Donnerwetter (album)
| ! Thunderstorm! | ||||
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| Studio album by Prinz Pi | ||||
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Publication |
September 22, 2006 |
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| Label (s) | No peanuts | |||
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Title (number) |
59 |
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running time |
01:58:50 |
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Studio (s) |
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Donnerwetter (own spelling :! DonnerwetteR! ) Is the sixth solo album by Berlin rapper Prinz Pi and his first to make it into the German charts. It was released on September 22nd, 2006 on their own label No Peanuts in two different CD editions and a vinyl version and was produced almost exclusively by hip-hop musician Biztram .
Emergence
The work on the album Donnerwetter took a total of one and a half years. During this time, the concept album The Lord of Things , which is the second CD of the double album, and between 40 and 50 regular songs were recorded. However, some of these pieces of music were discarded because they partially overlapped thematically with other songs. In the end, 22 songs made it onto the album. According to Prinz Pi, both the way it works and the result stand out from the rapper's previous publications. In an interview with MZEE , for example, he said that the time it took to design and create the pieces was more time-consuming than producing his mixtapes. This is " in! Thunder! [ ... ] as much energy flowed into it as in all [ his ] last four releases combined. "
The album release had to be postponed first because a hard drive with the vocal recordings snapped up by Prinz Pi was damaged. The recordings had to be repeated in the studio. Prinz Pi and Biztram then deliberately delayed the publication a little longer in order to achieve a result that would meet their requirements.
Versions
Donnerwetter appeared in a total of three versions. The standard version consists of two CDs. The first CD contains 22 pieces, the second disc consists of the fantasy story The Lord of Things . A premium edition was published parallel to the standard edition. In addition to the two CDs of the regular version, this offers a third CD on which seven other songs and video material can be found. Also appeared ! Donnerwetter! in a vinyl version. This consists of the titles of the first CD, the seven songs of the premium edition as well as the pieces of music Russendisko , Gute Karten and Unbearable Ease , which had previously appeared as bonus songs on the single for the piece Instinct .
Track list
| CD 1 -! Donnerwetter! | CD 2 - The Lord of Things | CD 3 - Bonus CD [a] |
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[a] ^ The bonus CD is only included in the limited premium version.
Music genre
In addition to rape, Prinz Pi sometimes uses unusual hip-hop beats. It shall in the song No idols oriental flute melodies and in the piece typewriter stakkatierte be Mexico - Trumpets with synthesizer sounds combined. In the song Zünd Die Welt An electronic beats and a voice changer are used. In Meine Roots , electronic instruments and drums are largely avoided and the rapper is supported by an acoustic guitar , piano, organ, bass and a female voice. In sleep, the bombs , the beat of the song is based on a choir - sample combined with a violin melody.
Texts
The lyrics of the pieces of music by Prinz Pi deal with different topics and differ greatly from those at the time of ! Donnerwetter! in hip-hop dominating gangsta rap . The rapper takes up political and socially critical issues, includes his own personality in the texts or presents fictional stories that can be assigned to the style of storytelling . In an interview, Prince Pi pointed out that with his album he wanted to address people who “ are saturated with [the] typical hip-hop topics, which always revolve around hip-hop itself. "
The title chain deals with the prevalent crime and poverty in major German cities. Chain is the continuation of the song Würfel from 2005. While Prince Pi refers in the first piece to his hometown Berlin, the rapper transfers the social problems described to the entire German federal territory (" This is one country and many cities. Everyone depends together like the links in a chain. It goes from city to city, from quarter to quarter. It's the same everywhere - now the die is cast. ").
In the song The Bombs Sleep , Prince Pi addresses the threat posed by nuclear weapons . The rapper warns of a nuclear war and criticizes that after the threat of the East-West conflict, people are now again considering the use of nuclear weapons (“ The cold war is now an old war, but you can see how forgetful it is Everyday life. "). The piece pays homage to the film Dr. Strange or: How I Learned to Love the Bomb by Stanley Kubrick . Another title that revolves around political issues is Peng! Bang! Bang! . In this, the rapper deals with the politics of the former US President George W. Bush . Prince Pi criticizes US foreign policy and the social system of the United States. He describes Bush as " insane " and brings the fear expressed that the American government after the Iraq war to Iran would attack. The entertainment industry is a positive aspect of society.
With Berlin Große Liebe , the rapper shows the local patriotism that connects him with his place of birth and residence, Berlin. Although his homeland is close to his heart, the hip-hop musician also portrays Berlin as a problematic city. He reports on drug trafficking and the often dreary everyday life of the residents. With the statement “ Berlin you are unique - sometimes good sometimes bad; and always there when nobody is expecting you, ”he indicates that the city has a positive as well as a negative side.
In So Many Questions , Prince Pi asks himself and the listeners partly unanswerable questions from the religious field, which are specifically intended to stimulate thought (" I still have so many questions, does life have a plan? Is the earth leaving its eternal path? Is the answer." to the riddles in formulas and numbers and why is the God of Christians only made up of anger and mercy? ”).
Mr Claasen can be cited as an example of a storytelling title . Prince Pi describes a murderer and the view of those around him. In the first stanza Mr. Claasen is portrayed as committed, helpful and polite. His neighbors consider him " harmless, honest and dangerous to anyone ". In the following, the rapper describes how Claasen killed a rabbit as a child and how murderers became his role models. The last stanza is about how Mr. Claasen lures people into his house, kills them and sometimes eats them. The ambivalence between external impact and true character is expressed in the refrain: “ I would like to introduce 'someone' to you - Mr. Claasen. You will love him beyond measure. A friendly neighbor, nobody knows where he was that night - that's Mr. Claasen. "
No Idols is another example of a socially critical song. In this piece, the rapper addresses such phenomena as talent shows , ringtone ads , Pokémon , unemployment , the Sex and the City series, and the Big Brother show . He brings his social criticism and the lack of perspective that prevails in his eyes with the statement “No idols! What should I still believe in when the old ideals are gathering dust? ” As an expression. From the musician's point of view, young people no longer have any role models to be taken seriously who can serve for positive identification.
The lord of things
The Lord of Things is a fantasy story in the style of J. R. R. Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings . Here Prinz Pi does not use hip-hop beats, but rather medieval instrumentation. The 45-minute epic is divided into 30 acts and was composed entirely by Biztram . The story is about a prince's journey that ends in battle. The story contains numerous allusions to the German music scene. The two warring parties in The Lord of Things stand for the “bad” major labels and the “good” independent labels . There are also numerous characters who represent well-known German rappers and who comment on their relationships with one another. A dispute between the king and the prince relates to Kool Savas and Eko Fresh , the "ruler of the north" is Samy Deluxe , the "ruler of the north-west" stands for Azad from Frankfurt and the "knight with the iron mask" is supposed to be Sido be.
production
The main producer of the album is No Peanuts member Biztram. With one exception, the entire first CD of ! Donnerwetter! Recorded by Biztram in the Biztrumentals -Studio (the exception is Berlin, great love , which was recorded in the basement studio of the producer Beatzarre). Sasha Pushkin also worked on one and Bensun on two songs. Bensun played the violin that can be heard in the songs Von & Zu and Ich geht ein ein, and Pushkin played the piano for the piece Meine Roots . Executive Producer of ! Donnerwetter! is kick. After the recording, all the songs by Matzemillion and Biztram were mixed and then mastered by Enrico Mercaldi for Time Tools Mastering .
The fantasy story Lord of Things was recorded by Kick in the No Peanuts studio. Kick is also responsible for the sound effects on the album. The mastering was done by Matzemillion in Studio 4 Berlin .
Three different producers are involved in the third CD of the Premium Edition. Biztram produced the beats for three of the seven songs ( Rostbraun , Hotel and Es geht los ). Beatzarre is responsible for the background music for the tracks Inventory , Down Syndrome and Money Makes You Sick . The piece of music Towards the Light was produced by Big Flexx. In addition, DJ Zettt, who also works as a rapper for No Peanuts under the name Boba Fettt, is involved in the song Inventory , for which he provided the cuts . The final mastering of the third disc was carried out by Matzemillion in Studio 4 Berlin , as with Herr der Dinge .
Guest Posts
! Thunderstorm! offers guest contributions, so-called features , by four different artists. Biztram is involved in three songs . He works at No Peanuts as a producer, rapper and copywriter. His guest contributions can be heard on the songs Singt die Lieder , Meene Stadt and How time flies . The title Von & Zu is represented by the Berliner Taktloss , who previously performed with Prince Pi on Not on Tour . Prince Pi said in an interview about the collaboration with Taktloss: “ I consider him to be one of the few rappers who can really call themselves an artist. "
Bobidze works with Singt die Lieder . The Moldova- born rapper is also contractually bound to No Peanuts and delivers a Russian-language part for the song. The fourth artist represented is Frank Zander from Berlin . In an interview, Prince Pi stated that he had long wanted to record a piece of music with Zander. Therefore, according to his own statement , he is "particularly proud" of the song Meene Stadt , which is sung exclusively in Berlin-style . On the third CD of the Premium Edition of ! Donnerwetter! One of the tracks also features a guest contribution by rapper Esko, who was featured on Prince Pi's album Teenage Mutant Horror Show . The song Towards the Light was written together with Esko . Furthermore, the singer Bina is involved in the songs Money makes you sick and Rostbraun . She contributes the refrain for the two pieces of music.
illustration
The design of the cover and the booklet was done by Prinz Pi himself. The hip-hop musician created the illustrations through his own graphics agency PORNOGraphics , which is also part of No Peanuts . Meanwhile, the rapper had to give up the agency due to lack of time. The cover of the standard version shows the Red Baron reloaded , a modified version of the Fokker-Dr.I - three-decker where the beams cross was replaced by the Prinz Pi logo, and from the Star Wars films known Astromech- droid R2-D2 sitting on the cover behind the pilot. Below the center is the ornate Prinz Pi logo, followed by the album title in silver letters. The background shows a heavily overcast sky that brightens from the direction the aircraft is coming from.
The premium version is delivered as a double jewel case made of cardboard . On the front side, a centrally located gold-blue cross based on the order Pour le Mérite can be seen on a wooden background. Crowns, lightning bolts and the Prinz Pi logo decorate the whole thing. An old book can be seen in the upper left corner.
The booklet consists of a total of 36 pages. All the lyrics of the songs of the standard version as well as a map of the "heroic epic" The Lord of Things are printed in it. The texts in the booklet are supplemented by photos, drawings, references to literature and explanations that were selected and written by Prince Pi. For example, selected terms from the title Meene Stadt are translated for “non-Berliners”, and the rapper describes the song Typewriter , which paper he used to prefer and how he writes his texts today.
marketing
single
On August 4, 2006, the album ! Donnerwetter! the single EP Instinct on Prince Pi's label No Peanuts . In addition to the album version of the piece Instinct, the release contains a remix and the video that was turned to the song. The sound carrier also contains the piece Keine Idole as well as the songs Russendisko , Unbearable Ease and Gute Karten , which appeared exclusively on the single EP. Biztram produced all pieces of music on the EP.
Videos
Music videos were shot for three songs on the album .
The first clip can be assigned to the piece Instinct and can also be found on the single of the same name. The video was made under the guidance of Nils Münter. In the video, Prince Pi can be seen in various roles. At the beginning he depicts a pensioner who withdraws money from an ATM. This is attacked by a hooded youth. He then uses the stolen money to buy porn from another person. By chance the banknote finds its way to a homeless person. A man in a white suit walks past the homeless man, steals the money and uses it to bribe a policeman who tried to give him a ticket. The policeman hands the 100 euro bill to a pimp, whom he pays as protection money. The path of the banknote ends in a till for party donations. All roles are played by Prince Pi himself. At the end of the video, the song Keine Idole is played. The hip-hop musician raps the text in the video into a megaphone .
The second video was created for the intro Donnerwetter . The clip is an animation by Micha "The Don". Prince Pi sits at the wheel of the Red Baron reloaded and shoots rockets at a zeppelin . This can be read in Fraktur The Industry .
The third video was Zünd die Welt , which largely consisted of concert recordings. At the end of the clip the rapper's appearance at the Splash! -Festival shown. Flames were animated in the part of the sky that the viewer could recognize, creating the impression of a burning sky.
tour
A few months after the album was released, Prince Pi went on ! -Trip. This began on February 9, 2007 in Hagen and ended on March 16, 2007 in Kiel . There were concerts in a total of 23 cities, some also in Austria and Switzerland . Prinz Pi was accompanied on the tour by the Berlin rap formation KIZ , the Mainz rapper Kollegah , and DJ Zett , who is contractually bound to Prinz Pi's label No Peanuts . The tour was in 2007, after Bushido's From the Skyline to the Stage Back Tour, the second most successful German rap tour, measured by the number of appearances and the audience. The hip-hop musician said in an interview that the tour was only played in halls with a maximum of 1000 visitors, and that these halls were mostly sold out. On the first day of the tour, Prince Pi's DVD Das Prinz Ip Prinz Pi Vol. 1 was released. It has a running time of 115 minutes and has an age restriction from 16 years. The Prinz Ip Prinz Pi also brought the rapper his first cover story in the hip-hop magazine Juice .
reception
success
! Thunderstorm! is Prinz Pi's first release with which he entered the German album charts. The album debuted at number 56 in calendar week 41 of 2006. It could only stay in the list of the 100 best-selling albums of the week for the first week through October 15, 2006. Compared with the sales of competing Berlin rappers like Bushido and Sido , who also released solo albums in 2006 ,! DonnerwetteR! relatively unsuccessful. However, the album ensured that the Berlin rapper became more well known. Therefore ! DonnerwetteR! Compared to Prince Pi's previous releases, Teenage Mutant Horror Show and Time is Money , far more units sold.
Reviews
The reviews of Prinz Pi's album were consistently positive. This can be proven on the basis of the ratings on the website Rap.de, the hip-hop magazine Juice and the German e-zine Laut.de. The editors of the Rap.de site called ! Donnerwetter! as “ one of the best and most varied German rap records of the year, one of the best and most imaginative rappers in the Republic ”. In the review written by Philipp Gässlein for Laut.de, the album is counted among the best quality sound carriers in the music genre. The editors of the e-zine awarded five out of a possible five evaluation points to ! Donnerwetter! .
The critics rate the texts of Prince Pis positively. From the perspective of the Rap.de editors, the rapper has a wide range of topics that he creatively implements in his songs. The review of the Juice particularly emphasizes the complexity of the texts. The hip-hop musician uses numerous allusions and ambiguities in his lectures. Gässlein deals with individual pieces in his evaluation. With regard to the lyrics, Peng! Bang! Bang! praised, because in this the US-American President George W. Bush is criticized not " exaggeratedly demagogic ", but intelligent and cynical.
The Juice editorial team highlights the Beats from Biztram . Despite the unprofessional equipment of the manufacturer, these are rated positively. Gässlein particularly praises the production of the titles Donnerwetter and Bonnies Ranch III . In contrast, the Laut.de editor describes the beat of Mr. Claasen as bland and also rates the production of So many questions as negative.
The title song of the EP Instinct is received positively in the rating of Rap.de. Philipp Gässlein emphasizes the piece as " technically demanding ", but also criticizes the beat as "takes getting used to ". The Laut.de editor praises the songs Die Bomben sleep , Berlin, große Liebe and Der Rand . In contrast, from Gässlein’s point of view, the title Schwarz ist das neue Schwarz , next to Herr Claasen , is the weakest track on the album.
In addition, all critics go into the additional CD The Lord of Things . This is dubbed a “ creative peak performance ” (Laut.de) and the uniqueness of the project is emphasized (Rap.de). The Juice editorial team was impressed by the concept, the effort, the implementation and the results of the sound carrier. In summary, the responsible Juice editor says ! Donnerwetter! as “ perhaps the most creative and versatile record from Germany ” of 2006 and awards five out of six possible “crowns” to the record.
Web links
- Prince Pi biography at no-peanuts.com
- Album review at Laut.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ September issue of Juice (2006) - page 65
- ↑ a b c Interview about the album ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2007 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. dated September 22, 2006
- ↑ Information on the vinyl version on no-peanuts.de ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2007 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.
- ↑ a b c d e album review on laut.de by Philipp Gässlein
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Booklet of the premium version of ! Donnerwetter!
- ↑ Lyrics to chain
- ↑ Lyrics of The Bombs Sleep
- ↑ Lyrics of Peng! Bang! Bang! ( Memento of the original from February 7, 2012 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.
- ↑ Liedtext zu Berlin Große Liebe ( 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.
- ↑ Lyrics of So Many Questions ( Memento of the original from February 3, 2013 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.
- ↑ Lyrics for No Idols ( Memento of the original from August 29, 2014 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.
- ↑ Interview about the album ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2007 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. from September 22, 2006 - p. 2.
- ↑ September issue of Juice (2006) - page 67
- ↑ Der Rote Baron reloaded ( Memento of the original from August 19, 2007 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.
- ↑ Download option from Instinkt via no-peanuts.de; 19.4 MB ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2007 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.
- ↑ Download option from Donnerwetter via no-peanuts.de; 35.9 MB ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2007 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.
- ↑ Download option from Zünd die Welt at no-peanuts.de; 45.7 MB ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2007 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.
- ↑ Rap.de: Prinz Pi: Frank Zander is cult - Page 1 ( Memento of the original from October 17, 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.
- ↑ Interview of the HHV.DE catalog with Prinz Pi, edition 01 2007, page 16
- ↑ Musicline: Chart tracking from ! Donnerwetter! ( Memento of the original from September 30, 2007 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.
- ↑ Album review on rap.de ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 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. by David on September 21, 2006
- ↑ October issue of Juice (2006) - page 122
