Kwan (band)

Kwan
General information
Genre (s)	Hip-hop , pop
founding	2000
Current occupation
guitar	Antti Eräkangas
Turntable	Amara Doumbouya
MC	Ossi "Tidjan" Tidiane Ba
MC	Mari "Mariko" Liisa Pajalathi
bass	Juho-Kustaa "Kusti" Sakari Kaukoniemi
Drums	Risto Rikala
Keyboard	Tatu Alexis Viljami Ferchen
Producer, music	Pauli Rantasalmi
former members
Drums	Aki Markus Hakala

Kwan is a Finnish pop and hip hop group that sings in English. Her most successful songs are Late and Rain .

Band history

Kwan was born from an idea by Antti Eräkangas and Pauli Rantasalmi, the guitarist of The Rasmus . After the release of their third studio album, Hell of a Tester , the members of The Rasmus had decided to make pure rock music and leave out playful elements and excursions into other genres such as funk , reggae and hip-hop from their songs. Then Rantasalmi decided to found a band with Eräkangas in which he could not process ideas that fit into The Rasmus scheme. With Ossi Tidiane Ba alias "Tidjan" a singer was quickly found.

Kwan Dynasty's debut album was made in Rantasalmi's little Soundgrotto studio. In an interview with Finnish magazine Soundi , Rantasalmi said that Kwan was a kind of swear word for “real” hip-hoppers at the time, as the music included melodic singing. However, after its release on April 18, 2001, the album reached number 6 in the Finnish album charts and was awarded gold in 2001 and platinum in 2002 for 31,989 units sold. In addition, the band was voted best newcomer in dance / hip-hop at the Emma Awards and Dynasty was voted best hip-hop album of the year.

On October 25, 2002, the second album The Die Is Cast was released , which had become even more melodic than the debut and was already a bit removed from the roots of hip-hop. After number 2 in the album charts, a platinum award for 61,251 albums sold within a few weeks, another Emma for the album and a longer tour, the band took a break in the summer of 2003.

In October 2004 the band returned with the single Unconditional Love , which was followed on November 5, 2004 by the album Love Beyond This World . This album also received an Emma, ​​but due to the gradual change in style, it was named the best pop album.

On March 22, 2006, the last album by Kwan Little Notes was released .

Together with The Rasmus and the pop rock group Killer , which was shut down in 2005 , Kwan has formed what is known as the "Dynasty Family", which support each other. In a cooperation between the three bands, the single Chillin 'At The Grotto with Lauri Ylönen and Siiri Nordin was created , which is also included on the album The Die Is Cast and reached number 2 in the Finnish single charts. So far it has only been presented live once at an Emma-Gaala.

Members

• Antti Eräkangas (born March 8, 1970 in Espoo ) is the band's guitarist and also active as a producer (including for Kwan and Pikku G ). He used to play in the Finnish pop rock band Killer .
• Amara Doumbouya (born April 13, 1975 in Abidjan , Ivory Coast ) is at the turntables . He is CEO of Finnish Urban Entertainment and co-founder of the R'n'B Cafe .
• Ossi Tidiane Ba alias "Tidjan" (born November 21, 1978 in Helsinki ) is one of Kwan's two MCs .
• Mari Liisa Pajalathi alias "Mariko" (born March 15, 1979 in Varkaus ) is also an MC. She used to play the violin and appeared in musicals. In spring 2007 she took part in the second season of Tanssii Tähtien Kanssa , the Finnish version of Strictly Come Dancing , and won it with dance partner Aleksi Seppänen.
• Juho-Kustaa Sakari Kaukoniemi aka "Kusti" (born December 17, 1979 in Kemi ) is the bass player for Kwan and the rock band Clarkkent .
• Risto Rikala (born March 26, 1979 in Kotka ) is the drummer for Kwan.
• Tatu Alexis Viljami Ferchen (born August 4, 1975 in Kajaani ) is the keyboard player for Kwan and the pop band Hemma Beast .

Discography

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Albums

Dynasty   FI 6th  platinum 17/2001 (34 weeks) The Die Is Cast   FI 2  platinum 41/2002 (27 weeks) Love Beyond This World   FI 10  gold 46/2004 (16 weeks) Little notes   FI 9 13/2006 (13 weeks)

Singles

Padam   FI 3 45/2000 (18 weeks) Microphoneaye   FI 3 10/2001 (16 weeks) Late   FI 1 35/2001 (17 weeks) Rock Da House   FI 13 06/2002 (1 week) Rain   FI 1  gold 27/2002 (14 weeks) Shine   FI 4th 45/2002 (7 weeks) Chillin 'At The Grotto   FI 2 11/2003 (5 weeks) Unconditional love   FI 1 45/2004 (6 weeks) Diamonds   FI 13 11/2006 (3 weeks)

Albums

• Dynasty (April 2001, Universal Music Finland )
• The Die Is Cast (October 2002, Universal Music)
• Love Beyond This World (November 2004, Universal Music)
• Little Notes (March 2006)

Singles

• Padam (2001)
• Microphoneaye (2001)
• Late (2001)
• Rock Da House (2001)
• The Die Is Cast (2002)
• I Wonder (Promo CD, 2002)
• Rain (2002)
• Shine (2002)
• Chillin 'At The Grotto (2002)
• Unconditional Love (2004)
• Decadence Of The Heart (2004)
• Sharks In The Bloody Waters (2004)
• Diamonds (2006)
• Tainted Love (2006)
• Little Note (2007)

Awards

Kwan has already received four Emma Awards :

• 2001 Best Hip-Hop / Dance Album for Dynasty
• Best Newcomer in Hip-Hop / Dance 2001
• Best Hip-Hop / Dance Album 2002 for The Die Is Cast
• 2004 Best Pop Album for Love Beyond This World

Web links

• Transcript of Soundi's interview with Pauli Rantasalmi (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} finnishcharts.com: Kwan in the Finnish charts
2. ↑ ^{a b c} emmagaala.fi: Awards 2001 ( Memento of the original from May 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ ^{a b} emmagaala.fi: Awards 2002 ( Memento of the original from May 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ ^{a b} emmagaala.fi: Awards 2004 ( Memento of the original from March 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ↑ rednora.com: Interview with bassist Kusti  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ↑ Music Sales Awards: FI