Freundeskreis

Freundeskreis (Circle of friends) also known as FK, was a German hip hop group from Stuttgart, whose songs were in German and also in English, French and Esperanto. The members were Max Herre, Don Philippe and DJ Friction.

It was a socially conscious German rap group. The group released three top twenty albums.^[1] To rap in several languages is actually quite common in German hip hop. One of the early rap albums, Krauts with Attitude, had only three songs in German, with eleven in English and one in French.^[2]

History

Freundeskreis

Freundeskreis was primarily known for their political lyrics, in which they advocate equality and international understanding. After the much-noticed first album, Quadratur des Kreises (Squaring the Circle), and its hit single "A-N-N-A" which peaked at #6 in the German charts, the band released its second album, Esperanto, named after the constructed language Esperanto. The reasoning for the name was that the group wished to show that they believe that hip hop should be the Esperanto of youth.^[3]

In 1999 and 2000, the band was back in the charts with singles like "Mit Dir" (With you; featuring Joy Denalane, who later become Herre's wife) and "Tabula Rasa Pt. II". For the soundtrack of the film 23, Freundeskreis covered the song "Halt dich an deiner Liebe fest" (Hold on to your love) written by Rio Reiser, voicing it on Lee "Scratch" Perry's police & thieves riddim. Freundeskreis was one of the first bands to take part in the Kolchose, a group of hip hop artists from Stuttgart.

In 2001, the band took a break for the members to purse solo careers, the most active being Herre, who has released a solo album and works as producer for his wife.

A Freundeskreis greatest hits album was released in July 2007 under the title FK10. After announcing their breakup in summer 2007, Freundeskreis gave their last concert in Stuttgart on September 19, 2007.

Conscious lyrics

Freundeskreis have been considered conscious hip-hop artists as their lyrics had educational themes. The song "Leg Dein Ohr Auf Die Schiene Der Geschichte" (lay your ear on the tracks of history) asks listeners to look beyond what they were taught in a history lessons and learn the real lessons that history teaches.

Excerpts from "Leg Dein Ohr Auf Die Schiene Der Geschichte"^[4]"

viele Menschen schrecken zurück wenn sie "Geschichte" hör'n

Geschichte...

vier langweilige Stunden pro Woche in der Schule

(...)

neunzehnhundertdreiundsiebzig Geburtsjahr wichtig für mich

als auch geschichtlich denn da wurd' klar dass die C.I.A. 'ne Hure war

Rough translation:

many people step away when they hear "history"

History...

Four boring lessons in school a week

(...)

1973, birth year, important for me,

as well as historically, because then it became clear that the CIA was a whore

The rest of the song takes into account other historical events important to his year of birth, as well as other events throughout his childhood which are often overlooked. The chorus implores,

you're just a part of it so get to the heart of it

'cause if you don't go you won't know

you're just a part of it get to the heart of it

'cause if you don't go you never ever never ever gonna know

FK Allstars

FK Allstars was a collaboration of several hip hop, soul, and reggae artists, including Max Herre, Sekou Neblett, Afrob, Brooke Russell, Joy Denalane and Gentleman. Despite the FK Allstars band having its roots in hip hop, there are elements of reggae, soul, funk and jazz blended in.

Discography

Albums

Singles

See also

• German hip hop
• Esperanto music
• Ich Zwerg

References

External links

• Four Music label (German)
• Freundeskreis homepage (German)