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Biography
Infobox musical artist| name = Die Fantastischen Vier| background = group_or_band| origin = Stuttgart , Germany | genre = German hip hop , Pop rap | years_active = 1986 (1989) – present| label = Four Music , Sony BMG | website = http://www.diefantastischenvier.de/ Official website| current_members = Michael Beck (singer)|Michael Beck Thomas Dürr Smudo|Michael B. Schmidt Andreas Rieke Die Fantastischen Vier (IPA-de|di? fan'tast???n 'fi???), also known as Fanta 4 , is a German hip hop group from Stuttgart , Germany . The members are Smudo|Michael Bernd Schmidt alias Smudo, And.Ypsilon|Andreas Rieke alias And.Ypsilon, Thomas D ürr alias Hausmeister (janitor) Thomas D and Michael Beck (singer)|Michael 'Michi' Beck alias Dee Jot Hausmarke. They were among the first groups 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 middle of the 1980s, Rieke and Schmidt formed the "Terminal Team", Dürr and Beck joined in 1989. Under the new name Die Fantastischen Vier (The Fantastic Four) , they made German hip hop, or Deutschen Sprechgesang (German spoken-song) as they called it, popular in Germany. Although there were German hip-hop artists prior to them (such as Advanced Chemistry from Heidelberg ) it was Die Fantastischen Vier who registered the first chart hit with their 1992 single "Die da? !" from the album 4 Gewinnt , hitting #2 in Germany and #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 U.S. and middle-class Whites in Germany," and made a conscious effort to move away from the typical and cliché American gangster rap. The group never got involved with United States|US-American 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.
The band was extremely successful in the 1990s, when they released their hit single Die Da? & #33; (Her? & #33; The One Over There? !) in 1992. It was arguably the first German hip hop hit and also the breakthrough for the Fanta 4. http://www.foxytunes.com/artist/die_fantastischen_vier Die Fantastischen Vier - Music on FoxyTunes Planet
In addition to the group's works, Thomas D, Hausmarke and Ypsilon also produced successful solo album s and the four had their own weekly show Die 4. Dimension , named after their Die 4. Dimension|third album , which aired on the German Pay television|pay TV channel Premiere (pay television network)|Premiere in 1993/1994.
At the 1996 Popkomm in Cologne , Die Fantastischen Vier announced the establishment of their label, Four Music . Headquarters were in Stuttgart , but were later moved to Kreuzberg|Berlin-Kreuzberg .
Three years later, the group's 7th album 4:99 was released on their own label, with 4 singles from the album following. After the #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" ( The Smou ; Smudo), "Michi Beck in Hell" (Michi Beck) and "Buenos Dias Messias" ( Good day, Messiah ; Thomas D).
In late September 2004, Die Fantastischen Vier released the album Viel , the following tour being their most successful and most visited 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 bands early days, when they were still called "Terminal Team" and rapped in English. On April 7, 2007, Fornika was released, preceded by the single "Ernten was wir säen" (Reap what we sow) .
Their song "Ernten was wir säen" was released as a download for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock in December 2007 and was recently covered by Oomph! .
Discography
Albums
Year
Title
Chart positions
Germany
Austria
Switzerland
1991
'' Jetzt geht's ab!
22
-
-
1992
4 Gewinnt
3
3
3
1993
Die 4. Dimension
14
23
27
1994
Megavier
21
-
-
1995
Lauschgift
2
10
5
1996
Live und direkt
17
-
30
1999
4:99
1
1
1
2000
MTV Unplugged
6
7
18
2003
Live in Stuttgart
81
50
-
2004
Viel
2
2
4
2005
Viel live
46
-
-
Best of 1990-2005
26
32
29
2007
Fornika
1
4
2
2009
Heimspiel
12
54
64
2010
Für Dich Immer Noch Fanta Sie
1
2
1
Singles
Year
Title
Chart positions
Germany
Austria
Switzerland
1991
" Mikrofonprofessor "1
–
–
–
" Hausmeister Thomas D. "2
–
–
–
1992
Die da "3
2
1
1
Frohes Fest "4
15
20
–
" Hausmeister Thomas D. '92 "2
–
–
–
1993
Saft "5
19
–
38
" Lass die Sonne rein "6
92
–
–
" Zu geil für diese Welt "7 (as Megavier)
22
–
20
1994
"Tag am Meer"8
–
–
–
1995
"Sie ist weg"9
1
16
2
1996
"Populär"10
41
–
39
"Nur in deinem Kopf"11
81
–
–
"Raus"12
56
–
38
1997
"Der Picknicker"13
42
–
–
1999
MfG "14
2
2
2
"Le Smou"15
68
–
–
"Buenos Dias Messias"16
87
–
–
"Michi Beck in Hell"
–
–
–
2000
"Tag am Meer (Unplugged)"8
67
–
–
2001
"Sie ist weg (Unplugged)"9
81
50
–
2004
"Troy"17
9
11
22
"Sommerregen"18
44
66
74
"Geboren"19
48
–
48
2007
"Ernten was wir säen"20
12
35
25
"Einfach sein"21
11
13
22
"Ichisichisichisich"22
45
-
-
2008
"Yeah Yeah Yeah"
86
-
-
2010
"Gebt uns ruhig die Schuld (den Rest könnt ihr behalten)"23
"Janitor Thomas D." (Thomas D.'s "title" of Hausmeister is also something of a play on words, as the literal meaning of the fragments Haus("house") and Meister("master") (alluding to house music) is also implied)
"Her" or "This one over there" ("Die" describing a feminine German grammar#Grammar|grammatical gender implies the fact that the group is talking about a female person.)
"Let the Sun come in" (literally); "Let the sunshine in" (actual meaning)
"Too Horny for this World" (literally); "Too Hot for this World" (actual slang meaning)
"Day at the ocean" or "Day at the seaside"
"She Is Gone"
"Popular"
"Only in your Head"
"Get Out"
"The Picnicker"
("MfG" is the official German abbreviation for "Mit freundlichen Grüßen" which means "With Best Regards")
("Le" is a masculine grammatical gender in French language and implies the fact that "Smou" is a male person.)
"Buenos Dias Messiah!" ("¡Buenos Días!" is the Spanish language|Spanish expression for "Good Morning!")
(Though being spelled " Troy ", the song's lyrics make clear that the word (even in just the sentence where it is used) is meant to be a homophone to German "treu" which means "loyal" and "faithful". They, however, pronounce it rather like the English word.)
"Summer Rain"
"Born"
"Reap What We Sow"
"Be Easy" or "Just Be"
"IisIisIisI" (read as "I is I is I is I"; "is" is the nonstandard term for the 3. person form of the German verb "sein", which means "to be". Connected to "Ich" = "I" there is a volitional grammatical incorrectness)
"Just put the blame on us (but keep the rest for yourselves)"
"Thank you"
See also
Son Goku (band)
References
Reflist
External links
http://www.diefantastischenvier.de/ Official site (German)
http://english.fourmusic.com/ Four Music
http://www.discogs.com/artist/Die+Fantastischen+Vier Discography at Discogs
http://astore.amazon.de/fantastischen-vier-21 Fantastischen Vier Music Page
DEFAULTSORT:Fantastischen Vier, Die Category:German musical groups Category:German hip hop groups
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