Presenting: German Rap

Die Firma:


Die Firma is a hip hop group formed in 1996 in Cologne, Germany. The group consists of Tatwaffe (Alexander Trabhoven), Def Benski Obiwahn (Ben Hartung) and Fader Gladiator (Daniel Sluga). To date, they have released six albums. Their second album already sold over 80.000 copies in Germany and reached number 8 on the German album charts. But they are best known for their year 2005 hit “Die Eine” (“The one”), which peaked at number 2 on the German single charts. The band refers to its own style as: “Lyrics about beats which represent good and evil."

Sido:


Sido's career began in 1997 as a member of the underground duo Royal TS (now A.i.d.S), with his best friend B-Tight. They released several demo tapes and later drew attention to the Berlin label Royal Bunker, where they were signed. During a concert the drew the attention of Aggro Berlin founders Specter, Spaiche and Halil, who signed them January 2001 to the label. Sido's popularity grew through his appearance on the samplers Aggro Ansage Nr. 1, Aggro Ansage Nr. 2, and Aggro Ansage Nr. 3 during 2002 and 2003. His first solo album, Maske was released in 2004 and reached #3 on the German pop charts. The lead single "Mein Block" reached the Top Ten in the charts.

Azad:


After having arrived in Germany from Iran as young as 10, he was into hip hop, rap, beatboxing and graffiti. In 1988 he joined D-Flame (Daniel Kretschmer), A-Bomb, and Combad in Cold-N-Locco. The band was renamed Asiatic Warriors in 1990 and mixed songs in German, English, Persian and Kurdish and achieved great fame through signing with Ruff'n'Raw Label and the EP Told Ya!. Internal differences between the band members resulted in the Asiatic Warriors breaking up.

In 1999, Azad signed as a solo artist with Pelham Power Productions. He became a sensation on the hip hop scene winning "Da Swing DJ Battle". Single "Napalm" followed by his solo album Leben completely produced by Azad and follow up album Faust des Nordwestens firmly established him as a successful artist and a cult figure.