Beginner
Biography
Beginner (formerly Absolute Beginner) is a German rap group from Hamburg consisting of Jan Delay (also known as Eizi Eiz and Eißfeldt), Denyo and DJ Mad. The group was founded in 1991 and has released four studio albums, with "Advanced Chemistry" released in August 2016.
The group was founded as Absolute Beginner in 1991 with six members: Jan Delay, Denyo, Mardin, DJ Burn, Nabil and Mirko. DJ Burn, Nabil and Mirko left after a few months. The group initially performed in both English and German, using homemade beats, before adopting German as its sole language. During an early public performance, they met DJ Mad, who subsequently joined the group.
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In 1993, the group released its first track, "K.E.I.N.E.", on the sampler "Kill the Nation With a Groove". The same year, they released their first EP, "Gotting", and embarked on their first tour.
Their debut studio album, "Flashnizm (Stylopath)", was released in 1996. It achieved moderate commercial success. A music video was produced for the single "Natural Born Chillaz", although MTV did not broadcast it. The group subsequently toured German-speaking countries, performing at smaller venues. Mardin left the group in 1997. That year, Eißfeldt founded the independent record label Eimsbush, which later released material by artists including D-Flame and Illo77 before ceasing operations in 2003.
In 1998, Beginner achieved a top-ten hit with "Liebes Lied". Their second album, "Bambule", reached the top 30 of the German albums chart and was followed by the singles "Hammerhart" and "Füchse", the latter featuring Samy Deluxe. The group toured with Dynamite Deluxe, Main Concept and the Beastie Boys and appeared at several major festivals. In 2001, they released "Boombule", a remix album based on "Bambule".
In 1999, Eißfeldt released his first solo reggae single, a cover of Nena's "Irgendwo, Irgendwie, Irgendwann". In 2001, he released the solo reggae album "Searching for the Jan Soul Rebels". Denyo also pursued a solo career, releasing the album "Minidisko 2001", while DJ Mad produced material for other artists and hosted a weekly radio programme. The members continued to work together, with Denyo and Eißfeldt participating in the 60 Hz Tour alongside D-Flame, an artist associated with Eimsbush.
In 2002, DJ Mad, Eißfeldt and Denyo began recording a new album together. The resulting album, "Blast Action Heroes", was released in 2003 and was preceded by the top-ten single "Fäule". The album reached number one on the German albums chart. The accompanying "Blast Action Heroes" tour began in 2003 and continued with a second leg in 2004. The group's first DVD was released in December 2004. Following the album's success, they released "Danke", a song expressing appreciation to their fans.
On 24 May 2016, Jan Delay announced that Beginner's fourth studio album, "Advanced Chemistry", would be released on 26 August 2016. The group's first single in 13 years, "Ahnma", featuring Gzuz and Gentleman, was released in June 2016.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beginner_(band)
Studio albums
Flashnizm (Stylopath) (1996)
Bambule (1998)
Blast Action Heroes (2003)
Advanced Chemistry (2016)
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.