Samy Sorge (; born 19 December 1977), commonly known as Samy Deluxe, 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 ...

and record producer from

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 ...

Early life

Samy was two years old when his Sudanese father left Germany. Samy grew up with his mother's family. His half-sister was born shortly after his father left. The family lived in

Barmbek Barmbek (), until 27 September 1946 ''Barmbeck'', is the name of a former village that was absorbed into the city of Hamburg, Germany. In 1951 it was divided into the quarters ''Barmbek-Süd'', ''Barmbek-Nord'' and ''Dulsberg'' in the borough ''Ha ...

for many years, then moved to Eppendorf, a better-off part of Hamburg. His family was able to make the move upon the recommendation of a family friend after his mother remarried. He attended the Wolfgang-Borchert-Schule and attained the ''

Realschulabschluss The Mittlere Reife (, lit. ''"Middle Maturity"'') is a School leaving qualification, school-leaving certificate in Germany that is usually awarded after ten years of schooling. It is roughly comparable with the British GCSE. The official name v ...

'', or certificate of general education similar to a British GCSE. He cites his upbringing in a middle-class neighbourhood as part of his inspiration. He says he felt out of place: "At (one) point I would stand out in front of my own house and people who lived here before me would ask, 'Can I help you?. Additionally, he cites American rappers as his inspiration rather than their German counterparts. Samy recalls that his interest in rap music began as early as 1988.

Music career

In 2001, Samy Deluxe released his self-titled debut album, which ranked No. 2 in the German Album Charts for the 19th calendar week of 2001. The first single from the album, "Hab' gehört...", ranked No. 26. However, the second single, " Love", failed to enter the charts. The final single, "Weck mich auf", peaked at No. 4 in Germany, becoming a national hit and the album's most successful single. Following the success of his solo debut, Samy Deluxe became a highly acclaimed

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- ...

artist in German rap and internationally. In 2003, Samy Deluxe founded the rap duo ASD with fellow rapper Afrob. They released their debut ''Wer hätte das gedacht''. The lead single from the album, "Sneak Preview", ranked successfully on the German charts. Most of the beats on this album came from American producers, including

J Dilla James Dewitt Yancey (February 7, 1974 – February 10, 2006), better known by the stage names J Dilla and Jay Dee, was an American record producer, composer and rapper. He emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip hop scene in Detroit, Michiga ...

, Diamond D and Waajeed. In August 2004, Samy Deluxe released his second solo album, ''Verdammtnochma!''. The album peaked at No. 2 on the German album-charts shortly thereafter and stayed for three weeks in the Top 10. In the same year, he was featured on the German remix of " Dip It Low" by American singer

Christina Milian Christina Milian ( , Flores; born September 26, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Following a number of minor television and film roles in the late nineties, Milian made her recording debut on American rapper Ja Rule's 20 ...

, which was a commercial success. In 2005, Samy Deluxe represented

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 "Generation", placing ninth with 44 points. In April 2016, Samy Deluxe released his sixth solo album, ''Berühmte letzte Worte'' (''Famous last words''). The album peaked at No. 4 on the German album-charts. In the same month, he joined Xavier Naidoo to perform one of the new tracks, ''Haus am Mehr'' (''House by the ocean'', but written as wordplay for "more" instead of "Meer"), in the TV show ''Sing meinen Song'' (''Sing my song''). Features on the album came from

Nena Gabriele Susanne Kerner (born 24 March 1960), better known by her stage name Nena, is a German singer who rose to international fame in 1983 as the lead vocalist of the band Nena (band), Nena with the Neue Deutsche Welle song "99 Luftballons". I ...

, Afrob, Max Herre and many others. In May 2019, Samy Deluxe appeared on MTV unplugged with

Max Raabe Max Raabe (born Matthias Otto, 12 December 1962) is a German jazz singer. He is best known as the founder and leader of the Palast Orchester. Career Raabe developed an interest in the sound of German dance and film music of the 1920s and 193 ...

Business ventures

In 2006, Samy Deluxe, in collaboration with Reebok, designed sneakers and a cap with New Era Cap Company. On the cover of his mixtape ''Deluxe von Kopf bis Fuß'', he wore clothes, especially designed for him. In 2007 followed two more sneakers, so that four Reebok sneakers were developed for the ''Samy Deluxe'' series.

Discography

Studio albums

* 2001: '' Samy Deluxe'' * 2004: ''Verdammtnochma!'' * 2009: '' Dis wo ich herkomm'' * 2011: ''SchwarzWeiss'' * 2012: ''Verschwörungstheorien mit schönen Melodien'' (as Herr Sorge) * 2014: ''Männlich'' * 2016: ''Berühmte letzte Worte'' * 2017: ''Deluxe Edition'' (EP) * 2019: ''Hochkultur''

Live albums

* 2018: ''SaMTV Unplugged''

Collaboration

* 2000: ''Deluxe Soundsystem'' (with Dynamite Deluxe) * 2003: ''Wer hätte das Gedacht?'' (with Afrob) * 2008: ''TNT'' (with Dynamite Deluxe) * 2015: ''Blockbasta'' (with Afrob)

Awards

* 2001: Comet in the category Hip Hop National * 2001: MTV Europe Music Award as best German artist * 2001: Bravo Otto in Gold in the category HipHop National * 2002:

Gold 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 the album ''Samy Deluxe'' * 2002:

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 ...

in the category

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. Hi ...

/ R&B National * 2004: Bravo Otto in Bronze in the category HipHop National * 2005: Bravo Otto in Bronze in the category HipHop National * 2006: Hip Hop.de Award in the category best Mixtape for ''Big Baus of the Nauf'' * 2007: Jam FM Rapublik Award Platz 1 in the category best

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. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

Literary works

*''Dis wo ich herkomm: Deutschland Deluxe'', published by Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag, June 2009

References

External links

Official website

English interview with Deutsche Welle TV (2010)Online music player Lastfm.deOnline music magazine Laut.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deluxe, Samy 1977 births Living people MTV Europe Music Award winners German male rappers Hamburg hip-hop Musicians from Hamburg German people of Sudanese descent German autobiographers German male non-fiction writers