Kollegah

Kollegah

Kollegah in 2014
Background information
Birth name Felix Antoine Blume
Born (1984-08-03) August 3, 1984
Friedberg, Hesse, West Germany
Genres Hip-hop, rap
Occupation(s) Rapper
Years active 2003–present
Labels Selfmade Records
Website www.selfmaderecords.de

Felix Antoine Blume (born 3 August 1984), better known as Kollegah is a German rapper. He is also known as "Kollegah der Boss" or the pseudonym "T.O.N.I.". He is signed to the Hip-Hop independent label Selfmade Records. His style and demeanor is heavily based on gangsta rap. Kollegah is known for his punchlines, double time-ability, complex and polysyllabic rhyme structures.

Biography

Kollegah performing in Munich in 2015

Felix Blume's [1] father is of Canadian descent and his mother of German descent. He spent his childhood partially without a father. His nickname Kollegah came from his Algerian stepfather. Kollegah grew up in Simmern.

In 2004 he graduated from the Herzog-Johann-Gymnasium in Simmern with an Abitur.[2]

From December 2004 until May 2005 Kollegah participated in rap battles on the online platform Reimliga Battle Arena (RBA) and won 11 out of 14 evaluated battles.[3][4]

His debut album, Alphagene, was released in 2007 as Selfmade Records' fourth album and reached #51 in the German album charts.

He currently lives in Düsseldorf and studies Jurisprudence at the University of Mainz.[5] To graduate the state examination he has to do a placement but currently he's concentrated on his career as rap artist.

In 2013, he received a Golden record for his collaboration album Jung, brutal, gutaussehend 2 together with Farid Bang. 80,000 copies of the album were sold in the first week after release.[6]

On May 9, 2014, German Rapper Kollegah released his fourth solo album King. It reached gold status in Germany within 24 hours after its release for more than 100,000 units and 160,000 within a week sold and has become the first album of a German artist to peak at number one of the global album charts from Spotify. Also, no other rap-album in Germany ever reached the Gold-status after just 24 hours.[7][8][9]

In December 2015, Zuhältertape Vol. 4 was released on Selfmade Records as Kollegah's first universally-distributed mixtape/concept album. It at No. 1 on the German album charts with first week sales of 115,000 copies.[10][11] It was certified Gold during the opening week.[12]

Controversy

Feud with Aggro Berlin

On 11 March 2009, Chronik 2 was released, an album featuring the Selfmade Records artists. The song "Westdeutschlands Kings" performed by Kollegah, Favorite and Farid Bang, targeted insults at Sido, Fler and Kitty Kat from Aggro Berlin.[13]

On 13 March, a song titled "Früher wart ihr Fans" was released by Fler, Kitty Kat and Godsilla as a reaction. In the song, they accuse Selfmade Records artists of having created the feud for the sole purpose of marketing their album; Kitty Kat also attacks Favorite by referring to the death of his parents, who died in a car accident.

Kollegah responded on 20 March with the song "Fanpost", calling Fler a "fat potato" and claims that he was penetrated with a carrot.[14]

Fler responded with the song "Schrei nach Liebe", the chorus of which is heavily based on Die Ärzte's 1993 hit single "Schrei nach Liebe".[15]

Discography

Main article: Kollegah discography
Studio albums & Collaboration albums
Year Album details Peak chart positions Sales
GER AUT SWI
2007 Alphagene 51 GER: 20,000+[16]
2008 Kollegah
  • Released: August 29, 2008
  • Label: Selfmade Records
  • Formats: CD, digital download
17 48 GER: 20,000+[16]
2011 Bossaura
  • Released: October 14, 2011
  • Label: Selfmade Records
  • Formats: CD, digital download
5 19 14 GER: 40,000+[16]
2014 King
  • Released: May 9, 2014
  • Label: Selfmade Records
  • Formats: CD, digital download
1 1 1 GER: 280,000+[17]
AUT: 7,500+[18]
Year Album details Peak chart positions Sales Notes
GER AUT SWI
2009 Jung, brutal, gutaussehend
(with Farid Bang)
  • Released: 2009
  • Label: Selfmade Records
  • Formats: CD, digital download
30 Put on the Index in June 2012.[19]
2013 Jung, brutal, gutaussehend 2
(with Farid Bang)
  • Released: 2013
  • Label: Selfmade Records
  • Formats: CD, digital download
1 1 1 GER: 150,000+[20]
AUT: 7,500+[21]

Awards and Certifications

Gold-certification in Germany

Platinum-certification in Germany

Gold-certification in Austria

References

  1. "Kollegah - King (09.05.14) - Seite 2070". Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  2. "läuft!". Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  3. "RBA V4 - 0.03". Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  4. Niko Hüls: Die Akte Kollegah. in: Backspin Hip Hop Magazin. November 2007 (Interview mit Kollegah, Backspin 90; p. 40–42).
  5. "HHNOISE - Ausgabe 14 // August/September 2011". Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  6. Kollegah - Big Boss (Official Video). 4 August 2008. Retrieved 8 January 2016 via YouTube.
  7. http://www.rap.de/news/40-news/17481-fler-gratuliert-kollegah-zum-gold-rekord
  8. Musikmarkt GmbH & Co. KG. "Spotify: Kollegah erzielt Streaming-Rekord". Musikmarkt. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  9. http://www.gfk-entertainment.com/koeniglicher-rekord-grandiose-verkaufswoche-fuer-kollegah.html
  10. "Home - Offizielle Deutsche Charts". Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  11. "Kollegah erobert die Charts - 1LIVE". Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  12. Musikmarkt GmbH & Co. KG. "Kollegah vergoldet "Zuhältertape Vol. 4", Selfmade feiert achte Eins". Musikmarkt. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  13. 12.03.2009: Aggro Diss: "Westdeutschlands Kings" – News (Downloads, Beef). Bassdraft (2008-12-31). Retrieved on 2011-10-24.
  14. 20.03.2009: Kollegah: "Fanpost" (Fler Diss) – News (Downloads, Beef). Bassdraft (2009-03-20). Retrieved on 2011-10-24.
  15. 23.03.2009: Fler: "Schrei nach Liebe" (Kollegah Diss) – News (Beef). Bassdraft (2009-03-23). Retrieved on 2011-10-24.
  16. 1 2 3 http://hiphop.de/magazin/news/selfmade-records-verraten-gesamtverkaufszahlen-labelgeschichte-285250#.VnGxfVKbKVF
  17. http://hiphop.de/magazin/news/next-level-bekommt-kollegah-bald-dreifach-gold-286439#.VnGkplKbKVE
  18. http://www.ifpi.at/?section=goldplatin
  19. Meinrap.de. "„Jung, brutal, gutaussehend“ auf dem Index" (in German). Retrieved 2012-06-17.
  20. http://hiphop.de/magazin/news/selfmade-records-verraten-gesamtverkaufszahlen-labelgeschichte-285250
  21. http://www.ifpi.at/?section=goldplatin
  22. Juice, Edition 03/2008, p. 28
  23. Juice, Edition 03/2009, p. 28
  24. 1 2 "Deutscher Webvideo-Preis vergeben". Süddeutsche.de. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  25. 1 2 "Bundesverband Musikindustrie: Gold-/Platin-Datenbank". Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  26. "IFPI Austria - Verband der österreichischen Musikwirtschaft". Retrieved 8 January 2016.

External links

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