In the mid-1980s, Rieke and Schmidt formed the Terminal Team, which Dürr and Beck joined in 1989. Under the new name Die Fantastischen Vier they made German hip hop, or Deutschen Sprechgesang(German spoken song) as they called it, popular in Germany. Although there were German hip-hop artists prior to them (such as Advanced Chemistry from Heidelberg), it was Die Fantastischen Vier who registered the first chart hit with their 1992 single "Die da?!" (Her?!) from the album 4 gewinnt, hitting No. 2 in Germany and No. 1 in Austria and Switzerland.
After traveling to Los Angeles in the late 1980s, the group realized the lack of connection between the struggles of "the poor blacks in the United States and middle-class whites in Germany",[1] and made a conscious effort to move away from the typical and cliché American gangsta rap. The group never got involved with gangsta rap clichés, reacting with tongue-in-cheek humor to verbal attacks of alleged German 'gangsta rappers'. In the albums following 4 gewinnt, the band matured and progressed to a more serious and philosophic style.
Die Fantastischen Vier in 1999
In addition to the group's works, Thomas D, Hausmarke, and Ypsilon also produced successful solo albums and the four had their own weekly show Die 4. Dimension, named after their third album, which aired on the German pay TV channel Premiere in 1993 and 1994.
Three years later, the group's seventh album 4:99 was released on their own label, with four singles from the album following. After the No. 2 hit "MfG", three singles were released at the same time, a first in German music business. Each one can be associated with one of the rappers: "Le Smou" (Smudo), "Michi Beck in Hell" (Michi Beck), and "Buenos Dias Messias" (Thomas D).
In late September 2004, the group released the album Viel, the following tour being their most successful and best-attended to date.
In 2005, Fanta 4's first greatest-hits album was published. It includes all singles, as well as several other songs and rare footage from the group's early days, when they were still called Terminal Team and rapped in English.
On 7 April 2007, the number-one album Fornika was released, preceded by the single "Ernten was wir säen" (Reap what we sow). "Ernten was wir säen" was released as a download for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock in December 2007 and was covered by rock band Oomph! in 2009.
Die Fantastischen Vier at their Heimspiel ("Home Match") gig in 2009
Die Fantastischen Vier are also the German voices of the Penguins (Michael Beck as Skipper, Thomas D. as Kowalski, Andreas Rieke as Rico and Michael Bernd Schmidt as Private) in the Madagascar film series.
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.
Michael Bernd Schmidt, better known as Smudo, is a German rapper and songwriter in the hip hop group Die Fantastischen Vier.
4:99 is the fifth studio album by German hip hop group Die Fantastischen Vier. It reached number one in the German as well as the Austrian and Swiss charts.
Thomas Dürr may refer to:
Michael "Michi" Beck, also known by his pseudonym as the disc jockey Dee Jot Hausmarke, is a member of the German hip hop group Die Fantastischen Vier where he acts as DJ and MC. He also forms the duo Turntablerocker, with Thomas Burchia.
Fornika is the seventh studio album by German hip hop group Die Fantastischen Vier. The name does not refer to the term of fornication. It comes from a strange misspelling of a pizza delivery service person that delivered pizza to the band's studio. Though they totally misspelled the name on the doorbell, the pizza was still delivered. The name "Fornika" is an inside-band term for "strange things".
Jetzt geht's ab! is the debut album of the German hip-hop group Die Fantastischen Vier.
4 gewinnt is the second album by German hip-hop group Die Fantastischen Vier. The name refers to the German version of the game Connect Four. The album peaked at position 3 in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.
Die 4. Dimension is the third studio album by the German hip hop group Die Fantastischen Vier. It peaked at No. 14 on the German charts, No. 23 on the Austrian charts, and at No. 27 in Switzerland.
Son Goku was a German rock band who played a mix of hardcore punk, alternative, reggae, and electronic sounds. The band was named after the Son Goku character in the Dragon Ball series. Son Goku's first and only album, Crashkurs, was released in 2002 and reached a peak position of 15 on the Media Control Charts. The group has since disbanded due to "dissension" amongst the members.
"Saft" is a song by the German hip hop group Die Fantastischen Vier. It was released in 1992 from the album 4 gewinnt. It tells about the "exchange of bodily fluids", dos and don'ts, pros and cons. The song reached number 38 on the Swiss record charts and number 19 in Germany.
"Lass die Sonne rein" is a song by the German hip hop group Die Fantastischen Vier. It was released in 1993 from the album 4 gewinnt.
"Prison Break Anthem (Ich glaub' an dich)" is a hit song by German hip-hop artist Azad and Adel Tawil, singer of Ich + Ich. It was released as the first single of Azad's album Blockschrift. It is the German title song of the American television series Prison Break.
Michi may refer to:
Für dich immer noch Fanta Sie is the eighth studio album by German hip hop group Die Fantastischen Vier.
The Voice of Germany is a German reality talent show that premiered on 9 October 2014 on ProSieben and Sat.1. Based on the reality singing competition The Voice of Holland, the series was created by Dutch television producer John de Mol. It is part of an international series. Only one judge from season 3, Samu Haber, singer of the Finnish pop-rock band Sunrise Avenue was retained for season 4. The other three judges of season 3, Nena, The BossHoss and Max Herre were replaced. Nena and The BossHoss had served for the program's all three previous seasons and Herre had been a new judge in season 3. They were replaced by the returning judge, the Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist Rea Garvey, a judge for seasons 1 and 2 coming back after a hiatus of a year. Stefanie Kloß lead singer of the band Silbermond resided for the first time in the series. So did the two collaborating judges sitting together, the German artists Michi Beck and Smudo both part of German hip hop group Die Fantastischen Vier. On 12 December 2014, Charley Ann Schmutzler was announced the winner of the season, marking Michi & Smudo's first win as a coach and the second duo coach to win in the show's history. Also, Schmutzler became the first winning artist to have only received one chair turn in the blind auditions.
"Zusammen" ("Together") is a song by German hip hop group Die Fantastischen Vier featuring Clueso and a single from the Die Fantastischen Vier album Captain Fantastic. It peaked at number 2 on the German charts, at number 32 in Austria, and at number 35 in Switzerland. It was chosen as the official song for the 2018 FIFA World Cup by the German broadcaster Das Erste. It was played throughout the channel's coverage.
Rekord is the ninth full-length studio album by German hip hop group Die Fantastischen Vier. It was released on 24 October 2014, marking the 25th anniversary of the group.
Captain Fantastic is the tenth full-length studio album by German hip hop group Die Fantastischen Vier. It was released on 27 April 2018.
References
1 2 Brown, Timothy S. "'Keeping it Real' in a Different 'Hood: (African-) Americanization and Hip-hop in Germany." In The Vinyl Ain't Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle, 137–50. London
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