Biography

1. Jare Henrik Tiihonen better known by his stage name Cheek is a Finnish rapper. He was nicknamed Cheek while in school. He was born in Vantaa, Finland and grew up in Lahti, Finland. He moved to Töölö, Helsinki, where he now resides. In secondary school he became interested in rap music and began writing in 1998. In 2000, he joined the rap group “5th Element” and became its most prominent member.

Cheek’s first albums were the self-published Human & Beast and 50/50. A large part of the songs were in English. But later on, Cheek would sing only in Finnish. He signed a contract in October 2003 with Sony Music Entertainment.

The first release on the Sony record label was Avaimet mun kulmille on 31 May 2004. The album resulted in three successful singles, “Avaimet mun kiesiin”, “Raplaulajan vapaapäivä” and “Avaimet mun himaan”. He followed it with a second album Käännän sivuu released on 18 May 2005. Both albums hit the Top 20 in Finland.

In 2007, Cheek moved to Sony’s rap music publishing specialist label Rähinä Records. Alarm Entertainment released his third album, Kasvukipuja on 18 April 2007. The first single from the album was “Sun täytyy” published by Sami Saari, followed by the single “Tuhlaajapoika” featuring Tasis.

His fourth album was Kuka sä oot released on 21 May 2008. The first single from the album was “Liekeissä”, that was chosen by the Finnish “The Voice” radio station as the official Finland summer hit of 2008. The album has so far been the most successful album of Cheek and has gone gold. The second single from the same album was released entitled “Kanssa tai ilman”.

Cheek’s fifth album, was the self-titled Jare Henrik Tiihonen released on the 13 May 2009. The first single from the album “Jos mä oisin sä” first performed on 8 April 2009. The album has also gone gold by selling more than 15,000 copies. The album was also released as a live DVD on 19 November 2009. Cheek was also honoured in 2009 for having four gold certifications (2 for albums and 2 for singles).

In 2010 he won Emma Gala Cheek for best hip-hop album.

Cheek’s follow up sixth studio album will be Jare Henrik Tiihonen 2 and is due for release in September 2010.

2. Cheek is a Finnish rapper from the Group Chipchoppin Order

3. Cheek was also a house music project by DJ Gilb’R in the ’90s, with which he released the hit Venus (Sunshine People)