2015 Gabriel has established his place as one of Finland’s most popular rap artists and until this day he has released 7 albums, made duets with numerous Finnish artists and been one of the judges of X-Factor Finland in 2018, where one of his colleagues was Finnish Eurovision 2018 representative Saara Aalto. He also won Emma-award (Finnish Grammy) of ”Male artist of the year” in 2016. Besides his music career, Gabriel has also graduated with vocational qualification in business in July 2019 and worked as an actor in movies ”Pahan kukat” (”Flowers of Evil”) and ”Bodom”, which were both released in 2016.
Nublu is an artist name of Estonian rap artist Markkus Pulk. He was born in 1996 in Keila, Estonia. He released his debut album ”Café Kosmos” in 2020, and in Estonian Music Awards 2021 nublu won six awards, including ”Male Artist of the year”, ”Album of the year” and ”Hip-Hop/Rap/R’n’P artist of the year”. Nublu made collaboration with Mikael Gabriel already in 2020, when they released the song ”Universum”, which quickly became the most listened-to single in both Estonia and Finland in Spotify. The music video of ”Universum” was also awarded as ”Music video of the Year” in Estonian Music Awards 2021. Besides his music career, Pulk has also studied journalism and communication in the University of Tartu.
According to YLE, Gabriel and nublu found each other through social media. Gabriel had heard about nublu before, but didn’t know anything about Estonian rap music. Gabriel admits he had some preconceptions, but hearing nublu’s material turned them right around.
Gabriel and nublu tell YLE that their UMK entry ”Vox Populi” talks about how it is sometimes hard to know what’s true and what’s not in such polarised public forums. According to the artists, the song is very topical in today’s world, which is filled with populism and people droning endlessly about their own truths:
The song deals with political and cultural divides, saying that even though we’re all entitled to our own opinions, it doesn’t necessarily make them true. Everyone should use their voice, but at the same time you should also keep in mind that you will be judged no matter what, says Gabriel.
This is what the jury of UMK24 said about ”Vox Populi” by Mikael Gabriel x nublu:
Mikael Gabriel and nublu are two of the most well-known and popular artists in Finland and Estonia, and they are entering UMK as a duo with a song that will surely be a surprise for many. Their previous collaborations were rap-driven, but this time round the song is a truly unique combination of dance sounds, punky rock and contemporary hyperpop. The crowning touch is an inescapably catchy chorus, which will grab you the first time you listen to it.
Now that we have heard all of the competing songs of UMK24, it’s time for YOU to tell us your opinion! You can do it by voting for your favorite in our poll:
[democracy id=”251″]
