Freundeskreis was a German-language hip-hop band. The band, originating fro… Read Full Bio ↴Freundeskreis was a German-language hip-hop band. The band, originating from Stuttgart, sees itself as a representative of Conscious Rap. The group is known for its political lyrics advocating for equality and international understanding. Following the highly acclaimed debut album "Quadratur des Kreises" and its hit single "A-N-N-A," the album "Esperanto" was released in 1999, featuring the titular single named after the constructed language Esperanto. The album's name was given with the rationale that hip-hop should be the Esperanto of youth. The subtitle "Amikaro" means "Freundeskreis" in Esperanto. The album's intro text, spoken by Jean Codjo from Benin, is also in Esperanto. Additionally, Max Herre is one of the founders of Kolchose, a musical-political alliance.

Further tracks such as "Mit dir" featuring Joy Denalane or "Tabula Rasa Pt. 2" continued to achieve considerable success, placing the group on the German charts. The group also covered the song "Halt dich an deiner Liebe fest" (to Lee Perry's "Police and Thieves" riddim) by Rio Reiser or Ton Steine Scherben for the soundtrack of the film "23 – Nichts ist so wie es scheint" ("23 - Nothing is as it seems").

FK Allstars is a collaboration of various hip-hop and reggae artists such as Afrob, Brooke Russell, Sékou, Joy Denalane, Wasi, and Gentleman. Although the FK Allstars band has its roots in hip-hop, various music styles like reggae, jazz, soul, or funk are incorporated into their musical composition. The band has often been referred to as one of the best live hip-hop acts in Germany, partly because they departed from the typical hip-hop method of "one microphone and two turntables" and, like Die Fantastischen Vier, performed with live musicians at concerts. Many other hip-hop acts followed this example.

Since 2000, the group has not made any public appearances as its members focused on their solo careers. Max Herre was by far the most publicly active, with his first album "Max Herre" released in 2004. Additionally, he produced albums for his wife, Joy Denalane, and worked at Four Music.

In July 2007, a Best-Of album/DVD was released including two unreleased tracks. For the tenth anniversary in 2007, the group performed at various festivals in the German-speaking region. On September 19, 2007, the band gave their farewell concert at the Gazi Stadium on the Waldau in Stuttgart.

In June 2017, the band reunited and performed again.

Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freundeskreis

Discography
Quadratur des Kreises (1997)
Esperanto (1999)