First deaf male artist to sign a recording contract with an international major label

In 2009, after narrowly missing out on representing his country at the Eurovision Song Contest, Finnish rapper Signmark (b. Marko Vuoriheimo) penned a solo contract with Warner Music Group (USA). The landmark deal resulted in the album Breaking the Rules (2010), featuring Smells Like Victory, the pertinent Talk 2 the Hand and his Eurovision effort Speakerbox. Born deaf, Helsinki’s Signmark writes and performs with long-time collaborator Brandon Bauer (USA), who lends his vocals to the tracks.

Vuoriheimo signed music and poetry as a child and translated Christmas carols to Sign Language to enable his whole family to sing together (his parents are also deaf). He started producing his own music in 2004, before forming a band – also called Signmark, featuring DJ Sulava and MC Mahtotapa. Their eponymously titled debut album was released in 2006.

The eight-track album includes the song Carl Oscar Malm, a tribute to the “Father of Finnish Sign Language” and the founder of Finland’s first school for the deaf, in the city of Porvoo. When Signmark the band went their separate ways in May 2009, Vuoriheimo embarked on a solo career and received national exposure with the song Speakerbox, which was runner-up to Lose Control by Waldo’s People for a place at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow, Russia.

His most popular track on Spotify, Smells Like Victory, had been streamed almost 830,000 times as of 13 September 2022. In the years since the emergence of Signmark, fellow deaf rappers Sean Forbes (signed to the Detroit-based label Web Entertainment) and Warren “WAWA” Snipe, plus artists like America’s Got Talent alumna Mandy Harvey and Scottish percussionist Evelyn Glennie (who began her solo recording career with Rhythm Song on the RCA Victor label in 1990), have continued to push the boundaries for the deaf community’s representation in the music industry.