Raised in the East German Plattenbau, Ronny Trettmann first amused the Internet in 2006 with his song Der Sommer ist für alle da! and at the same time celebrated his first chart success. The Leipzig musician combined his Jamaican influences with a Saxon accent to create something uniquely comedic. “I was missing people in German reggae who can laugh at themselves,” he noted of his unusual mixture of styles. In 2006, he joined the Germaican Records label. In the reggae scene he now won a loyal fan base, became a perennial favorite of the dancehall magazine RIDDIM, and yet for many years he was granted only a niche success. He released his first tape Kaffee-Mix in the same year, and in 2007 he already performed at the Summerjam festival as well as at Splash. However, Ronny Trettmann soon yearned for more artistic freedom, which is why his own label Heckert Empire saw the light of day a year later. Now on his own two feet, he recorded the album Zwei chlorbleiche Halunken together with producer Ranking Smo in 2010: the record bristled with self-irony when his scene-famous Saxony met the hip-swinging mix of hip-hop, dancehall and breakbeat. The record showed the undeniable evolution of the comedy musician, who also hit the mark on more serious tracks like Kindvater.

From Ronny to Trettmann

He produced his first solo album with the help of crowdfunding, Tanz auf dem Vulkan was released in 2013 and immediately presented a number of notable features such as MC Fitti, Nico K.I.Z and Felix Brummer from Kraftklub. Ronny Trettmann now used Saxon only sporadically and delivered an atmospheric dancehall album that did not remain superficial despite the celebration theme throughout. In addition to the self-deprecating party hits Birnenpfeffi mit Zimt and Party Professionell, the ballads Immer wenn der Regen Fällt and Freitag Abend conveyed a danceable melancholy that made the musician understandable as a multi-dimensional artist: the record made waves in the German reggae scene. In 2016, he dropped the Ronny from his name and now performed only as Trettmann. One of the reasons for this was the emerging Pegida movement, which put Saxony in a different light. “Ronny is a typical Saxon name and occupied with so many clichés. What was still funny at the time has taken a different direction with Pegida,” the artist said. In the same year, he teamed up with the Berlin-based producer collective KitschKrieg and released three EPs on which he approached German hip-hop. And with success. He found favor in the scene with the dreamy trap beats and his autotune voice.

The new consensus in German rap

Trettmann gained even more notoriety after he appeared two times as a feature on RAF Camora and Bonez MC’s successful album Palmen aus Plastik and contributed some lines in his usual melodic manner. In 2017 his album #DIY was released and celebrated all over Germany at once. Again made in collaboration with KitschKrieg, critics and fans agreed that a new Trettmann was born – and he now shaped the entire German music scene with his album. What many call cloud rap catapulted Trettmann to the front of a new wave of German-language music that is now taking over the charts and becoming a new consensus. Still, Trettmann’s #DIY, also released as an exclusive vinyl on the HHV label, is a somber album that tells of near failure. Where he retained the dancehall influence, introspective lyrics were added, reflecting on the past while still going Fast Forward – with Marteria, Bonez MC and RAF Camora on the record, the Leipzig native took over all of Germany. His new album, simply titled Trettmann, continued the era that began in 2017 and provided fans with a follow-up that once again focused on melodic autotune verses with dreamy KitschKrieg beats. With a new album already announced and postponed again, Trettmann is currently keeping us waiting – but the chances are good that another rap milestone will reach us.