Mamadie Wappler (born 12 September 1979), known professionally as Mamadee, is a German

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the ...

singer.

Family

Mamadee grew up with her parents, two sisters, and her grandparents in a small village called Altrottmannsdorf, near

Zwickau Zwickau (; is, with around 87,500 inhabitants (2020), the fourth-largest city of Saxony after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz and it is the seat of the Zwickau District. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ...

as the youngest daughter of a father from

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

and a German mother. When she was five years old, she started to learn to play

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

. In 1999, she moved to

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

, where her sister lives, to become a singer.

Music

Her first engagement in Cologne was as background singer for Pauls Club, a band which specialized in jazz and soul classics. After approaching the movement/band Brothers Keepers with her first own song ''Farbgesetz'' Mamadee, she became a member of their female version Sisters Keepers in 2000. Later she belonged to the management board of Sisters e.V. Since her 2002 concert tour through Germany, she has accompanied

Gentleman A gentleman (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man) is any man of good and courteous conduct. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire and above a yeoman; by definition, the ra ...

as a background singer until 2012. Her song ''Good Days'', which she wrote and performed with the American singer Tamika, appears also on the album

Gentleman & The Far East Band Live ''Gentleman & The Far East Band Live'' is the first live album released by the reggae artist Gentleman and The Far East Band. It was recorded during the Cologne session 2003. Track listing Disc 1 - 50:28 # "Intro" - 1:00 # "Fire Ago Bun Dem (Sh ...

. She also contributed to several albums of other artists like Mellow Mark and

Seeed Seeed is a German hip hop, reggae and dancehall band based in Berlin. Founded in 1998, they have become well known in Germany and its neighboring countries. Musical style and lyrics Seeed consists of eleven band members, including three ...

Mamadee sings not exclusively reggae but also

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '':wikt:soul, soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The ea ...

music. In 2005 her first own EP ''Lass los'' was released which contained nine tracks (besides six versions of the title song also ''Give Something'' an exclusively for Mamadee composed song by the Jamaican singer-songwriter Jack Radics, ''Hör nicht auf'' written by Mamadee herself and ''Trust In You'' produced by Gentleman). It was published by the

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed d ...

Bushhouse Records, which was founded by Gentleman and his manager Stephan Schulmeister in 2005. ''Lass los'' reached position 79 in the German charts. She also worked with Seeed and Andrew Tosh as background singer. Together with

she performed "Lass los" at 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 ...

for the German

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * '' Our ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhab ...

where they shared last place in the competition with

Sandy Mölling Sandy Mölling (born 27 April 1981) is a German singer and television personality. She rose to fame as one of the members of the girl group No Angels, which were formed in 2000 on the German television talent show '' Popstars'', becoming one o ...

who competed for the state of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

. In 2013, Mamadee published her first solo album '' Beautiful Soul'' which was recorded in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

and produced by Conrad Glaze, founder and president of the music label ''Born Free Records''.

Film documentation

In 2007, director Sven Halfar produced the documentation ''Yes I Am'' in which the lives of Mamadee, Adé Bantu and D-Flame were portrayed. The film shows the career development of Afro-German musical artists and the problems they have encountered due to their skin color. Mamadee UnCantoPorAfrica 2012

Social engagement

Due to her own experience with discrimination during her teenage years in East Germany Mamadee champions against intolerance and

xenophobia Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...

. She tried to come to terms with her own history in her song ''Farbgesetz'' which was featured in the ''Yes I Am'' documentation and did educational work for youths in schools since she joined in 2000 the non-profit association Sisters e.V. In February 2009 Mamadee finished her studies with a BA degree as certified

social pedagogue Social pedagogy describes a holistic and relationship-centred way of working in care and educational settings with people across the course of their lives. In many countries across Europe (and increasingly beyond), it has a long-standing tradition a ...

.Video interview Mamadee
/ref>

Discography

;Albums *'' Beautiful Soul'' (2013) ;Single *''Who I Am'' (feat. Born Free, Pyton & Hurricane, 2010) *''Africa Is Calling (feat. Ky-Mani Marley, 2011) ;EP *''Lass Los'' (2005) *''Good Days'' (with Tamika, 2007) ;Contributions *''Turtle Bay Country Club: Kein Leichter Weg'' (with the songs "Baby" and "Kein leichter Weg") *''Brothers Keepers: Lightkultur'' (with the Sisters Keepers' song "Liebe & Verstand", 2001) *''Mellow Mark: Sturm'' ("Babies" feat. Mamadee, 2003) *''Gentleman & The Far East Band: Live (CD, DVD)'' (Backgroundsängerin; with the song "Good Days", 2003) *''Seeed: Musik Monks'' ("What You Deserve Is What You Get" & "Double Soul" feat. Mamadee, 2004) *''Gentleman – Diversity Live'' (DVD) (DVD 2: Live concert from the 25th anniversary of Summerjam Festival 2010 with the song "Beautiful Soul", 2011)

References

External links

* *
Mamadee
on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin ...

YouTube channelInterview on ''riddim.de''
(in German)
''Yes I Am'' documentation
{{Authority control German reggae musicians German women singer-songwriters German singer-songwriters Participants in the Bundesvision Song Contest 1979 births Living people German people of Jamaican descent German people of Sierra Leonean descent 21st-century German women singers