Die Fantastischen Vier
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Die Fantastischen Vier (, "The Fantastic Four"), often shortened to Fanta 4, is 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 ...
band 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 ...
. The members are Michael Schmidt (Smudo), Andreas Rieke, Thomas Dürr, ''janitor''), and
Michi Beck Michael "Michi" Beck (born 11 December 1967), 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, w ...
. They were, together with
Advanced Chemistry Advanced Chemistry is a German hip hop group from Heidelberg, a scenic city in Baden-Württemberg, South Germany. Advanced Chemistry was founded in 1987 by Toni LLinguist Gee-One, DJ Mike MD (Mike Dippon) and MC Torch. Each member of the group ...
, an early group to rap in the German language.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


History

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 (, "spoken singing") and (, "spoken voice") are expressionist vocal techniques between singing and speaking. Though sometimes used interchangeably, ''Sprechgesang'' is directly related to the operatic ''recitative'' manner of singing (in which ...
'' ''(German spoken-song)'' as they called it, popular in Germany. Although there were German hip-hop artists prior to them (such as
Advanced Chemistry Advanced Chemistry is a German hip hop group from Heidelberg, a scenic city in Baden-Württemberg, South Germany. Advanced Chemistry was founded in 1987 by Toni LLinguist Gee-One, DJ Mike MD (Mike Dippon) and MC Torch. Each member of the group ...
from
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
), 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", and made a conscious effort to move away from the typical and cliché American
gangsta rap Gangsta rap or gangster rap, initially called reality rap, emerged in the mid- to late 1980s as a controversial hip-hop subgenre whose lyrics assert the culture and values typical of American street gangs and street hustlers. Many gangsta rappe ...
. 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. 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 Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...
channel
Premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...
in 1993 and 1994. At the 1996
Popkomm Popkomm was an international trade show for the music and entertainment business during the 1990s and 2000s, and also integrated a congress and festival. It was held in Cologne for most of its existence, later moved to Berlin with entries from at ...
in
Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
, Die Fantastischen Vier announced the establishment of their label,
Four Music Four Music (''Four Music Productions GmbH'') is a German record label founded by hip hop group Die Fantastischen Vier in 1996. It was originally located in Stuttgart, but has moved to Kreuzberg, Berlin. In 2004, Max Herre's debut album, as wel ...
. Headquarters were in
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 ...
, but were later moved to
Berlin-Kreuzberg Kreuzberg () is a district of Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte. During the Cold War era, it was one of the poorest areas of West Berlin, but since German reunification in 1990 it has ...
. 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 ''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 ...
'' 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! Oomph! is a German rock band from Wolfsburg, formed in 1989. The band pioneered the Neue Deutsche Härte movement. Their work contains lyrics in both English and German, with a shift towards German exclusively on recent albums ('' GlaubeLiebeTo ...
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 Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
'' film series. In 2010, ''
Für dich immer noch Fanta Sie ''Für dich immer noch Fanta Sie'' is the eighth studio album by German hip hop group Die Fantastischen Vier Die Fantastischen Vier (, "The Fantastic Four"), often shortened to Fanta 4, is a German hip hop band from Stuttgart. The members a ...
'' peaked again at number one of the German charts. The 2014 release of the album '' Rekord'' marked the 25th anniversary of the band. It also topped the charts in Germany. In 2018, the single " Zusammen", featuring
Clueso Thomas Hübner (born 9 April 1980), better known by his stage name Clueso (), is a German singer, rapper, songwriter, and producer. His first album, ''Text und Ton'', was released in 2001. Since then, he has released seven more albums, of which ...
, from the album '' Captain Fantastic'', was chosen as the official song for the
2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...
by German public broadcaster
Das Erste Das Erste (; "The First") is the flagship national television channel of the ARD association of public broadcasting corporations in Germany. ''Das Erste'' is jointly operated by the nine regional public broadcasting corporations that are member ...
.


Members

* Michael "Michi" Beck – vocals, DJ *Thomas Dürr ("Thomas D") – vocals * Michael "Smudo" Schmidt – vocals *Andreas "And.Ypsilon" Rieke – electronics Live members *Markus Kössler – bass *Florian Dauner – drums *Lillo Scrimali – keyboards *Roland Peil – percussion *Markus Birkle – guitars *ESKEI83 – DJ


Discography

Die Fantastischen Vier have released 10
studio albums An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...
, 2
compilation albums A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...
, 8
live albums An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...
, 40
singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...
and 3 as a
featured artist In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, Performance, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast ...
. Die Fantastischen Vier have got 4 No. 1 albums in the GfK Top 100 Albums and a No. 1 single in the GfK Top 100 Singles. They have sold more than 4,7 million records, and their most successful album, 4 gewinnt, has sold more than 825 thousand units.


Albums


Studio albums


Collaborative albums


Live albums


Compilation albums


Singles


As lead artist


As featured artist


See also

*
Son Goku (band) 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'' (Crash ...


References


External links

*
Four Music

Discography
at
Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fantastischen Vier, Die German hip hop groups Musical groups from Stuttgart