Jan Phillip Eißfeldt (born 25 August 1976), known professionally as Jan Delay, is a German rapper and singer whose stylistic range includes mainly
hip hop,
reggae,
dub and
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
. An accomplished solo artist, he became known to the public as a member of the German bands
Absolute Beginner
Beginner (formerly Absolute Beginner) is a German rap group from Hamburg, consisting of Jan Delay (aka Eizi Eiz/Eißfeldt), Denyo and DJ Mad. Their fourth album, ''Advanced Chemistry'', was released in August 2016.
Band history
The gro ...
and La Boom. He performed with his group 'Disko No. 1' at the grand final of the
Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in
Düsseldorf.
Early life
Delay was born in
Hamburg on 25 August 1976. He attended the bilingual
Helene-Lange-Gymnasium from 1986 to 1995.
Career
In the 1990s, Delay became known as one third of the pioneering German hip hop group
Beginner. His stage name is a reference to
Young Deenay
Fatima Napo (born 14 January 1979), better known by her stage name Young Deenay, is a former German rapper.
History
Fatima Napo studied Psychology at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany.
At the age of 18, Napo signed with now defunct record ...
, a pop music act in the 90s: the
delay/echo is an important effect in
reggae and
dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...
music.
Delay's most significant trademark is his somewhat nasal voice. He also frequently changes his stage name depending on his current music style, mood and collaboration partners. Bald, he often wears a hat and sunglasses.
Eimsbush label
In 1997, Delay founded his own record label Eimsbush together with partners from the Hamburg hip-hop scene. The label's main goal was to support and guide fresh underground talents and pave their way into the music business without having them "selling out" to the major labels. The label was initiated by the German hip hop scene while it was going through a boom phase in the mid and late 90s, which led to "every Horst
erkbeing allowed to rap if only he can hold up a mic" (Jan Delay,
MTV Germany, 2007). As a result, real talent stepped back for fear of being seen as sellouts by the underground hip-hop scene.
The label was shut down in 2003 due to financial reasons and as a result of the "naive idea of just believing in talent outside the mainstream"
Discography
Albums
* 2001 – ''Searching for the Jan Soul Rebels''
* 2006 – ''Mercedes Dance''
* 2007 – ''Searching – the Dubs''
* 2007 – ''Mercedes Dance – Live''
* 2009 – ''Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Soul''
(GER: 23rd best-selling album of 2009)
* 2010 – ''Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Soul – Live''
* 2014 – ''Hammer & Michel''
* 2021 – ''Earth, Wind & Feiern''
Singles
* 1999 – "
Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann"
( cover version of Nena's song of the same name)
* 2001 – "Ich möchte nicht, dass ihr meine Lieder singt"
* 2001 – "Vergiftet"
* 2002 – "Die Welt steht still"
(Sam Ragga Band featuring Jan Delay)
* 2006 – "Klar"
* 2006 – "Für immer und dich"
* 2007 – "Feuer"
* 2007 – "Im Arsch"
(featuring Udo Lindenberg)
* 2007 – "Türlich, Türlich" / Word up
* 2008 – "Ganz anders"
(featuring Udo Lindenberg)
* 2009 – "Oh Jonny"
* 2009 – "Disko"
* 2010 – "Hoffnung"
* 2014 – "Liebe"
* 2014 – "St. Pauli"
* 2014 – "Sie kann nicht tanzen"
* 2018 – "Grün-weiße Liebe"
* 2021 – "Intro"
* 2021 – "Eule"
(featuring Marteria)
* 2021 – "Spass"
(featuring Denyo
Dennis Lisk (born 1977 in Hamburg), also known as Denyo, Denyo 77, Dennis Deutschland and Dennis Dubplate, is a German soul and hip hop musician and radio presenter. He was also host of the German television series ''Cover My Song''.
Musi ...
)
External links
Official websiteJan Delayon
laut.de (in German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delay, Jan
1976 births
Living people
21st-century German male singers
Participants in the Bundesvision Song Contest
German rappers
German reggae musicians
Musicians from Hamburg