Martin Wenzel (1 October 1992 – 3 March 2024), known mononymously as Presto, was a German rapper from

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

who was best known for his participation in ''Rap am Mittwoch''.

Early life

Martin Wenzel was born on 1 October 1992 in

Oranienburg Oranienburg () is a town in Brandenburg, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Oberhavel. Geography Oranienburg is on the banks of the River Havel, 35 km north of the centre of Berlin. Division of the town Oranienburg consists of ni ...

Career

At the age of 16, Wenzel tried out as a freestyle rapper in regional hip-hop battles. In 2011 he took part in the battle rap event Rap am Mittwoch for the first time and became the youngest king in Rap am Mittwoch history in the second season. In the years that followed, Presto devoted himself intensively to music and increasingly published free tracks. In 2015, among other things, he reached the quarterfinals of rappers.in's video battle tournament and was also in the final of

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& Chapter ONE's #Raptags Contest. On 10 June 2016, Presto released his first EP entitled Gute Deutsche Rap via RecordJet distribution. The songs Jutetaschenswag, Kein Limit and Allrounder were released as singles and released on the HipHop.de and Rap Am Mittwoch.TV platforms. The recordings were produced by Aside and Scaletta. That same year, Presto played live gigs in Berlin,

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main (river), Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in ...

and

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

. The mixtape Endorphine! was released on 18 August 2017 via IgrooveNext. The songs Don't Do These!, Run! (Aubameyang), comet! and Barrio were released as singles. The production comes from Aside, ZMY Da Beat, Sousa and Vecz. Guests on the mixtape included

Silla Silla (; Old Korean: wikt:徐羅伐#Old Korean, 徐羅伐, Yale romanization of Korean, Yale: Syerapel, Revised Romanization of Korean, RR: ''Seorabeol''; International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) was a Korean kingdom that existed between ...

, Julian Williams, Thomas Glenz, S.I.A.D & Stui Crank. Parallel to the production phase of his own mixtape, Presto was active as a songwriter for the Silla album Blockchef for the first time and also contributed a guest contribution to the single Barrio. The Berliner was also often seen as a support act at Silla's live gigs. Towards the end of the year, together with S.I.A.D and Stui Crank, he released the five-track collab EP Gefährlich Ehrlich, which was produced by ZMY Da Beat. Supreme Hoodie was released as the only single. Presto could be heard as a feature part on the single Bei Dir by Ansen in 2018. In 2020, he released the single Du & Ich together with CJ Stone. In 2023, he appeared as Mart!n.

Death

Wenzel died on the night of 3 March 2024, at the age of 31, having suffered from cancer for almost two years.

Discography

Solo albums

* 2016: ''Gute Deutsche Rap'' (EP) * 2017: ''Endorphine! Mixtape'' (Mixtape)

Collaboration albums

* 2017: ''Gefährlich ehrlich'' (Collaboration EP with S.I.A.D & Stui Crank)

Singles

As lead artist

* 2016: ''Jutebeutelswag'' (EP ''Gute Deutsche Rap'') * 2016: ''Kein Limit'' (EP ''Gute Deutsche Rap'') * 2016: ''Allrounder'' (EP ''Gute Deutsche Rap'') * 2017: ''Mach Doch Nicht Diese!'' (Mixtape ''Endorphine!'') * 2017: ''Lauf! (Aubameyang)'' (Mixtape ''Endorphine!'') * 2017: ''Barrio!'' (feat. Silla & Julian Williams) (Mixtape ''Endorphine!'') * 2017: ''Komet!'' (Mixtape ''Endorphine!'') * 2017: ''Supreme Hoodie'' (feat. S.I.A.D & Stui Crank) (EP ''Gefährlich Ehrlich'') * 2020: ''Du & Ich'' (with CJ Stone)

As featured artist

* 2017: ''Barrio'' (Silla feat. Julian Williams & Presto) * 2018: ''Bei Dir'' (Ansen feat. Presto)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Presto 1992 births 2024 deaths 21st-century German musicians People from Oranienburg German male rappers Deaths from cancer in Germany