Petri Jukka Mikael Laurila better known by his stage name

Stage name

A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...

 Petri Nygård (born February 8, 1975, in Kristianstad

Kristianstad

Kristianstad is a city and the seat of Kristianstad Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 35,711 inhabitants in 2010.-History:The city was founded in 1614 by King Christian IV of Denmark, the city's name literally means 'Town of Christian', as a planned city after the burning of the town of Vä...

, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

) is a Finnish rap

Rap

Rap may refer to:*Rapping, performance in which rhyming lyrics are used, with or without musical accompaniment ; while an MC performs spoken verses in time to a beat/ melody**Hip hop subculture**Hip hop music...

-artist. He is also known under alias Dream (in rap duo Nuera) and as Travis Bicle.

Early life

Petri Laurila was born in Sweden, where he spent his childhood. After serving briefly in the army, he moved to Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 and eventually to Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

, residing in Tampere

Tampere

Tampere is a city in southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of , growing to approximately 300,000 people in the conurbation and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is the third most-populous municipality in...

 and Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

. He found initial success in his online release Vitun Suomirokki in 2000 on "Poko Rekords" going platinum with sales of 17,000 copies. The follow-up single entitled "Kanava Nolla (antakaa mun olla)" was also successful selling 9,000 copies. His debut studio album Mun levy! went gold with sale of 25,000 copies.

Nuera

Petri Laurila started his career as part of the rap duo Nuera. He was known as an MC under the alias Dream whereras his partner in the band was Henry Kaprali known as Skem. They were active in the 1990s releasing several cassettes through Open Records. They also collaborated with other artists on the record label.

In 2004-2004, both Dream and Skem joined DJ K2 in "YleX" weekly radio show featuring rap and R&B artists.

Travis Bicle

The duo disbanded as Henry Kapralin (Skem) moved to New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 going into music production with "Turnin' Records".

As for Petri Laurila (Dream) he took a new alias Travis Bicle and released an albume in 2007 entitled "Committed" produced by Kapralin and "Turnin' Records"

Solo as Petri Nygård

Petri Laurila continued with a successful rap career taking the name Petri Nygård. After the successes of 2000 and 2001, he has had a considerable comeback starting 2009 with new download only releases. He also released in 2009 a full studio album entitled Kaikkee pitää olla. His new album scheduled for February 2011 is entitled Kaikki tai ei mitään. The single from the new album include the November 2010 single "Sarvet esiin" featuring Finnish thrash metal band Mokoma

Mokoma

Mokoma is a Finnish thrash metal band formed in Lappeenranta in 1996. Their music also has grindcore and death metal influences with traditional Finnish melancholy....

. The second single entitled "Selvä päivä" featuring Lord Est has shot to #1 on Suomen virallinen lista, the official Finnish singles chart.

Albums

with Nuera

• 1992: Nuera (tape)
• 1993: Nuera demo
• 1993: Nuera Underground tape
• 1994: Breakfast
• 1996: Nuera (EP)
• 2000: Honesty
• 2003: Own World

as Travis Bicle

• 2007: Committed

Solo

• 2000: Pillumagneetti (EP)
• 2000: Mun levy!
• 2001: Petri presidentixi
• 2002: Hovinarrin paluu!
• 2009: Kaikkee pitää olla
• 2011: Kaikki tai ei mitään

Singles

with Nuera

• 2001: "Upsteps"
• 2003: "Upsteps Reprise"

Solo

• 2000: "Vitun suomirokki"
• 2000: "Kanava nolla (Antakaa mun olla)"
• 2000: "Rääväsuu"
• 2000: "Hulluna tisseihin"
• 2001: "Petri hallitsee liigaa"
• 2001: "Riimini rupiset / Sika / Petri pelastaa joulun"
• 2009: "Sanon suoraan" (download only)
• 2009: "Onko sulla pokkaa?" (download only)
• 2009: "Mitävittuuvaan / Tuska" (download only)
• 2010: "Kippis kulaus" (download only)
• 2010: "Seopetriii" featuring Emel & Aajee (download only)
• 2010: "Sarvet esiin" featuring Mokoma
  Mokoma
  Mokoma is a Finnish thrash metal band formed in Lappeenranta in 1996. Their music also has grindcore and death metal influences with traditional Finnish melancholy....
  
  
• 2010: "Selvä päivä" featuring Lord Est

Featured in

• 2011: "Reggaerekka" (Lord Est feat. Petri Nygård]]

External links

• Artist bio at Poko Records
• Jpop entry