Afrob
Encyclopedia
Afrob is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
) is an Afro-German rapper
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
of Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
n descent. He is easily recognizable due to his trademark afro
Afro
Afro, sometimes shortened to fro and also known as a "natural", is a hairstyle worn naturally by people with lengthy kinky hair texture or specifically styled in such a fashion by individuals with naturally curly or straight hair...
, from which his pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
is derived.
Biography
Afrob was born in Venice, ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
to Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
n parents but moved to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
at a young age. His musical career began in 1994 with performances at a number of hip hop jams. He became known through collaborations with rappers from Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
's hip hop collective, the Kolchose
Kolchose
The Kolchose is a group of Hip hop artists in the southern German city of Stuttgart. The group was founded in 1993 and includes the artists Freundeskreis, Massive Töne, Afrob, Breite Seite and Skillz en Masse, to name a few....
, but it was not until 1999 that he released his first solo album, Rolle mit Hip Hop. The first single from this album, "Reimemonster" ("rhyme monsters"), which featured Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
City rapper Ferris MC
Ferris MC
Sascha Reimann , alias Ferris MC, is a German musician, rapper and actor.-Biography:Ferris spent his youth in Neumünster, Kiel, and then Bremen. A recurring theme of social exclusion is predominant in his music....
, is still widely regarded as a German hip hop
German hip hop
German Hip Hop refers to hip hop music produced in Germany. Elements of American hip hop culture, such as graffiti art and breakdancing, diffused into Western Europe in the early 1980s.-1980–1990:...
classic. The album itself was also enjoyed a fair commercial success, reaching a respectable 13th place in the German album charts
Media Control Charts
The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...
. That year, he toured Germany with Kolchose colleagues Freundeskreis
Freundeskreis
Freundeskreis also known as FK, was a German hip hop group from Stuttgart, whose songs were in German but also in English, French and Esperanto. The members were Max Herre, Don Philippe and DJ Friction....
and later as the opening act for Die Fantastischen Vier
Die Fantastischen Vier
Die Fantastischen Vier , also known as Fanta 4, is a German hip hop group from Stuttgart, Germany. The members are Michael Bernd Schmidt alias Smudo, Andreas Rieke alias And.Ypsilon, Thomas Dürr alias Hausmeister Thomas D and Michael 'Michi' Beck alias Dee Jot Hausmarke...
.
His second album, Made in Germany, which was released in 2001, was less successful, despite featuring acts like Gentleman
Gentleman (musician)
Tilmann Otto , better known by his stage name Gentleman, is a German Reggae musician.- Personal life :...
, Wasi from Massive Töne
Massive Töne
Massive Töne is one of the oldest and most popular German Hip hop groups, founded in 1991 in Stuttgart.The four founding members, Showi , Ju , Wasi and DJ 5ter Ton all originated in Stuttgart's hip hop scene and modeled themselves at first on the American and French hip hop groups like...
or Max Herre
Max Herre
Maximilian Herre is a German musician who rose to fame as a member of the group Freundeskreis.-Biography:...
and Joy Denalane
Joy Denalane
Joy Maureen Denalane , known as Joy Denalane, is a German singer-songwriter, known for her mixture of soul, R&B, and African folk music with lyrics in German and English.-Early life:...
. This album was more pensive than the first, however, and was interesting due to its social criticism, epitomized by the release of the anti-racist
Anti-racism
Anti-racism includes beliefs, actions, movements, and policies adopted or developed to oppose racism. In general, anti-racism is intended to promote an egalitarian society in which people do not face discrimination on the basis of their race, however defined...
single "Öffne Die Augen" ("Open Your Eyes") with Frankfurt's D-Flame
D-Flame
Daniel Kretschmer, better known by his stage-name D-Flame, is a German hip hop and reggae musician. He was also previously part of the hip hop formation Asiatic Warriors.-Albums:* 2000 - Basstard...
. Afrob's engagement with German racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
continued with his participation in the Brothers Keepers
Brothers Keepers
Brothers Keepers is a German-based transnational anti-racism project, bringing together hip hop, reggae and soul musicians, headed primarily by Afro-Germans.-History:...
project, collaborating with an all-star cast of Afro-German musicians in the single "Adriano".
This project also marked the first collaboration with Samy Deluxe
Samy Deluxe
Samy Sorge , commonly known as Samy Deluxe, Wickeda MC or Sam Semillia is a German rapper, and hip hop artist from Hamburg. He is one of Germany's most successful solo rap musicians while also releasing albums as a member of two separate crews, Dynamite Deluxe and ASD...
. They met again when they worked on the single "Four Fists" and apparently enjoyed the experience so much that they decided to unite as one group called ASD and record an entire album together. The product of this cooperation was called Wer Hätte Das Gedacht? ("Who Would Have Thought?"), which hit the stores in 2003. The album entered the Top 10 of the charts, but some critics alleged that it lacked depth, as it was primarily a club album with the majority of tracks produced in the U.S..
In 2005 Afrob released his third album Hammer. It was produced by Needlz
Needlz
Khari Cain, better known by his stage name Needlz, is an American record producer, Grammy Award Winning, engineer and composer.-Life and career:...
, Waajeed
Waajeed
Waajeed is a Detroit-born music producer, and one half of the hip hop and R&B group Platinum Pied Pipers. He formed the Bling47 record label in 2002,which has released his work and projects by J Dilla and the vocalist Tiombe Lockhart...
, B.R. Gunna and Jaz-O
Jaz-O
Jonathan Burks better known by his stage name Jaz-O, is an American rapper and record producer active in the late 1980s through the 1990s, best known for being the mentor of Jay-Z. Jaz is also known as the Originator and had a song called "The Originators" that featured a young Jay-Z in 1990...
. The Album peaked at number 38 of the charts.
Four years later Afrob got his own label "G-Lette Music" and released his fourth Album "Der Letzte seiner Art".
Albums
- 1999 - Rolle Mit Hip Hop
- 2001 - Made In Germany
- 2003 - Wer Hätte Das Gedacht? (with Samy DeluxeSamy DeluxeSamy Sorge , commonly known as Samy Deluxe, Wickeda MC or Sam Semillia is a German rapper, and hip hop artist from Hamburg. He is one of Germany's most successful solo rap musicians while also releasing albums as a member of two separate crews, Dynamite Deluxe and ASD...
as ASD) - 2005 - HammerHammer (album)Hammer is the third Album by Afrob released in February 2005 by Four Music. It is produced by many famous Producers like Needlz, Jaz-O and Waajeed.-Track listing:-Album singles:...
- 2009 - Der Letzte Seiner ArtDer Letzte Seiner ArtDer Letzte seiner Art is the fourth Album by Afrob released in September 2009 by his own Label G-Lette Music.-Track listing:-Album singles:...
Singles
- 1999 - "Reimemonster" (featuring Ferris MCFerris MCSascha Reimann , alias Ferris MC, is a German musician, rapper and actor.-Biography:Ferris spent his youth in Neumünster, Kiel, and then Bremen. A recurring theme of social exclusion is predominant in his music....
) - 1999 - "Einfach" (featuring Meli)
- 2001 - "Made in Germany"
- 2001 - "Öffne die Augen" (featuring D-FlameD-FlameDaniel Kretschmer, better known by his stage-name D-Flame, is a German hip hop and reggae musician. He was also previously part of the hip hop formation Asiatic Warriors.-Albums:* 2000 - Basstard...
) - 2003 - "Sneak Preview" (with Samy DeluxeSamy DeluxeSamy Sorge , commonly known as Samy Deluxe, Wickeda MC or Sam Semillia is a German rapper, and hip hop artist from Hamburg. He is one of Germany's most successful solo rap musicians while also releasing albums as a member of two separate crews, Dynamite Deluxe and ASD...
as ASD) - 2003 - "From Street to the Crowd" (featuring Street-Igor-X)
- 2003 - "Sag mir wo die Party ist!" (with Samy DeluxeSamy DeluxeSamy Sorge , commonly known as Samy Deluxe, Wickeda MC or Sam Semillia is a German rapper, and hip hop artist from Hamburg. He is one of Germany's most successful solo rap musicians while also releasing albums as a member of two separate crews, Dynamite Deluxe and ASD...
as ASD) - 2003 - "Hey Du (Nimm dir Zeit)" (with Samy DeluxeSamy DeluxeSamy Sorge , commonly known as Samy Deluxe, Wickeda MC or Sam Semillia is a German rapper, and hip hop artist from Hamburg. He is one of Germany's most successful solo rap musicians while also releasing albums as a member of two separate crews, Dynamite Deluxe and ASD...
as ASD) - 2005 - "Wollt ihr wissen..."
- 2005 - "Es geht hoch" (featuring Lisi)
- 2005 - "Zähl mein Geld"
- 2006 - "Müde" (featuring Lisi)
- 2007 - "Flashback" (featuring Emory)
- 2009 - "Wo sind die Rapper hin?"
- 2009 - "Was wollt ihr?"
- 2010 - "Get Up" (DJ Thomilla featuring Afrob)