Markoolio

Markoolio
Markoolio performing in 2008
Born	Marko Kristian Lehtosalo (1975-01-01) 1 January 1975 (age 50) Lahti, Finland
Other names	Markoolio
Occupations	Singer songwriter
Years active	1998–present
Musical career
Genres	Pop hip hop comedy rap
Instrument	Vocals
Website	markoolio.com

Marko Kristian "Markoolio" Lehtosalo (born 1 January 1975 in Lahti, Finland) is a Swedish-Finnish singer, musician, songwriter, actor, and comedian. His stage name Markoolio is a portmanteau of his first name Marko and the stage name of the American rapper Coolio.

Biography

When Lehtosalo was six months old, his family migrated from Finland to Sweden where he grew up completing primary and secondary school in the small Stockholm suburb of Orminge. Following the completion of his compulsory military service as a coastal ranger sniper in Ekenäs, Finland, he returned to Sweden. There, he was allegedly discovered by producers when rapping on a commuter train in Stockholm; however, this story has been revealed to be a fabrication.[1]

Markoolio is known in particular for his humorous songs dealing with partying, drinking, and girls such as "Sommar och sol" ("Summer and sun"), "Vi drar till fjällen" ("We're headin' for the mountains") and "Sola och bada i Piña Colada" ("Sunbathing and swimming in Piña Colada"); his songs mocking contemporary life and phenomena such as "Åka Pendeltåg" ("Riding the commuter train") and "Värsta schlagern" ("The goddam' Schlager [song]"); and songs relating to his native Finland such as "Drömmen om Finland" (The dream of Finland) and "Jag orkar inte mer" (I can't take it anymore).

Markoolio has released nine studio albums, hosted and participated in numerous television and radio programs, and won several prizes and awards such as Male Artist of the Year at the Swedish Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards 2007. He is also the owner of a nightclub and the board member of British company Netgames Holdings which he reportedly owns 3.3 percent of.[2] Markoolio was one of the hosts for Talang on TV4 in 2009. He also played the titular character of Doktor Mugg and starred as Tyke Mörbult in Hem till Midgård. Markoolio was formerly a contestant on Let's Dance 2013, a contest he subsequently won, dancing with Cecilia Ehrling.[3]

On 19 November 2013, Markoolio tried to disrupt the sleep of the Portugal national football team ahead of the second leg of their World Cup play-off with Sweden. He started a "private concert" at 7:15 a.m. in front of the Portuguese team's hotel.[4][5]

Discography

Albums

Year	Album Information	Peak position SWE	IFPI Certification
1998	Sticker hårt	4	Platinum[6]
1999	Dikter från ett hjärta	3	3× Platinum[6]
2001	Tjock och lycklig	1	2× Platinum
2003	I skuggan av mig själv	1	Platinum[7]
2004	Suomessa Syntynyt	—
	Bäst Off	9	Gold[8]
2007	Värsta plattan	2	Platinum
2008	Jag är konst	30
2012	Jag är Markoolio	3

Singles

Year	Single	Chart peak	Album	Certification
		Sweden
1998	"Sommar och sol"	2	Sticker hårt
	"Drömmen om Finland"	21
1999	"Vi drar till fjällen"	1		Gold
	"Åka pendeltåg"	15
	"Sola och bada i Piña Colada"	12	Dikter från ett hjärta	Gold
	"Millennium 2"	1		3× Platinum
2000	"Gör det igen"	2		Platinum
	"Mera mål!" (feat. Arne Hegerfors)	1		3× Platinum
2001	"Rocka på" (with The Boppers)	1	Tjock och lycklig	2× Platinum
2002	"Vi ska vinna!" (feat. Excellence)	3		2× Platinum
	"Jag orkar inte mer!"	2		Gold
2003	"Vilse i skogen"	1	I skuggan av mig själv	6× Platinum
2004	"In med bollen"	1	Bäst off	Platinum
2007	"Värsta schlagern" (with Linda Bengtzing)	1	Värsta plattan	2× Platinum
	"Ingen sommar utan reggae"	1		2× Platinum
	"Emma, Emma" (with Tilde Fröling)	17
	"Idollåten"	24
2008	"Sverige, det bästa på vår jord"	1	Jag är konst
	"The Markoolio Anthem"	4
2009	"Kärlekssång från mig"	32
2012	"Borta bra men hemma bäst"	—	Jag är Markoolio
	"En vecka i Phuket"	—
2014	"Fredagslåten"	—	Non-album singles	2× Platinum
2017	"Bastukungen"	—		Platinum
	"Tomtar på loftet"	—
	"Ge oss mål"	—[A]
2019	"Modell"	—
2022	"Kassanova" (with Young Earth Sauce)	59 [10]
2023	"Vatten & eld"	7 [10]

Notes

1. "Ge oss mål" did not enter the Sverigetopplistan, but peaked at number 13 on the Swedish Heatseeker chart.[9]

References

1. "Marko "Markoolio" Lehtosalo - Sommar & Vinter i P1". 12 July 2018.
2. "Styrelseledamoten Markoolio – Rapport". svt.se. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
3. "Markoolio vinnare av Let's dance 2013 - Let's dance". TV4 (in Swedish). 31 May 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
4. Mekibes, Nike; Björklund, Tobias (19 November 2013). "Markoolios kupp – vid Portugals spelarhotell". Expressen. Archived from the original on 20 November 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
5. "Swedish singer tries to disrupt sleep of Portugal squad before World Cup play-off – video". The Guardian. 19 November 2013. Archived from the original on 20 November 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
6. "År 1999". Archived from the original on 20 October 2007. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
7. "År 2003". Archived from the original on 20 October 2007. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
8. "År 2005". Archived from the original on 20 October 2007. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
9. "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 22, 2018" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
10. "Veckolista Singlar, vecka 8". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 24 February 2023.

External links

• Official website
• Markoolio at IMDb 
• Markoolio Biography at Yahoo!^[dead link‍]
• Markoolio Biography at OGAESC2007
• Markoolio at Last.fm