Christian Friedrich Johannes Büttner (born 1 June 1979), known professionally as TheFatRat, is a German DJ, record producer and musician. His genre is often described as "
glitch-hop
Glitch is a genre of electronic music that emerged in the 1990s. It is distinguished by the deliberate use of glitch-based audio media and other sonic artifacts.
The glitching sounds featured in glitch tracks usually come from audio recording ...
".
He is best known for his 2016 extended play ''Jackpot'' which reached 23 on the
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
Dance/Electronic Albums chart.
He peaked at 15 on Billboard's Next Big Sound chart in February 2015.
Music career
Büttner began producing music in 2001 under his real name. He began by making background music for television, radio and advertisements and produced music for DJs.
In 2010, Büttner produced the song
Mignon Mignon
"Mignon Mignon" is a 2010 song recorded by virtual singing groundhog René la Taupe. It was the second Single (music), single from the album ''Les Aventures de René la Taupe'' and was released in July 2010. It became a number-one hit in France.
...
for
René la Taupe, which became a number-one single in France. Around that time, he also produced the song "Audubon Ballroom" on
Lupe Fiasco
Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 16, 1982), better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco ( ), is an American rapper, singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his debut album, ''Lupe Fiasco's ...
's album ''
Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1'', which charted at #5 on the
''Billboard'' 200.
In July 2011, he began making solo music under the pseudonym TheFatRat, a nickname given to him in his youth. His career began with the release of his first
EP, ''Do Be Do Be Do''.
By 2016, Büttner's music was used in over 1.5 million YouTube videos.
His single "Unity" was included on the album ''Sounds of Syndication Vol. 1'' curated by
Tom Cassell, one of the most subscribed streamers on
Twitch.
In November 2016, Büttner released his second EP, ''Jackpot'' on the
Universal Music label.
The EP reached #23 on the
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
Dance/Electronic Albums chart.
In December 2016, Büttner started a record label, The Arcadium, in collaboration with
Universal Music.
In June 2017, he released the single "Fly Away" featuring vocalist
Anjulie. In July, he performed at the
Electric Forest Festival. In October 2017, he released the single "Oblivion" featuring vocalist
Lola Blanc.
In March 2018, he released the single "MAYDAY". In July 2018, he released "Warrior Songs", a music pack for the video game ''
Dota 2
''Dota 2'' is a 2013 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game by Valve. The game is a sequel to ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a community-created mod for Blizzard Entertainment's '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.'' ''Dota 2' ...
'', which has been made available in the game as of 13 September 2018, according to Matthew "Cyborgmatt" Bailey, director of operations of
Team Secret.
In December 2018, he posted a video about how YouTube's content ID system is "
broken", as one anonymous user known as Ramjets claimed all the earnings for his song "The Calling" and YouTube refused to settle the dispute. The claim was removed by YouTube later.
In February 2020, ''
Redbull.com'' made a 10-minute documentary about Büttner and his career titled, ''TheFatRat: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Him''. They released this within their article, "TheFatRat: Meet the EDM DJ who's elevated video game music to high art."
On 7 February 2020, Büttner released a
sci-fi music video on YouTube starring himself and Maisy Kay for Büttner's song, "The Storm," which he performed with Kay. The music video was filmed in
Iceland, with
Surtshellir Cave on the first day,
Hekla Mountain on the second day, and
Hjörleifshöfði
Hjörleifshöfði () is a -high inselberg in southern Iceland. It consists of palagonite. The mountain is located on the Mýrdalssandur outwash plain about east of Vík í Mýrdal, and was an island in the Atlantic Ocean.
Name
The name was given ...
on the third and final day. Accompanying the music video is a game for mobile dubbed ''The Storm - Interactive'', where one can play through the story of the video.
Discography
Albums
Extended plays
Singles
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:FatRat
1979 births
Living people
German record producers
German electronic dance music musicians
Musicians from Göttingen
Electronic dance music DJs
Monstercat artists
Spinnin' Records artists
Universal Music Group artists