Azad Azadpour (born 24 November 1973), known professionally as Azad, is a German

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 ...

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

descent based in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. As one of the first German street rappers who become successful, he strongly influenced the German rap scene.

Career

After having arrived in Germany from Sanandaj in

Iranian Kurdistan Iranian Kurdistan or Eastern Kurdistan ( ku, ڕۆژھەڵاتی کوردستان, translit=Rojhilatê Kurdistanê) is an unofficial name for the parts of northwestern Iran with either a majority or sizable population of Kurds. Geographically, it ...

at the young age of 10, he was into hip hop,

rap 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 ...

beatboxing Beatboxing (also beat boxing) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum machines (typically a TR-808), using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice.

, and

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

. In 1988, he joined

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 ...

(Daniel Kretschmer), A-Bomb, and Combad in Cold-N-Locco. The group was renamed

Asiatic Warriors Asiatic Warriors, originally named Cold-N-Loco, were a multilingual hardcore rap crew from Frankfurt, Germany. Cold-N-Loco was composed of D-Flame (Daniel Kretschmer), A-Bomb and Combad. They invited the Kurdish hip hop artist Azad to join the ba ...

in 1990 and mixed songs in German, English, Persian and Kurdish and achieved great fame through signing with Ruff'n'Raw Label and the EP ''Told Ya!''. Internal differences between the band members resulted in the Asiatic Warriors breaking up. In 1999, Azad signed as a solo artist with Pelham Power Productions. He became a sensation on the hip hop scene winning "Da Swing DJ Battle". The single "Napalm" followed by his self-produced solo album ''Leben'' and the follow-up album ''Faust des Nordwestens'' firmly established him as a successful artist and a cult figure. Azad performing in 2001 In 2004, Azad founded his own production company "Bozz Music", the urban music wing of

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, Dutch law. UMG's cor ...

. He formed the group Warheit together with Sezai, Lunafrow, Jeyz, and Chaker. Soon, a rivalry erupted between Azad and Bozz Music label on the one side and

Aggro Berlin Aggro Berlin was a German hip-hop independent record label based in Berlin that existed from 1 January 2001 until 1 April 2009. Three artists ( Sido, Tony D and Kitty Kat) were signed with the label at the time of its closure. Since the end o ...

label on the other. This put Azad even more in the spotlight as the rivalry escalated. Azad released his third studio album ''Der Bozz'' in 2004, reaching the German Albums Top 10 and outselling his first two albums by far. However, the Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons slammed the album as too violent and a "danger to youth". Oddly enough, Azad's biggest commercial success was a joint effort with German rapper

Kool Savas Savaş Yurderi (born 10 February 1975), known by his stage name Kool Savas, is a German rapper. Along with Taktlo$$, he formed the highly influential German rap duo Westberlin Maskulin (1997–2000). He was also a founding member of the German ...

in ''One'', released via BMG and hitting the top 5 on the

German Albums Chart The GfK Entertainment charts are the official music charts in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindust ...

. ''Game Over'', his fourth album, reached number 8. He has released further albums but with relative success (''Blockschrift'' in 2007, ''Azphalt Inferno'', and ''Assassin'' both in 2009) He is also known for his collaborations with various artists like Belarusian rapper

Seryoga Sergey Vasilyevich Parkhomenko (russian: Сергей Васильевич Пархоменко, be, Сяргей Васільевіч Пархоменка, Syarhyey Vasilyevich Parkhomyenka; born October 8, 1976), known professionally as Seryog ...

. Azad's German number 1 hit single is "

Prison Break Anthem (Ich glaub' an dich) "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 televis ...

", featuring

Adel Tawil Adel Salah Mahmoud Eid El-Tawil (born 15 August 1978) is a German singer, songwriter and producer. Besides his solo career, he is part of the popular German duo Ich + Ich and a former member of the boy band The Boyz. Early life Tawil was born ...

Ich + Ich Ich may refer to: * Ich, a German pronoun meaning ''I'', also a Middle English form of ''I'' * The ego, one of the psychic apparatus defined in Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche * ''Ich'' (album), an album by German rapper Sido * ...

. It is a German-language theme song for the popular American television series ''

Prison Break ''Prison Break'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial drama television show, television series created by Paul Scheuring for Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox. The series revolves around two brothers, Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purce ...

'' broadcast with German voiceover on RTL. The follow up to his debut ''Leben'', ''Leben II'', was released on 15 January 2016.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Azad 1974 births People from Sanandaj Living people German rappers German people of Kurdish descent Iranian Kurdish people Iranian emigrants to Germany