Alphagene
| Alphagene | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album from Kollegah | ||||
 |
||||
|
Publication |
November 16, 2007 |
|||
| Label (s) | Self-made records | |||
|
Format (s) |
CD |
|||
|
Title (number) |
20th |
|||
|
running time |
71:57 |
|||
|
Slick One ( exec .), Rizbo, Jimmy Ledrac, Vizir and others |
||||
|
||||
Alphagene is the rapper Kollegah's first solo album . It was released on November 16, 2007 on the independent label Selfmade Records and was largely produced by hip-hop musician Rizbo . Alphagene is the first sound carrier with which Kollegah was able to enter the German album charts.
Emergence
After Kollegah's "street album" Boss der Bosse was released in June 2006 , the rapper began work on his first solo album. This lasted a total of nine months. Kollegah worked intensively on Alphagene for six months, during which he had little contact with his family and friends . While the rapper used to write his lyrics in advance and then adapt them to the beats, he wrote the lyrics for the pieces on Alphagene on beats in order to better adapt the flow . In an interview, Kollegah stated that he had thought about song structures for his debut album for the first time and that every song was "polished down to the last detail".
The album was originally supposed to be released in September 2007, but was postponed to November 16 due to criminal proceedings against Kollegah. The reason for the trial was that the rapper was caught with cocaine and amphetamines during an ID check at a train station in early 2007 . Due to the manageable amount, the drugs were rated as personal use. Kollegah was sentenced to a fine and 300 community hours. As a result, the rapper did not have time to work on his album.
Kollegah describes Alphagene as "the best album in German rap history". In an interview, the hip-hop musician stated that he wanted to become the most successful rapper in the long term. Through his statements and attitudes towards his own work, the rapper polarizes the hip-hop scene and is often criticized as arrogant.
“ With“ Alphagene ” I am finally giving the people good German rap music in connection with an attitude towards life. On the album, I exemplify the sublime, wicked Kollegah lifestyle for them and thus offer especially young people with no perspective something to hold onto and to orientate themselves on. May they walk through life with more self-confidence and coolness, in order to be more successful in all areas of daily life. So it's not just about music, no, it's about a new attitude towards life. "
Track list
| # | title | Guest musician | producer | length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Intro | Rizbo | 2:31 | |
| 2 | Veni, Vidi, Vici | SixJune | 2:25 | |
| 3 | Alphagene | YES W | 3:23 | |
| 4th | Showtime III | Rizbo | 4:34 | |
| 5 | 24/7 | Sahin | YES W | 3:55 |
| 6th | Look at the gold chain 2007 | Rizbo | 3:51 | |
| 7th | Final level | YourLtan | Rizbo | 4:34 |
| 8th | Dealer (prelude) | YES W | 0:59 | |
| 9 | From dealer to star | Rizbo & Kollegah | 3:51 | |
| 10 | Star (afterlude) | Vizir | 2:29 | |
| 11 | The boss is full of gold | Rizbo | 4:06 | |
| 12 | They hate us | Toony | Rizbo | 3:52 |
| 13 | All i have | Rizbo | 3:47 | |
| 14th | Self-made final bosses | Favorite | Nace & Shalla | 4:28 |
| 15th | Macho style | Bass Sultan Hengzt | YES W | 3:57 |
| 16 | Legends | KIZ | Rizbo | 3:41 |
| 17th | The lone fighter | Vizir | 3:13 | |
| 18th | A boy doesn't cry here | Slick One & Tarek KIZ | Rizbo | 4:25 |
| 19th | Poker face king | Jimmy Ledrac | 4:15 | |
| 20th | Outro | YES W | 3:46 |
production
Six producers were involved in the production of Alphagene . The main producer of the album is Rizbo, who works as an "in-house producer" at Selfmade Records . He produced the pieces of music Intro , Showtime III , Kuck auf die Goldkette 2007 , Endlevel , From dealer to star , The boss is full of gold , They hate us , Everything I have , Legends and A boy doesn't cry here . Five songs on the album were produced by hip-hop musician JAW . His beats can be assigned to the pieces Alphagene , 24/7 , Dealer (Prelude) , Macho man style and Outro . Six June produced the song Veni, Vidi, Vici and Nace & Shalla the favorite featurenden piece of music Selfmade Endbosse . Two songs were produced by Vizir. His productions can be heard on the pieces Star (Afterlude) and The Individual Fighter . The song Pokerfacekönig was produced by the Swedish producer Jimmy Ledrac.
Guest Posts
The album contains guest contributions, so-called features , by a total of ten artists. The Berlin rap quartet DeineLtan is represented in the song Endlevel . Kollegah was featured on their album Kopf Schuss in 2006 . Kollegah's label colleague Favorite recorded the piece Selfmade Endbosse with the rapper . As another member of Selfmade Records , Slick One, who is the founder of the label, appears on the song A Boy Doesn't Cry Here . Furthermore, the song Legenden was created with the Berlin rap formation KIZ . KIZ member Tarek also sings the chorus of the piece A boy doesn't cry here . Kollegah met the group at the beginning of 2007 at the joint ! DonnerwetteR! -Tour know. The collaboration with the rapper Bass Sultan Hengzt only succeeded shortly before the release. Due to the uncertainty about the appearance of the common song on the album, the track Macho Man Style was temporarily removed from the track list. Toony, who appears in the song You Hate Us , is a friend of Kollegah. The piece that they had already recorded for a long time was so well received by the people around Kollegah that they decided to put it on the album. In an interview with label colleague Shiml , Kollegah said: " I didn't want too many features, and since we just released the label sampler Chronik 1 and Shiml was featured on my last mixtape, we decided to not to make a feature on my album. In addition, Shiml is currently in the process of recording his next album and is therefore very limited in terms of time. In the future there will be more Shiml features, that's for sure. "
illustration
On the cover , Kollegah sits on a throne against a black background . He holds a pistol in his right hand and cocaine in his left hand . The back of the throne is shaped like a maple leaf . The rapper also uses this in his logo, alluding to his Canadian roots. The booklet is equipped with hot foil stamping and contains all the solo song texts of the album on eight pages.
marketing
For marketing purposes, the song Veni, Vidi, Vici from the album was released for free download from the Internet on October 14th . On November 11th followed the pieces Outro , as well as a remix of the song Legenden . These two songs can be heard in full on Kollegah's official Myspace page.
The first video was made for the song Kuck auf die Goldkette 2007 . The film was shot in the Indira Saunaclub in Leverkusen , in the Poker Kartell in Düsseldorf and in a car dealership . The actor Mirco Reseg and Kollegah's label colleague Favorite have guest appearances in the video. On October 23, 2007, the video was eligible for the MTV show Urban TRL and was able to reach number 1 on the TRL Most Wanted charts several times in the following weeks . The second video for the song A boy does not cry here with Slick One and Tarek by KIZ was released on December 14, 2007. It was shot in a district in Cologne - Bocklemünd .
reception
controversy
Due to the text passage “… the situation is hopeless, like Kosovo- Albania…” in the song Outro , Kollegah received numerous emails from Albanian citizens who felt offended by this comparison. In an official statement, he explained how the comparison should be understood.
"[...] With the comparison" hopeless situation like Kosovo Albania "I only draw attention to the grievances down there. This poor region has been ravaged by wars and today is characterized by high unemployment, corruption, violence and crime. The future status of Kosovo, currently administered by the UN, is uncertain. For the majority of the people living there, the situation seems hopeless. So I used Kosovo as a comparison, as a region in a hopeless situation. The line is therefore in no way to be understood as an insult to Albanians [...] "
success
Kollegah's debut album entered the German album charts straight away. In the 49th calendar week of 2007, Alphagene rose to number 51 on the list of the 100 best-selling albums of the week. In the following week it was no longer placed. Alphagene sold a total of more than 20,000 times.
criticism
| Professional reviews | |
|---|---|
| Reviews | |
| source | rating |
| Juice |
 
|
| Backspin |
|
| Laut.de |
|
| 16bars.de |
|
The ratings for Alphagene were consistently positive. The website Laut.de gave the album five rating points. This is the highest rating possible in the site's rating system. In the review written by Philipp Gässlein it was emphasized that the album is atmospherically rounded, that Kollegah offers a great variety of flows and that the rapper's technique sets “new standards in German rap”.
“ The word games are shot like Hollywood films, more intelligent, more playful than the backpack legends from Hamburg and Munich ever managed. Kollegah is not just funny, he is witty, and his punchline density takes my breath away. Every track, no matter how annoying the hook, no matter how unbearably lost the beat in beat-backed Eurodance fields, deserves to be played until you vomit. And time after time he reveals more lyrical finesse. Unbelievable metaphors follow one another in rapid succession and force the listener to be constantly focused. Yes, I am as excited as exorcism patients. "
In contrast to Gässlein, the authors of the page 16bars.de are of the opinion that the "sound image [is] convincing and predominantly captivates with atmospheric and imaginative beats". Due to the intelligent word games and Kollegah's talent for "accentuated double-timepassages", Alphagene received five out of a possible six evaluation points on the website:
" With" Alphagene "Kollegah produced one of the best German rap albums of the year, which lives up to expectations in all respects. The "Boss" is technically and lyrically at the highest level and impresses on the album with an almost inexhaustible amount of entertaining and funny punchlines, which ensure that Alphagene never runs the risk of boring the listener. Rather, you are always well entertained and still make new discoveries even after listening to it several times. "
The hip-hop magazine Juice rated Alphagene with four out of a possible six "crowns" and attested the rapper an "above-average feeling for language and its presentation":
“ Only the sometimes a bit sterile beats as well as some completely screwed up singing hooks cloud the overall picture considerably and leave room for further development. Otherwise, Alphagene is a worthy debut from an extremely talented rapper who sums up the rapid development of the last three years in a sovereign and entertaining manner. Good job. "
credentials
- ^ November issue of Juice. 2007, p. 89.
- ↑ Laut.de: Kollegah: Drug trafficking spoils release date
- ^ November issue of Juice. 2007, p. 88.
- ↑ Kollegah in an interview - "Alphagene" ( Memento of the original from January 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Kollegah - Alphagene Snippet + Finale Tracklist and Video ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Kollegah Interview ( memento of the original from June 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on aightgenossen.ch
- ↑ Making of "Kuck auf die Goldkette 2007" ( Memento of the original from December 22, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at MTV Overdrive
- ↑ Chart tracking on Musicline ( Memento of the original from January 8, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Alphagene - Impala Silver (20,000)
- ↑ a b December issue of Juice. 2007, p. 98.
- ^ Backspin issue 91, December 2007 / January 2008, p. 117
- ↑ a b review on Laut.de
- ↑ a b 16bars.de: Review: Kollegah - Alphagene
