Azad Azadpour (born 24 November 1973), known professionally by the

mononym A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. A mononym may be the person's only name, given to them at birth. This was routine in most ancient societies, and remains ...

Azad, is a German

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

descent based in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. 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 Sanandaj (; ) is a city in the Central District of Sanandaj County, in the Kurdistan province of Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. With a population of 414,069, it is the second largest Kurdish city a ...

Iranian Kurdistan Iranian Kurdistan or Eastern Kurdistan () is an unofficial name for the parts of northwestern Iran with either a majority or sizable population of Kurds. Geographically, it includes the West Azerbaijan province, Kurdistan province, Kermanshah pr ...

at the young age of 10, he was into

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

rap Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...

beatboxing Beatboxing (also, and sometimes, called beat boxing) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum machines (usually a Roland TR-808, TR-808), using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice.graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

. 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'' * 20 ...

(Daniel Kretschmer), A-Bomb, and Combad in Cold-N-Locco. The group was renamed Asiatic Warriors 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 Pelham may refer to: People * Pelham (name), including a list of people with the name Places In Australia * Pelham, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region In Canada * Pelham, Ontario * Pelham Range, on Vancouver Island, British ...

. 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 Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

. 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. "Aggro" is Ger ...

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 The Federal Agency for Child and Youth Protection in the Media ( or ''BzKJ''), until 2021 "Federal Review Board for Media Harmful to Young Persons" ( or ''BPjM''), is an upper-level German federal agency and youth protection panel subordinate ...

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 of Turkish Origin. Along with Taktlo$$, he formed the highly influential German rap duo Westberlin Maskulin (1997–2000). He was also a founding me ...

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

German Albums Chart The GfK Entertainment charts are the official charts for music, home video, and video games in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on be ...

. ''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 (, ; born October 8, 1976), known professionally as Seryoga (), is a Belarusian rapper and the owner of the KingRing record label. Career Parkhomenko was born in Gomel, Belarus. The moniker "Seryoga" derives from ...

. Azad's German number 1 hit single is " Prison Break Anthem (Ich glaub' an dich)", 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 (German band), The Boyz. Ear ...

Ich + Ich Ich, ich or ICH may refer to: Places * Ich, Semnan, a village in Semnan Province, Iran * Ich, Zanjan, a village in Zanjan Province, Iran * Ich, alternative name of Ij, Zanjan, a village in Zanjan Province, Iran Medicine * The ego (German: ''Ic ...

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

Prison Break ''Prison Break'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Paul Scheuring for Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox. The series revolves around two brothers: Lincoln Burrows (Dominic P ...

'' broadcast with German voiceover on

RTL RTL may refer to: Media * RTL Group, a European TV, radio, and production company *** List of RTL Group's television stations (including part-owned channels) *** List of RTL Group's radio stations ** RTL Lëtzebuerg, usually referred to simply a ...

. 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 male rappers Kurdish rappers German people of Kurdish descent Iranian Kurdish people Iranian emigrants to Germany Musicians from Frankfurt