German hip hop is the German manifestation of hip hop music. After the United States, Germany is the second-biggest hip hop nation, sales-wise.
Hip hop spread across Europe in the early 1980s. Graffitiart and breakdancing were already well-known by the time the first recordings were released later in the decade. Die Fantastischen Vier was the first hip hop crew to achieve commercial success, and they helped to popularize the field beginning in about 1992.
Advanced Chemistry, multicultural pioneers from Heidelberg who maintained a political and strictly underground stance. Members include Torch and Toni L, both also started solo careers.
Beginner, hip hop group from Hamburg. They are among the most successful German rappers, with their skillful lyrics mixing verbal humor and politics. Jan Eißfeldt, aka Jan Delay, and Denyo have also had significant solo releases, the former with German reggae music.
Blumentopf ("Flower Pot") from Munich are well known for their storytelling and freestyle abilities.
DJ Tomekk is important for bringing together German and US rappers for collaborations. He has overseen the production of tracks featuring GZA, Flavor Flav, KRS One, Lil Kim, Ice T and Kurupt, among others.
Doppelkopf ("Double Head")
Dynamite Deluxe
Eins Zwo ("One Two") from Hamburg are Dendemann and Fettes Brot’s ex-DJ, Rabauke. Their style is comedic and old-school.
Eko Fresh, from Berlin. This young MC was Kool Savas’s protégé, until their recent split. His post-adolescent humor and dry, monotonous voice can’t cover up his immense rhyming talent.
Ercandize
Erci E A German-Turkish rapper whose lyrics express the difficulties of being in a racial minority.
Fettes Brot ("Fat/Phat Bread") from Hamburg, one of the first successful German hip-hop groups. Their raps are usually humorous and of late they have experimented with different crossover sounds.
Fünf Sterne Deluxe ("Five Star Deluxe") from Hamburg who focus mainly on entertaining rhymes, but often supply innovative beats.
Die Fantastischen Vier ("The Fantastic Four") are one of the most prominent German hip hop groups. They were the first German rap group to have commercial success and the first German band to appear on MTV Unplugged.
Feinkost Paranoia
Ferris MC, from Hamburg, known for his curly blond hair, rough voice and hardcore rhymes.
Die Firma ("The Company"), from Cologne. They are a moderately successful group who were very political in their underground days, but have lately gone very commercial.
Freundeskreis ("Circle of Friends"), from Stuttgart. Their music is a fascinating cross between hip hop and soul, with highly politicized, internationalist texts.
Kool Savas from Berlin has been called the German Eminem. He sports aggressive and intricate, but often homophobic and misogynist battle rhymes.
Lyroholika
Maulheld und Zubrot ("Rap from the East - a crew called RMF")
Main Concept
Massive Töne ("Massive Sounds")
MC Nina
MC Rene
Mister Schnabel ("Mister Mouth")
Moqui Marbles
MOR
Pahel
Paolo 77
Moses Pelham
Phillie MC
Plattenpapzt ("Record Pope")
Pyranja
RAG
Rödelheim Hartreim Projekt, Moses Pelham’s gangsta rap-influenced mid-90s hip hop project posed a more hardcore alternative to the commercial German hip-hop mainstream of the time. They had reasonable commercial success but disbanded toward the end of the nineties.
Roey Marquis II
Samy Deluxe used to be one half of Dynamite Deluxe. He is typically associated with battle-rap, equipped with multi-syllabic double-rhymes and smooth flow.
Tic Tac Toe, commercial hip hop trio from the mid-90s, when few groups where successful rapping in German. The group existed for two years before collapsing surrounded by scandal.
Mongo Clikke is a collective of Hamburg rappers, primarily comprising Ferris MC, Mister Schnabel, Samy Deluxe, Doppelkopf, Fünf Sterne Deluxe, Dendemann from Eins Zwo and Jan Eißfeldt aka Boba Ffett from the Beginner.
References
Sascha Verlan, Hannes Loh: 20 Jahre HipHop in Deutschland. Hannibal Verlag, 2000
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