Matti Salo (born 1980), professionally known as Asa and previously as Avain, is a Finnish rapper, record producer and singer. He is also a member of

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

and

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

group Jätkäjätkät.

Career beginnings

In the early 2000s, Salo was signed to

Warner Music Finland Warner Music Group (WMG) owns, has a joint share, or is associated with the record labels listed here. Flagship labels *Atlantic Records *Elektra Records *Parlophone Records *Warner Records Atlantic Music Group * 1st & 15th Entertainment * A ...

. Under his initial stage name Avain, he released his debut album ''Punainen tiili'' (''The Red Brick'') in 2001. With its socially conscious lyrics, the album is considered to be one of the most important Finnish hip hop albums of all time. Soon after its release, Salo parted ways with his record company and went on a few years hiatus.

Later career

While the rights to his former stage name remained at Warner Music, Salo emerged in 2004 with his current alias Asa. To date, he has released nine studio albums, two of which have reached number two on the

Finnish Albums Chart The Official Finnish Charts (; ) are national record charts in Finland compiled and published by Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. The name ''Suomen virallinen lista/Finlands officiella lista'' (lit. "the Official Finnish Chart"), which is ...

, along with three albums with the group Jätkäjätkät.

Personal life

In 2006, Asa was fined for possession of

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

and

hash Hash, hashes, hash mark, or hashing may refer to: Substances * Hash (food), a coarse mixture of ingredients, often based on minced meat * Hash (stew), a pork and onion-based gravy found in South Carolina * Hash, a nickname for hashish, a canna ...

Career beginnings

Later career

Personal life

Selected discography

Solo albums

With Jätkäjätkät

References