Fettes Brot () was a

German hip hop German hip hop (locally known as ''Deutschrap'', ''Deutsch'' meaning German) refers to hip hop music in the German language. Elements of American hip hop culture, such as graffiti art and breakdancing, diffused into Western Europe in the ea ...

group that formed in 1992. In August, 2022 they announced to end their career by the end of 2023.

History

Band name

Fettes Brot means ''fat bread'' in German. "Fett" is a German slang term for "excellent" and brot is slang for "hash". The band took the name from a fan who called them "Fettes Brot" after an early gig, which was probably meant as a compliment, but the members considered it so bizarre that they took it as the name for their new group. Fettes Brot's longevity has meant that they are sometimes referred to as "

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

's hip hop dinosaurs" by the group members.

Success with ''Nordisch by Nature'' and ''Jein''

When the group ''Poets of Peeze'' disbanded in 1992, its members Dokter Renz (Martin Vandreier) and Tobi Tobsen together with König ("king") Boris (Boris Lauterbach), Schiffmeister (Björn Warns), and Mighty founded Fettes Brot. The Schmidt brothers (Tobi and Mighty) left the newly founded band early on to pursue other projects, and the band released their first album, the EP ''Mitschnacker'', on Yo Mama Records as a trio. Prior to ''Mitschnacker'', the songs "Schwarzbrot – Weißbrot" ("Blackbread – Whitebread") and "Schule der Gewalt" ("School of Violence") appeared on the sampler ''Endzeit 93'', released via the independent record label Wilde Welt Records. The group's first commercial success first came with the single "Nordisch by Nature" ("Nordic by Nature") and the album from which the single comes. The song begins with the sound of a

foghorn A foghorn or fog signal is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of navigational hazards such as rocky coastlines, or boats of the presence of other vessels, in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport. ...

and is performed in parts in "Hamburger Platt" (Hamburg Low) north German dialect, a strong

Low German Low German is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language variety, language spoken mainly in Northern Germany and the northeastern Netherlands. The dialect of Plautdietsch is also spoken in the Russian Mennonite diaspora worldwide. "Low" ...

accent, and in Danish, which has made the song something of an anthem in

Northern Germany Northern Germany (, ) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony and the two city-states Hambur ...

. The single remained in the German charts for a full month, but the band was determined not to let this initial commercial success become a

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with ...

. The group demonstrated their technical maturity with their first LP ''Auf einem Auge blöd'' ("Stupid on one eye", a parody of the phrase ''Auf einem Auge blind'' meaning "Blind on one eye"), which boasts versatile and humorous lyrics. The narrated stories and interwoven raps were received very well. A year later Fettes Brot released their second biggest commercial hit and quasi-anthem "Jein" (a blend of ''Ja'' and ''Nein'', meaning both "Yes" and "No"). The main line of the song's chorus asks the question: "Soll ich's wirklich machen oder lass ich's lieber sein?" ("Should I really do it or should I leave it?") and led to a strong fanbase being established in German speaking countries. Further singles included "Außen Top Hits, innen Geschmack" (a play on a popular commercial jingle for the aluminum foil Toppits: "Außen Toppits – innen Geschmack" ("Toppits on the outside – flavor within") where the similar-sounding album title means "Top hits on the outside – taste within") were just as successful. Rapper Dendemann (then a member of ''Arme Ritter'', meaning "Poor Knights" but also "

French toast French toast is a Dish (food), dish of sliced bread soaked in beaten eggs as food, eggs and often milk or cream, then pan-fried. Alternative names and variants include eggy bread, Bombay toast, gypsy toast, and poor knights (of Windsor).''Oxfo ...

") had his first introduction to the mainstream in his collaboration track "Wildwechsel", also with Max Herre, Blumentopf, Spax (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

) and Der Tobi & das Bo (

), which became representative of these artists. Fettes Brot were at this time very active in other areas: For instance, they created a unique radio transmission called ''Forellentee'' for Radio Fritz (

Change of direction

After their initial success, the group began to experiment with a softer sound and released the single "Können diese Augen lügen?" ("Could These Eyes Lie?") from the album ''Fettes Brot lässt grüßen'' ("Fettes Brot Says Hello"). Many purists voiced criticism as the band explored new paths and no longer focused on a pure hip hop music style. The songs "Viele Wege führen nach Rom" ("Many Roads Lead to Rome") and "Lieblingslied" ("Favourite Song") were successful as a double A-sided single and become an even bigger hit than both previous albums. With the cooperation of

James Last James Last (, ; born Hans Last; 17 April 1929 – 9 June 2015) was a German composer and big band leader of the James Last Orchestra. Initially a jazz bassist, his trademark "happy music" made his numerous albums best-sellers in Germany and ...

, the trio took a break from songwriting in 1999 and embarked on a creative pause. The break was announced to fans with via the publishing of an anthology of

B-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

, remixes, and some exclusive material. Beginner, and Smudo of Die Fantastischen Vier, as well as Der Tobi & Das Bo made personal contributions to this anthology. Furthermore, the widely successful single "Da draußen" ("Out there") was released as a collectors edition in 2000. After three years, in 2001, the fourth Fettes Brot album was released. The trio marketed a small comeback with the title ''Demotape'' using new alternative pseudonyms. The hit singles "Schwule Mädchen" and "The Grosser" could not be clearly categorized into a musical style. Additionally they released a collaboration with Skunk Funk (

), a pure hip hop single called "Fast 30" ("Almost 30"). Only a year later, in early 2002, they released their greatest hits compilation ''Amnesie'' ("Amnesia") and a DVD of the same name with extra short films. Three more singles were released, beginning in 2002 with "Welthit" ("World Hit"), from their greatest hits CD. In 2003, they released the Rio Reiser cover "Ich bin müde" ("I'm Tired"), which received extensive exposure on television. They made the collaboration " Tanzverbot" ("Dancing Prohibition") available as a legal

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany under the lead of Karlheinz Brandenburg. It was designed to greatly reduce the amount ...

download (as well as a limited CD and vinyl run), as part of the

Bambule (

) protest alongside Bela B. against the Hamburg senator Ronald Schill.

Comeback and founding of the record label

In 2004, the group founded their own record label, ''Fettes Brot Schallplatten'' (Fettes Brot Records). In 2005, they represented

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

in the

Bundesvision Song Contest 2005 The Bundesvision Song Contest 2005 was the first edition of the annual Bundesvision Song Contest musical event. The contest was held on 12 February 2005 at the König Pilsener Arena in Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The contest was hosted by ...

, with the song "Emanuela" placing second with 130 points. A few days later on

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...

, the single rose to third place on the singles charts. On 21 May 2005, their most successful album to date was released. The album was titled ''Am Wasser gebaut'' (literally "Built by the water", but is also a term describing a very emotional person who cries easily). This album was not as rap-oriented as previous ones and featured more

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

influences. The second single from ''Am Wasser gebaut'' was "An Tagen wie diesen" ("On days like these"), in collaboration with Pascal Finkenauer (

). The video, in which Finkenauer and DJ exel. Pauly (

) appear, depicts the activities of an ordinary day. It is ordinary, except that armoured tanks drive through the streets as if they were cars and the people take little notice of them. On 6 October 2005, the three rappers won the Comet Award. They were the first band to win in two categories; they won both the category for "Best Band" and for "Best Song" ("Emanuela"). They were also nominated for "Best Video" and "Most Successful Download" ("Emanuela"). On 22 December 2005, Fettes Brot gave the largest concert of their career at the Color Line Arena in

in front of over 13,000 people. The concert was televised by

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

and numerous radio stations (e.g. Radio Fritz) broadcast it live.

D.O.C.H.!

Fettes Brot has sometimes used the pseudonym D.O.C.H.! (" doch" which is a German word meaning "yet", "to the contrary", and "but", although most often it means an emphatic, "damn right!" or "yes!") to publish songs which would not be suitable for the hip hop genre. This began with an extensive PR gag. In January 2006, Fettes Brot announced that they had signed the

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a subgenre of rock music and form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, ...

band D.O.C.H.! to their label. The band was to consist of three 17-year-olds from Berlin named Boy, Paolo, and Typ. News followed promising a first single, a Hungarian tour in April, and the release of an album in September. When the single "Was in der Zeitung steht" ("What's in the news") hit radio and television for the first time, a distinct similarity to the B-side of the "An Tagen wie diesen" single was noticed. (Doktor Renz had sung both songs.) After this, fans began to suspect the photos on the band's website were counterfeit. An announcement was made on MTV's '' TRL'' program on 9 May in which the three members of D.O.C.H.! accused Fettes Brot of having stolen their song.

Bette Frost and ''Strom und Drang''

In 2006, Fettes Brot released a single named " Fussball ist immer noch wichtig" ("Football is still important") for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

. They also released "Falsche Entscheidung" in 2006 for the World Cup, with a video featuring the retired footballers Boris Amadeus and Stefan Bach. Since both were huge fans of the band they appeared without receiving a fee. After extensive touring in 2005 and 2006, Fettes Brot began work on a new album in 2007. In December, they held several small secret concerts under the name Bette Frost and played the new songs. On 1 January 2008, they unveiled the new single "Bettina, zieh dir bitte etwas an" ("Bettina, please put on some clothes!"), but the song was known as "Bettina, pack deine Brüste ein" ("Bettina, tuck your boobs away") because Fettes Brot had changed it at the last minute. The song is about the German model Bettie Ballhaus, who at the time hosted a late-night quiz show in which, for every question answered correctly, she took some of her clothes off. She also happened to show her breasts, hence the title of the song. However, before the single was released, Ballhaus had left the show. Fettes Brot released this single on 15 February 2008. They also have stopped making soul music and have gone back to the "old" Fettes Brot, making party songs and rap. Fettes Brot released their new album ''Strom und Drang'' ("Electricity and Stress") in March 2008. The album's name alludes to an 18th-century epoch of German art and literature, called

Sturm und Drang (, ; usually translated as "storm and stress") was a proto-Romanticism, Romantic movement in German literature and Music of Germany, music that occurred between the late 1760s and early 1780s. Within the movement, individual subjectivity an ...

Members

* Boris Lauterbach (a.k.a. König Boris, Kay Bee Baby, Rock'n'Roll Coseng, Long Leg Lauterbach) * Martin Vandreier (a.k.a. Dokter Renz, Rektor Donz, Roktor Denz, Speedy Konsalik, Rostige Pforte, Hektor Ronz) * Björn Warns (a.k.a. Björn Beton, Schiffmeister, Flash Müller, Papa Geil)

Trivia

Björn Warns took the name ''Schiffmeister'' from the classic video game '' Sid Meier's Pirates!''. In that game, when his pirate ship suffered a mutiny, an announcement came up starting with the English words "Shipmaster Warns: ...". The German language does not have a direct equivalent for "Shipmaster" ("Kapitän" is used instead, as per the English "Captain"), but when Warns translated it he made up the word "Schiffmeister". Schiffmeister also means "piss master" in the northern German dialect. Fettes Brot has made a cameo appearance in the German independent movie ABCs of Superheroes (2015)

Discography

Studio albums

* 1995: ''Auf einem Auge blöd'' ("Stupid in one eye") GER#29, SWI#22 * 1996: ''Außen Top Hits, innen Geschmack'' ("Top Hits Outside, Taste Within" (pun on a commercial aired in Germany)) GER#10, AUT#21, SWI#14 * 1998: ''Fettes Brot lässt grüßen'' ("Fettes Brot Send Their Regards") GER#9, AUT#30, SWI#27 * 2001: ''Demotape'' GER#9, AUT#30, SWI#27 * 2005: ''Am Wasser gebaut'' ("Built on Water") GER#4, AUT#9, SWI#23 * 2008: ''Strom und Drang'' ("Electricity and Drive", a pun on

) GER#3, AUT#9, SWI#14 * 2013: ''3 is ne Party'' ("3 is a Party") GER#3, AUT#20, SWI#19 * 2015: ''Teenager vom Mars'' ("Teenagers from Mars") GER#7, AUT#29, SWI#27 * 2019: ''Lovestory'' GER#12

Other albums

* 2000: ''Fettes Brot für die Welt'' ("Fat Bread for the World") (Compiled with

B-Sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

, rare and unpublished pieces, and three new songs.) GER#10, AUT#32, SWI#55 * 2002: ''Amnesie'' (with the DVD, all singles up to 2002 except ''Gangsta Rap'') GER#41 * 2007: ''Strandgut'' (Flotsam & Jetsam)

Live albums

* 2010: ''Fettes'' GER: No. 4 * 2010: ''Brot'' GER: No. 4 * 2017: ''Gebäck in the Days – Live in Hamburg 2016'' GER: No. 62

Singles

* 1994: ''Definition von Fett'' ("The definition of phat") * 1995: ''Männer'' ("Men") * 1995: ''Nordisch by Nature'' ("Nordic by Nature") GER No. 17 * 1995: ''Gangsta Rap'' (only on vinyl) * 1996: ''Jein'' (Portmanteau of "Yes" and "No") GER#10, SWI#7 * 1996: ''Mal sehen'' ("We'll see") GER#68, SWI#23 * 1997: ''Silberfische in meinem Bett'' ("Silverfish in my bed") * 1997: ''Sekt oder Selters'' ("Sparkling wine or seltzer") GER#81 * 1997: ''Lieblingslied'' ("Favourite song") GER#81 * 1998: ''Viele Wege führen nach Rom'' ("Many roads lead to Rome") GER#96 * 1998: ''Können diese Augen lügen?'' ("Could these eyes lie?") GER#100 * 1999: ''Ruf mich an'' ("Call me") (with

) GER#53, SWI#39 * 2000: ''Da draußen'' ("Out there") GER#35, SWI#58 * 2001: ''Schwule Mädchen'' ("Gay girls") GER#9, AUS#11, SWI#74 * 2001: ''Fast 30'' ("Almost 30") (with Skunk Funk) * 2001: ''The Grosser'' ("The greatest") (Cover of The Joker by Steve Miller Band) GER#26, AUS#49, SWI#75 * 2002: ''Welthit'' ("Worldwide hit") GER#75 * 2003: '' Tanzverbot (Schill to Hell)'' ("Dance ban") (with Bela B.) * 2003: ''Ich bin müde'' ("I'm tired") (Cover of Wolfgang Michels and Rio Reiser) GER#87 * 2005: ''Emanuela'' GER#3, AUS#1, SWI#20 * 2005: ''An Tagen wie diesen'' ("On days like these") (with Pascal Finkenauer) GER#9, AUS#10, SWI#69 * 2006: ''Soll das alles sein'' ("Is this supposed to be it?") GER#40, AUS#54 * 2006: ''Was in der Zeitung Steht'' ("What it says in the newspaper") (under the nickname "D.O.C.H") * 2006: '' Fußball ist immer noch wichtig'' ("Football is still important") (with Bela B., Marcus Wiebusch of Kettcar and Carsten Friedrichs of Superpunk) GER#61 * 2008: ''Bettina, zieh dir bitte etwas an!'' ("Bettina, please put some clothes on!") GER#3, AUS#14, SWI#43 * 2008: ''Erdbeben'' ("Earthquake/s") GER#28, AUS#65 * 2008: ''Ich lass dich nicht los'' ("I won't let you go") GER#55 * 2008: ''Das allererste Mal'' ("The very first time") * 2010: ''Jein'' (2010 live) (Portmanteau of "Yes" and "No") GER#36 * 2010: ''Kontrolle'' ("Control") (live) GER#90 * 2010: ''Falsche Entscheidung'' ("Bad decision") (live) * 2010: ''Amsterdam'' GER#51 * 2013: ''Kuss Kuss Kuss'' ("Kiss Kiss Kiss") GER#35 * 2013: ''Echo'' GER#12 * 2014: ''Für immer immer'' ("Forever always") GER#36 * 2014: ''Fußballgott'' ("Football God") * 2015: ''Teenager vom Mars'' ("Teenager from Mars") * 2015: ''Von der Liebe'' ("About Love") GER#36 * 2019: ''Du driftest nach rechts'' ("You're drifting right") * 2019: ''Ich liebe mich'' ("I love myself") * 2019: ''Denxu?'' * 2019: ''Deine Mama'' ("Your Mama Mor Din)")

EPs

* 1994: ''Mitschnacker'' (Northern German slang for "Kidnapper", but also "chatty person")

DVDs

* 2002: ''Amnesie'' (Archive DVD with music videos and other material, supplementary CD with all singles except ''Gangsta Rap''.)

Compilations

* 1993 – ''Endzeit 93'' ("Final hour 93") (two songs)

Awards

ECHO In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

1996 als "Erfolgreichste deutsche Nachwuchsband" (most successful new German band) * Comet 2005 for "Beste Band" (Best Band) and for "Besten Song" (Best Song) ("Emanuela") * GQ ''Man of the Year 2005'' as "Beste Musiker" (Best Musician) * Eins Live Krone 2005 for "Beste Single" (Best Single) ("Emanuela") *

Gold Record Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

for "Am Wasser gebaut" (Germany) and "Emanuela" (Germany and Austria) * ECHO 2006 for best "Hip-Hop/R&B national" Act * Bravo Otto Gold 2006 for best "Hip-Hop national" Act *

MTV Europe Music Awards The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an al ...

2008 – Best German Act

Tours

* 1995: ''Klasse von '95'' (Class of '95) – with Main Concept, Massive Töne, ZM Jay, MC Rene, F.A.B., Der Tobi & Das Bo * 1996: ''Sven, Sven & Sven live'' – Inkognito-Club-Tour, November * 1996/97: ''Spiel mir das Lied vom Brot'' – with Blumentopf, Massive Töne * 1998: ''Harte Tour '98'' (Hard Tour '98) – with Eins Zwo und DJ I.L.L. Will * 2001: ''Schlechtwetterfront'' – with DJ exel. Pauly & Skunk Funk * 2003: ''Gute Laune Hölle'' (only in theaters) – with Die Herren * 2003: ''Jenseits der Grenze des Zumutbaren'' – support for

Die Ärzte (; ) is a German rock band from Berlin. It consists of guitarist Farin Urlaub, drummer Bela B and bass player Rodrigo González (musician), Rodrigo González. All three write and perform their songs. The band has released 14 studio albums. ...

with Die Herren * 2005: ''Am Wasser gebaut'' Part 1 – with Pascal Finkenauer, Emel & J-Luv, Opener: Fiva MC & DJ Radrum * 2005: ''Am Wasser gebaut'' Part 2 – with Pascal Finkenauer, Emel & Patrick Gwada, no opener * 2008: ''Strom und Drang'' Part 1 – with eight musicians Opener: Superpunk, Die Türen, 1000 Robota, Johanna Zeul, Bernadette La Hengst * 2008: ''Strom und Drang'' Part 2 – with eight musicians Opener: Johanna Zeul, Vincent Van Go Go * 2010: "Fettes/Brot Tour – with band Opener: Die Orsons, Kraftklub, Jarle Bernhoft

References

External links

Fettes Brot website (German)

DieFalschenLeute.de Fettes Brot Community

Nuscheltiere.de – Fettes Brot fanpage (German)

Definition-von-Fett.de – Fettes Brot fanpage (German)

Fettes Brot ist doof – Fettes Brot Fanpage (German)
{{Authority control German hip-hop groups German musical trios Musical groups from Hamburg Hamburg hip-hop Musical groups established in 1992 MTV Europe Music Award winners