Carl Crack (born Karl Böhm, 5 May 1971 – 6 September 2001) was a Swazi-born German techno artist best known for his membership in the

digital hardcore Digital hardcore is a fusion genre that combines hardcore punk with electronic dance music genres such as breakbeat, techno, and drum and bass while also drawing on heavy metal and noise music. It typically features fast tempos and aggressive ...

band

Atari Teenage Riot Atari Teenage Riot (ATR) is a German band formed in Berlin in 1992. Highly political, they fuse left-wing, anarchist and anti-fascist views with punk vocals and a techno sound called digital hardcore, which is a term band member Alec Empire u ...

from 1992 to 2000.

Biography

Around 1992, Crack displayed little interest in the music scene as it was at the time. He felt that

The Beatnigs The Beatnigs were an American, San Francisco-based band, which combined hardcore punk, industrial and hip hop influences, described as "a kind of avant-garde industrial jazz poets collective". The band was the initial collaboration of Michael Fr ...

(the original vehicle for social and political critic

Michael Franti Michael Franti (born April 21, 1966) is an American rapper, musician, poet, activist, documentarian, and singer-songwriter, known for his participation in many musical projects, most with a political and social emphasis, including the Beatnigs ...

, later of

the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy were an American hip-hop musical ensemble, active during the early 1990s. The band was formed in 1990 by Michael Franti (vocals, production, misc. instruments) and Rono Tse (drums, percussion, programming), wh ...

and

Spearhead A spearhead is the sharpened point (head) of a spear, similar to an arrowhead. It is often a separate piece called a projectile point. Spearhead may also refer to: Armed conflict * Armoured spearhead, a tactical formation * HMS Spearhead ( ...

) were one of the few significant bands around. Along with the other members of Atari Teenage Riot he was looking for a new direction. Crack initially had a significant influence on ATR's style, particularly on the first two albums where he developed an MC style which owed less to the U.S. than his own imagination. He also had his own musical ideas that could not be expressed within the confines of a group, leading to his only solo release, ''Black Ark'', in 1998. It is, as the name suggests, heavily influenced by dub and in particular Lee Perry. After heavy touring to promote ATR's third album, ''

60 Second Wipe Out ''60 Second Wipe Out'' is the third studio album by Atari Teenage Riot. It was originally released through Digital Hardcore Recordings in 1999. It peaked at number 17 on the UK Independent Albums Chart, as well as number 32 on the ''Billboard'' ...

'', the members of the group commenced work on follow ups to their various solo projects. Crack appeared on

Cobra Killer The Cobra Killer duo of Gina V. D'Orio and Annika Trost began as part of Alec Empire Alec or Aleck is a Scottish form of the given name Alex. It may be a diminutive of the name Alexander or a given name in its own right. Notable people with th ...

's 2002 album, ''

The Third Armpit ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

''. He also was part of Firewire and Whatever, both with Din-St. Crack was working on a new record before he was found dead in his apartment in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

, on 6 September 2001. He was 30 years old.

Discography

Album

* ''Black Ark'' ( DHR Limited 1998)

DJ Mix

* ''Lion MC/Dance the Monkey'' (Midiwar 1995)

References

External links

Biography
at

Digital Hardcore Recordings Digital Hardcore Recordings (DHR) is a record label set up in 1994 by Alec Empire, Joel Amaretto and Pete Lawton. Most of the music is recorded in Berlin, though the label is based in London where the records are mastered and manufactured. The ...

Carl Crack
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:Crack, Carl 1971 births 2001 deaths Drug-related deaths in Germany 20th-century German musicians 20th-century German male musicians Atari Teenage Riot members German people of Swazi descent