Jan Delay HHV Records 13 Items

From Hamburg into the charts

Jan Delay started his musical career with his Hamburg rap crew Absolute Beginner, who bursts onto the scene in 1996 with their first album Flashnizm. Two years later, the trio achieves its breakthrough and sets a German rap milestone with the second vinyl Bambule, with which the three create the stylistic foundation for a whole new generation of rappers. Tracks like Füchse or Hammerhart are now oft-cited Deutschrap classics, and although Absolute Beginner are no longer at the forefront of the genre today, their influence is undeniable. “Everyone you know knows one of my lines” raps Jan Delay on Ahnma, and that might actually be true. His signature nasal voice and casually sung hooks can already be heard on early releases, and the crew’s playful approach is reflected in the experimental nature of his upcoming projects. Together with producer Tropf, he records his first tape under the name La Boom in 1998 and distributes it through the recently self-founded Eimsbush label. The indie company gives him and his friends from the Hamburg scene a platform, but has to declare insolvency just six years later.

Social criticism and skilful coolness

His first hit, a casual cover version of Nena’s Irgendwie, Irgendwo, Irgendwann, launches his solo career in 1999. Jan Delay’s first album, Searching for the Jan Soul Rebels, comes along in reggae garb and bristles with social criticism. The musician likes to question the status quo in passing, and with his first single, Ich möchte nicht, dass ihr meine Lieder singt (I don’t want you to sing my songs), he defends himself against a mainstream audience and small-minded people. The mixture of skilful coolness and time-critical lyrics gives him a unique charm, and anyway he only appears with sunglasses. “And the sunglasses, they’re on, baby / They’re the last vestige of privacy,” he raps later. With his crew, now just called Beginner, he disappears into the studio once again in 2003 and returns to the German rap scene with the successful album Blast Action Heroes – politically and musically savvy, the trio delivers a worthy successor to the debut classic, selling more records than ever before. However, Jan Delay has no desire for rap or reggae on his next solo vinyl, instead Mercedes Dance reaches number one in the charts with a mixture of funk, soul and a large portion of coolness. Supported by his band Disko No. 1, it also sounds so groovy live that the Hamburg native releases the record again as a stage version.

From suit jacket to leather jacket

The energetic shows earn him second place in the 2007 Bundesvision Song Contest, and his vinyl Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Soul takes him back to number one in the charts in 2009. The single Oh Jonny eventually becomes a national earworm and one of his best-selling tracks. At some point, enough is enough with funk, and Jan Delay has a taste for rock’n’roll, changes his outfit from a suit jacket to a leather jacket, and in 2014, with Hammer and Michel, makes a real splash in the rock scene. But that hardly bothers the polarizing performer, and two years later he sits down with the Beginners again to record the long-awaited comeback album Advanced Chemistry. The record forms a tribute to the ’90s, and with Ahnma, the group teams up with Gzuz to create their most successful track to date. With his solo single EULE, Jan Delay now goes more in the direction of pop and heralds his new album with the punning title Earth, Wind & Feiern in 2021. The record is a colorful mixture of everything that has made the Hamburg native so far and what he does best. In doing so, he sees his task quite clearly: "I want to make everyone dance to awesome music. Then I feel good, because I think this lightheartedness would make better people out of many.“