Marten Laciny, better known by his stage name Marteria, is a German hip hop artist from Rostock. His stage name is derived from his first name, and also the Latin word ‘materia’ meaning ‘matter’ or ‘substance’. He has met with success in Germany and the single Verstrahlt, featuring Yasha, was included in the console gameFIFA 12. His alternative stage name and alter ego is Marsimoto. Before his music career, he was a football player and male model.
Life
Laciny was born to a teacher and a sailor, and spent his childhood in the district of Lichtenhagen in Rostock. A talented footballer, he played for the youth team of F.C. Hansa Rostock, that he still maintains a close relationship with. He played under Horst Hrubesch up in the U-17 squad of the German national football team. When he was discovered in 1999 during a trip to New York City by a model scout, he got model assignments all over the world. He worked for Diesel and Hugo Boss, among others, after which he discontinued his modeling and went back to Rostock to pursue his rap career. In 2003 he moved to Berlin. There he trained as an actor at a Drama School. He has one son, and now lives in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district.
Music career
At the age of 16, Marteria was a member of the hip-hop group 'Underdog Cru', signed to the label Posin music. At 18, Marteria then signed his first solo contract with Punchline/SPV, and released his debut album. In 2002 he went as part of the Underdog Cru on a European tour with other British and German groups. A year before, in 2001, he performed as part of the Underdog Cru in the largest hip-hop and reggae festival in Europe, Splash!. His debut album, Halloziehnation, was praised by the press, and the scene magazine Juice awarded 4 1/2 of 6 stars. He then released his second albumBase Ventura. These two albums he released on the indie label Magnum12, where he laid the foundations for his current career. In late Autumn 2007 he signed a contract with the music publisher Nesola. In December 2007, under his other pseudonym Marsimoto, he accompanied Jan Delay as tour support. In spring 2008 he signed a label deal with Four Music. He also founded an own label called Green Berlin.
Marsimoto
In addition to his stage name Marteria, he is also known under the pseudonym Marsimoto. Marsimoto originated as a tribute to Quasimoto - the alter ego of rapper Madlib - with an altered high pitched voice. The sound differs considerably from the Marteria sound, as he uses more experimental hip hop, electronic, reggae music and dubstep elements as Marsimoto. This alter ego resulted from a jam session and was later used by Marten Laciny at performances. Due to the positive response, he decided to release albums as Marsimoto. As Marsimoto, he published his solo albums Halloziehnation, Zu zweit allein, Grüner Samt, Ring der Nebelungen and Verde. A common leitmotif of all Marsimoto albums is the exaggerative consumption of Cannabis.
