Robert Zemichiel (born 1 August 1977), known professionally as Afrob, is a German rapper and actor.
Biography
Afrob was born in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
, Italy to
Eritrea
Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...
n parents but moved to Germany at a young age. He grew up in the German city of
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
, which is where he started his rap career.
In 1994, Afrob began his rap career as a featured artist for befriended rap crews such as the
Massiven Töne,
Freundeskreis (FK), and the
Spezializtz
The Spezializtz are a hip hop duo from Berlin, Germany, consisting of Oliver Harris and Dean Dawson.
The duo rose to fame through their first album ''G.B.Z-Oholika'', especially the tracks "Kennst ja!" and "Afrokalypse", which featured Afrob, b ...
. Afrob's also gained early fame from his collaboration with Stuttgart Posses such as "
Die Kolchose" and "
FK Allstars" (et al. with
Max Herre
Maximilian Herre (born 22 April 1973) is a German rapper, singer-songwriter and music producer who rose to fame as a member of the group Freundeskreis. He is also A&R for the record label Nesola, a joint venture with his wife Joy Denalane, amon ...
,
Joy Denalane
Joy Maureen Denalane (born 11 June 1973) 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
Denalane was born in Berlin-Schöneberg to a South African father ...
,
Gentleman
A gentleman (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man) is any man of good and courteous conduct. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire and above a yeoman; by definition, the ra ...
, and Sékou).
![AFROB & DEAN](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/AFROB_%26_DEAN.jpg)
It was not until 1999 that he released his first solo album, ''Rolle mit Hip Hop''. ''Rolle mit Hip Hop'' was distributed by Four Music and featured collaborations with the
Kolchose, and the album peaked at spot 13 on the
German album charts. The same year, Afrob released the single "Reimemonster" ("rhyme monsters") which featured
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
City rapper
Ferris MC.
For this single, Afrob worked together primarily with musicians from
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
(e.g. Wasi, DJ Friction, and
Max Herre
Maximilian Herre (born 22 April 1973) is a German rapper, singer-songwriter and music producer who rose to fame as a member of the group Freundeskreis. He is also A&R for the record label Nesola, a joint venture with his wife Joy Denalane, amon ...
). Today, "Reimemonster" is still widely regarded as a
German hip hop
German hip hop (locally known as ''Deutschrap'', ''Deutsch'' meaning German) 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 1 ...
classic. In May 1999, Afrob arranged a tour with
Freundeskreis, and in the fall of 1999, he toured with the
Fantastischen Vier throughout Germany. At the end of 1999, together with
Flavor Flav
William Jonathan Drayton Jr. (born March 16, 1959), known by his stage name Flavor Flav (), is an American rapper and hype man. Known for his yells of "''Yeah, boyeeeeee!''" when performing, he rose to prominence as a founding member of the rap ...
from
Public Enemy and
MC Rene, he rapped the song "
1, 2, 3, ... Rhymes Galore" on the single by
DJ Tomekk and
Grandmaster Flash
Joseph Saddler (born January 1, 1958), popularly known by his stage name Grandmaster Flash, is an American DJ and rapper. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Hip Hop DJing, cutting, scratching and mixing. Grandmaster Flash and the Fur ...
, which placed sixth in the German charts.
His second album, ''Made in Germany'', was released in 2001 by
Four Music. The album was less successful, despite featuring acts like
Gentleman
A gentleman (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man) is any man of good and courteous conduct. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire and above a yeoman; by definition, the ra ...
, Wasi from
Massive Töne
Massive Töne is one of the oldest Germany, German Hip hop music, hip hop groups, founded 1991 in Stuttgart.
The four founding members, Showi (Jean-Christoph Ritter), Ju (João dos Santos), Wasi (Wasi Ntuanoglu) and DJ 5ter Ton (''"DJ Fifth Not ...
,
Max Herre
Maximilian Herre (born 22 April 1973) is a German rapper, singer-songwriter and music producer who rose to fame as a member of the group Freundeskreis. He is also A&R for the record label Nesola, a joint venture with his wife Joy Denalane, amon ...
, and
Joy Denalane
Joy Maureen Denalane (born 11 June 1973) 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
Denalane was born in Berlin-Schöneberg to a South African father ...
, and it peaked at spot 79 on the German album charts. 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 single "Öffne die Augen" ("Open Your Eyes") with Frankfurt's
D-Flame
Daniel Kretschmer (born 19 September 1971), 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.
Discography
Albums
* 2000 - ''Basstard''
* 200 ...
. Afrob's engagement with German racism continued with his participation in the
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. Their debut single, "Adriano-Letzte Warnung", was written in response to the murder of ...
project,
collaborating with an all-star cast of Afro-German musicians in the single "Adriano".
The
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. Their debut single, "Adriano-Letzte Warnung", was written in response to the murder of ...
project also marked the first collaboration with
Samy Deluxe. They met again when they worked on the single "Four Fists". They subsequently formed a group called ASD (Afrob und Samy Deluxe) and recorded 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. Today, ''Wer hätte das gedacht?'' remains Afrob's most successful album, having reached fifth place in the German charts.
![Afrob by foto-di-matti 9872](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Afrob_by_foto-di-matti_9872.jpg)
After the success of ASD, Afrob released his third solo album in 2005. The album, named ''Hammer'', was produced by the American producers
Needlz,
Waajeed
Robert O'Bryant, also known as Waajeed is a Detroit-born music producer, and one half of the hip hop and R&B group Platinum Pied Pipers, and a founding member of Tiny Hearts. He formed the Bling47 record label in 2002, which has released proj ...
, and
B.R. Gunna
Curtis Eugene Cross (born August 14, 1983), better known by his stage name Black Milk, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer.
Career
In addition to Slum Village, Black Milk has worked with J Dilla, Elzhi, Phat Kat, Frank-N-D ...
and released on 28 February 2005 by
Four Music. The Album was not as successful as ''Wer hätte das gedacht?'', and it peaked at number 38 of the German charts.
In 2006, Afrob collaborated in the solo album of the German rapper Lisi, ''Eine wie keine'' ("One of a Kind"). In the following year of 2007, Afrob made his acting debut in the comedy ''
Leroy
Leroy or Le Roy may refer to:
People
* Leroy (name), a given name and surname
* Leroy (musician), American musician
* Leroy (sailor), French sailor
Places United States
* Leroy, Alabama
* Le Roy, Illinois
* Le Roy, Iowa
* Le Roy, Kansas
* Le R ...
''. Later, he appeared in the 2009 gangster film ''Kopf oder Zahl''.
In 2008, Afrob and rapper Brixx produced the title song for the RTL-Series ''
Alarm für Cobra 11 – Die Autobahnpolizei
''Alarm für Cobra 11 – Die Autobahnpolizei'' ("Alarm for Cobra 11 – The Highway Police") is a long-running, popular German television series about a two-man team of highway police (Autobahnpolizei), originally set in Berlin and since 1999 i ...
''. In the same year, Afrob left the label
Four Music and founded his own label named "G-Lette Music". Lastly, Afrob began work on his album ''
Der Letzte seiner Art'' in 2008, which was finally released in the September 2009. ''Der Letzte seiner Art'' reached a peak at spot 70 on the German alum charts.
After a four year creative break, Afrob appeared in the German rapper
Sido's 2013 song, ''30-11-80''. Next, Afrob's fifth solo album ''Push'' debuted on 30 May 2014. ''Push'' came as a bigger success compared to Afrob's previous albums, ''Hammer'' and ''Der Letzte seiner Art''. Push peaked at spot 20 of the German album charts.
On 3 July 2015, Afrob and Samy Deluxe released their second ASD album ''Blockbasta'', which peaked at number five on the German album charts. On 23 September 2016 Afrob released his sixth solo album ''Mutterschiff'', and in 2017, he released his seventh solo album ''Beats, Rhymes & Mr. Scardanelli.''
His most recent and potentially final album ''Abschied von Gestern'' (Goodbye to Yesterday) was released in 2019. In this album, Afrob discusses topics such as his relationship with rap and the hip hop community. Furthermore, the song "Flüchtling4Life" ("Refugee4Life") addresses the xenophobia and racism Afrob has experienced in Germany.
Afrob is active on
social media
Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
, maintaining a
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
page,
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
account, and a
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
account among other forms of social media. On 21 April 2020, Afrob streamed a showcase on Facebook Live with DJ Derezon to raise donations for Stuttgart artists who were impacted by the
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
pandemic.
Afrob is a long-time fan of football club
VfB Stuttgart
Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB Stu ...
.
Discography
Albums
* 1999: ''Rolle mit Hip Hop''
* 2001: ''Made in Germany''
* 2003: ''Wer hätte das gedacht?''
(with Samy Deluxe as ASD)
* 2005: ''
Hammer
A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as w ...
''
* 2009: ''
Der Letzte seiner Art''
* 2014: ''Push''
* 2015: ''Blockbasta''
(with Samy Deluxe as ASD)
* 2016: ''Mutterschiff''
* 2019: ''Abschied von Gestern''
Singles
* 1999: "Reimemonster"
(featuring Ferris MC)
* 1999: "Einfach"
(featuring Meli Meli may refer to:
People with the surname
* Angelo Meli (1897–1969), American mobster
* Francis Meli (born 1979), New Zealand rugby league player
* Giovanni Meli (1740–1815), Italian poet
* Mangi Meli, Tanzanian royalty
People with the given ...
)
* 2000: "Get Up"
(DJ Thomilla featuring Afrob)
* 2001: "Made in Germany"
* 2001: "Öffne die Augen"
(featuring D-Flame
Daniel Kretschmer (born 19 September 1971), 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.
Discography
Albums
* 2000 - ''Basstard''
* 200 ...
)
* 2003: "Sneak Preview"
(with Samy Deluxe as ASD)
* 2003: "From Street to the Crowd"
(featuring Street-Igor-X)
* 2003: "Sag mir wo die Party ist!"
(with Samy Deluxe as ASD)
* 2003: "Hey du (Nimm dir Zeit)"
(with Samy Deluxe 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?"
* 2014: "Immer weiter"
* 2014: "Afrob kommt"
* 2014: "Abriss"
(feat. Megaloh)
* 2014: "R.I.P."
(feat. Megaloh)
* 2016: "Ich bin dieser"
Filmography
* 2007: ''Leroy''
* 2009: ''Kopf oder Zahl''
References
External links
*
Afrobon
IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Afrob
1977 births
Italian emigrants to Germany
German people of Eritrean descent
German rappers
Living people
Musicians from Stuttgart
Actors from Stuttgart