Elastinen



Kimmo Ilpo Juhani Laiho (born 1981), better known by his stage name Elastinen (elastic in Finnish), is a Finnish rap musician and also one of the founders and CEO of independent Finnish rap label Rähinä Records. Together with his colleague Iso H (Big H), he founded the Finnish rap duo Fintelligens. He has released five solo albums.

Beginnings
Born and raised in Helsinki, Elastinen began taking guitar lessons when he was seven years old. At the age of 11 he started dancing and has been a member of famous break-dance groups as IMC and Savage Feet. Inspired by a hiphop-cassette, given by his elder-brother, "Ela" wrote his first rap-lyrics when he was 15 years old, after being inspired by a hip hop cassette given to him by his older brother. He joined an anti-racist musical "Colorblind" and met Iso H.

In Fintelligens
In summer 1997, Elastinen and Iso H founded Fintelligens. Elastinen was only 18 when they received their first record-deal.

Ela graduated from Sibelius Academy, a music school in 2000. Fintelligens released their debut album "Renesanssi" in the same year, with one-third of it being produced by Elastinen. Renesanssi certified gold. In autumn 2001, Elastinen and Iso H released their second album, Tän Tahtiin. Also partly produced by him, it was in its turned certified gold.

In 2002, Elastinen was called for military service at Santahamina. During his free time he performed shows with Iso H. Fintelligens released their third studio album in November. Kokemusten Summa went gold. The album was entirely produced by Elastinen.

Solo career
In 2004 Elastinen released his solo debut "Elaksis Kivi". In 2006 he finished his second album Anna Soida. The first single, the album's title track, was a hit. "Anna a" was released in 2006. His third album, E.L.A., was released in November 2007. First single from the album, "Ovet Paukkuu", was No. 1 on NRJ-Finland and had heavy rotation also on Finnish MTV and The Voice. He followed this with Joka päivä koko päivä in 2013, which peaked at number 4, and Elastinen feat. in 2016, which debuted at number 1. Elastinen feat. was preceded by a TV series featuring Elastinen collaborating with a different musician each episode.

Discography
(For Elastinen discography with his band / duo Fintelligens, see Fintelligens)

Singles
Other songs

Featured in