Kollegah


Felix Blume, known professionally as Kollegah is a German rapper. Born in Friedberg, Hesse and raised by a single mother in Simmern, he started rapping in the Reimliga Battle Arena in December 2004. Intent on pursuing a solo career as a rapper, Kollegah released his first mixtape Zuhältertape in July 2005 and was signed to Selfmade Records in December of the same year. He went on to pursue a variety of styles on subsequent albums Alphagene, Kollegah, Bossaura. His fourth studio album King was released in 2014 and became his best-selling album to date. His fifth album, Zuhältertape Vol. 4 was released in 2015, Imperator in 2016 and Monument in 2018. Kollegah released four collaborative studio albums with German rapper Farid Bang, the Jung brutal gutaussehend tetralogy between 2009 and 2018.

Biography

1984–2005: Early life, ''Reimliga Battle Arena'', ''Zuhältertape'' and ''Alphagene''

Felix Blume was born on 3 August 1984 in Friedberg, Hesse, to a Canadian father and a German mother. His parents divorced during his childhood. After the divorce, he moved with his mother to Simmern in Rhineland-Palatinate. He attended the Herzog-Johann-Gymnasium, where he passed his Abitur exam in 2005. Through his Algerian stepfather he converted to Islam. From December 2004 until May 2005 Kollegah participated in rap battles hosted on online platform Reimliga Battle Arena and won 11 out of 14 evaluated battles.
Blume released his first Mixtape, the Zuhältertape for free on 20 July 2005 on his website. The 14 track long project was downloaded—according to Blume—over 5000 times in one month. The project was re-released in December 2005 through Selfmade Records. In July 2006 Blume published his second Mixtape Boss der Bosse. He was criticised for his live performance during the Splash! in 2006. Blume's first studio album Alphagene was set to release in September 2007, but was postponed to November, after he was found with cocaine and amphetamine in Bad Kreuznach. Alphagene became Kollegahs first project to enter the German charts on 30 November 2007. The album debuted on number 51 and left the charts next week. According to Selfmade Records, the album was sold over 20,000 times.

2008–2010: ''Kollegah'', ''Chronik 2'', ''Zuhältertape Volume 3'', ''Jung, brutal, gutaussehend'' and 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. In 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 because of a fire while camping. Kollegah responded on 20 March with the song "Fanpost", calling Fler a "fat potato" and claims that he was penetrated with a carrot. 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".
On August 28, 2009 Blume released his second studio album Kollegah, which peaked at 17 in Germany, 48 in Switzerland and sold over 20,000 copies. In April 2009 Selfmade Records released their second label sampler with Kollegah, Favourite, Casper and Shiml. Three months later Blume released his first collaborative album with Farid Bang, called Jung, brutal, gutaussehend. In December Blume released the third part of his Zuhältertape-Series. A year later Selfmade released the a limited Box-Set with all three Zuhältertape's and the Hoodtape Volume 1.

2016–2017: ''Imperator'' and ''Legacy''

In March 2016 Blume founded his own label Alpha Music Empire. The first signing was the rapper Seyed. His debut studio album Engel mit der AK peaked on number three of the German album charts. On September 2, 2016 he announced his sixth studio album and first under his own label Imperator, which was released on December 9, 2016. Imperator peaked at number one of the German, Austrian and Swiss album charts. It also became his third solo album to receive a gold certificate. On 10 March 2017, Kollegah announced his first Best-Of Legacy and the "Kollegah Gold-Award", a compilation of all his albums released under Selfmade Records between 2005 and 2015. Legacy was supported by two singles; "Legacy" and "Millennium". Legacy was released on 14 July 2017 and peaked in the top 15 of German-speaking Europe.

2017–present: ''JBG 3'' and ''Platin war gestern''

Kollegah and Farid Bang regularly teased Jung Brutal Gutaussehend 3 between March 2016 and 2017. The album was officially announced on 8 September 2017. "Sturmmaske auf ", the first single of the album was announced on 21 September 2017 and released a week later. The single became an immediate success for them, becoming their first and only single to reach the pole position of the German singlecharts. Two more singles have been released; "Gamechanger" and "Ave Maria", both of them entered the charts on high positions. Following the release of the album in December 2017, it broke multiple records in Germany, including the fastest album to be certified gold in Germany and the most streamed project in a week on Spotify by a German artist.
During their live performance of "All Eyez on us", they announced a reissue of Jung, brutal, gutaussehend 3 with the title Jung, brutal, gutaussehend 3: Platin war gestern. The record was planned to include two eps—Älter Brutaler Skrupelloser EP and Nafri Trap EP, Vol. 1. The album was scheduled for release in June but was postponed to 10 August 2018, following the duos desire to expand the Älter Brutaler Skrupelloser EP to a full album. Nafri Trap EP, Vol. 1 was released on 29 June 2018 as an apology to their fans. Platin war gestern was supported by three singles: "All Eyez on us", "Mitternacht 2", and "In die Unendlichkeit". The project became their third collaborative studio album to debut on the pole positions of the German, Austrian and Swiss albumcharts.
Blume announced his seventh studio album, Monument in October and simultaneously announced an indefinite hiatus from music.

Controversies

Antisemitism and conspiracy theories

On his third mixtape Zuhältertape Volume 3, Blume used the line "Endlösung der Rapperfrage", directly referring to the Final Solution during the Holocaust. Gerhard Strate called it mocking of Holocaust victims. His fourth studio album Zuhältertape Vol. 4 contained statements like "Nutte, Zeit, dass du Putzlappen befeuchtest / Ich bring Schusswaffengeräusche wie die Schutzstaffel der Deutschen" or "Kid, es ist der Boss, der für ’ne Modezeitschrift Posen einnimmt wie die Wehrmacht, die in Polen einschritt".
In 2016 Blume released the song "Apokalypse", in which he depicts human history as being the good against the bad. The final battle is set in East Jerusalem. The devil is sitting in a skyscraper and the climax of the video is a book burning. After the world is freed from the evil, Blume says that "Buddhist, Muslims and Christians will rebuild the world peacefully", without Jews.
In November 2016 Blume released the documentation Kollegah an Palästina on his YouTube Channel . He traveled through the Palestinian territories, visited the West Bank barrier, the refugee camp Am'ari and supported a school. The documentation started a controversy in the German rap-scene.
In 2018, Kollegah and Farid Bang were criticized for making Holocaust references on their album Jung, Brutal, Gutaussehend. They received the coveted German ECHO award for this album, and in reaction to this, several artists gave their ECHOs back.

Other ventures

Fitness and fashion

In February 2014 Blume launched his own Fitness-Program named Bosstransformation. Two years later he launched the Bosstransformation 2, an updated version. In November 2015, Blume launched his own clothing line Deus Maximus. A year before his first Brand "Copayn" flopped. With his new Brand "Deus Maximus" he has a cooperation with Def Shop, one of the biggest german online shops.

Personal life

Blume was studying law at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz for some years.

Religious beliefs

At the age of 15, Blume came in contact with Islam through his Algerian stepfather. He converted to the religion in the same year.

Legal issues

During a concert of his "Imperator"-Tour in Leipzig there was a violent incident onstage. As is often the case with rap concerts, a rap battle between two spectators should be performed on the stage. One of the participants tried to grab Blume's sunglasses. As a result, Blume shoved the man, kicked him and punched him in the face. A few hours later videos of the attack were uploaded to YouTube and Facebook. An uninvolved person reported Blume to the police.

Discography

Five of Kollegahs projects have gone at least gold in Germany and six of them reached the pole position of the German albumcharts.