Fettes Brot () was a German hip hop group that formed in 1992. In August, 2022 they announced to end their career by the end of 2023.
History
Band name
Fettes Brot means fat bread in German. "Fett" is a German slang term for "excellent" and brot is slang for "hash". The band took the name from a fan who called them "Fettes Brot" after an early gig, which was probably meant as a compliment, but the members considered it so bizarre that they took it as the name for their new group. Fettes Brot's longevity has meant that they are sometimes referred to as "Hamburg's hip hop dinosaurs" by the group members.
Success with Nordisch by Nature and Jein
When the group Poets of Peeze disbanded in 1992, its members Dokter Renz (Martin Vandreier) and Tobi Tobsen together with König ("king") Boris (Boris Lauterbach), Schiffmeister (Björn Warns), and Mighty founded Fettes Brot. The Schmidt brothers (Tobi and Mighty) left the newly founded band early on to pursue other projects, and the band released their first album, the EP Mitschnacker, on Yo Mama Records as a trio. Prior to Mitschnacker, the songs "Schwarzbrot – Weißbrot" ("Blackbread – Whitebread") and "Schule der Gewalt" ("School of Violence") appeared on the sampler Endzeit 93, released via the independent record label Wilde Welt Records.
The group's first commercial success first came with the single "Nordisch by Nature" ("Nordic by Nature") and the album from which the single comes. The song begins with the sound of a foghorn and is performed in parts in "Hamburger Platt" (Hamburg Low) north German dialect, a strong Low German accent, and in Danish, which has made the song something of an anthem in Northern Germany. The single remained in the German charts for a full month, but the band was determined not to let this initial commercial success become a one-hit wonder.
The group demonstrated their technical maturity with their first LP Auf einem Auge blöd ("Stupid on one eye", a parody of the phrase Auf einem Auge blind meaning "Blind on one eye"), which boasts versatile and humorous lyrics. The narrated stories and interwoven raps were received very well.
A year later Fettes Brot released their second biggest commercial hit and quasi-anthem "Jein" (a blend of Ja and Nein, meaning both "Yes" and "No"). The main line of the song's chorus asks the question: "Soll ich's wirklich machen oder lass ich's lieber sein?" ("Should I really do it or should I leave it?") and led to a strong fanbase being established in German speaking countries. Further singles included "Außen Top Hits, innen Geschmack" (a play on a popular commercial jingle for the aluminum foil Toppits: "Außen Toppits – innen Geschmack" ("Toppits on the outside – flavor within") where the similar-sounding album title means "Top hits on the outside – taste within") were just as successful.
Rapper Dendemann (then a member of Arme Ritter, meaning "Poor Knights" but also "French toast") had his first introduction to the mainstream in his collaboration track "Wildwechsel", also with Max Herre, Blumentopf, Spax (German) and Der Tobi & das Bo (German), which became representative of these artists. Fettes Brot were at this time very active in other areas: For instance, they created a unique radio transmission called Forellentee for Radio Fritz (German).
Change of direction
After their initial success, the group began to experiment with a softer sound and released the single "Können diese Augen lügen?" ("Could These Eyes Lie?") from the album Fettes Brot lässt grüßen ("Fettes Brot Says Hello"). Many purists voiced criticism as the band explored new paths and no longer focused on a pure hip hop music style. The songs "Viele Wege führen nach Rom" ("Many Roads Lead to Rome") and "Lieblingslied" ("Favourite Song") were successful as a double A-sided single and become an even bigger hit than both previous albums.
With the cooperation of James Last, the trio took a break from songwriting in 1999 and embarked on a creative pause. The break was announced to fans with via the publishing of an anthology of B-sides, remixes, and some exclusive material. Beginner, and Smudo of Die Fantastischen Vier, as well as Der Tobi & Das Bo made personal contributions to this anthology. Furthermore, the widely successful single "Da draußen" ("Out there") was released as a collectors edition in 2000.