Black Tiger, born Urs Baur, is the first
rapper
Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
to rap in a
Swiss German
Swiss German (Standard German: , gsw, Schwiizerdütsch, Schwyzerdütsch, Schwiizertüütsch, Schwizertitsch Mundart,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no defined orthography for any of them, many different spelling ...
dialect, namely
Basel German Basel German or Baseldytsch (Standard German: ''Baseldeutsch'') is the dialect of the city of Basel, Switzerland.
The dialect of Basel forms a Low Alemannic linguistic exclave in the High Alemannic region.
Phonetics and phonology Consonants ...
. Those now legendary rhymes appeared on the track "Murder by Dialect" (1991), by
P-27 featuring Black Tiger. According to author Pascale Hofmeier, this decision to rap in a local dialect, or "Mundart", indicated a major shift in thinking in the Swiss hip-hop scene. His rhymes often reflect pride and investment in his home city of Basel, and in Switzerland as a whole.
[Black Tiger, “Black Tiger – Basel-City, CH – Rap/Soul/Funk”, http://www.myspace.com/Blacktigerbasel.] Later, Black Tiger recorded an album with
MC Rony and established the group
Skeltigeron with Skelt from P27 and
MC Rony. He then focused on his solo career, his solo album "Solo" is seen by some as one of the best rap albums from the German-speaking part of Switzerland.
Discography
* 1999 Groovemaischter 12"
* 2003 Solo
* 2006 Beton Melancholie
with MC Rony
* 2000 Zwei in aim
* 2007 Tigerony
with EKR and Rony
* 2004 Deal with the Real EP
--
References
Swiss male rappers
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
{{Switzerland-musician-stub