Hecklah & Coch
From 1999 to 2009, Hecklah & Coch was a German rap duo from Berlin - Schöneberg , consisting of Zem (also known under the producer name Defzem ) and Sylvestah .
Band history
The two Berlin rappers Zem and Sylvestah had known each other from childhood in the West Berlin district of Berlin-Schöneberg . Both were introduced personally by a mutual acquaintance at a freestyle session in 1999 and recorded their first tracks together in Zem's home studio that same evening. The first songs were created from self-composed instrumentals from MPC and Kurzweil samplers . They joined forces, the choice of the name was based on the German weapons company Heckler & Koch from Jux on the name " Hecklah & Coch ", as the German counterpart to the American rap group Smif'n'Wessun (based on the American weapons company Smith & Wesson ), both of whom were revered at the time.
In 2000, Hecklah & Coch met the rappers Rhymez & Prok on the internet and joined the newly founded Berlin independent label Rawzone-Records of the multiple gold-winning music producer Quickmix (formerly producer for MC Sar & The Real McCoy or Maxx, later also for Yvonne Catterfeld and others) and after some demo recordings and the production of the single "Bounce mit uns" (only available on vinyl) signed a record deal with the Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG). The contract with BMG was terminated shortly afterwards as a result of internal restructuring in the "Deutschrap" division due to the decision to move the group from Cologne to Berlin. Hecklah & Coch took for Rawzone Records still tracks for a first mini-album ( "basic training"), and made her first stage experience through numerous live performances in Berlin and surrounding areas, where they found their vinyl single "Bounce With Us" from the trunk out sold to to increase their brand awareness.
The EP Grundausbildung , published in 2003, sold several thousand pieces in the Berlin underground of the hip-hop scene through the store and mail order distributor Downstairs within a few weeks, initially let the artists squeeze money out of their own pockets. The first inquiries for radio broadcasts, newspaper interviews and other live performances followed. In 2004 there was a deal with the distribution company of Sony , through which the second record by Hecklah & Coch, the first real album About Everything in the World , was released. This was followed by the single Über Alles in der Welt , which was broadcast as a music video on VIVA . H&C now enjoyed a lively internet presence, articles in relevant magazines such as "JUICE" and "Backspin" and appeared on radio and TV programs. Apparently in contrast to their street image, the rappers campaigned for good causes several times in 2005. In April 2005 they gave an appearance in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on the occasion of the International Children's Festival 23 Nisan , which was held in favor of the Dunkelziffer eV (an association that helps abused children), alongside artists such as Ayman , Vanessa S. , Overground and Nu Pagadi . They also contributed tracks for the sampler of a similar project of the Berliner Arche eV.
After other majors, e.g. B. Universal and Sony BMG were in discussion, a record deal was concluded in 2006 with TVT Europe, the European subsidiary of the American indie label TVT Records and the home of world rap stars like Lil Jon and Pitbull. At the end of the year the mixtape "Konnektionz" will be released with features from over 50 artists from the German hip-hop scene such as Taichi, Kaisaschnitt, Joe Rilla, She-Raw, David Battle, Plattenpapzt, Kalusha, MC Bogy, Pal One, Jasha, MOK, Sido, Harris, Manny Marc, Separate, Dra-Q, DJ Tomekk and many more. The first single of the November 2007 album "Glänzend" ("We tear the club down" featuring Sido) took first place in the TRL charts on MTV on October 25, 2007 ahead of Linkin Park, Die Ärzte and Bushido.
Dissent with Sido and Raportaz
After the Berlin rapper Sido seemed to respond to the H&C title of the same name with the chart hit Mein Block in 2004 , rumors boiled up that there was a dispute between the artist from Aggroberlin and H&C. In the intro of Sido's track, on a promo version of the supplement CD of the scene magazine JUICE, the words "My block, my block, and not Hecklah & Coch his block" can be found. When asked why there was none on this track by H&C Answer, Zem said later in an interview: “Sido called me shortly before the title on the Juice CD came out. He said that the comment should not be interpreted as a diss, he thinks our songs are cool and would like to do a track with us for our next album, " which with a joint title by H&C and Sido ( Lauf ) on the next album Über alles in happened to the world .
In 2005, H&C fought against the claims made by rapper duo Raportaz on their EP Gangsta Gangsta and in interviews with Backspin magazine via scene media such as rap.de with a press release and a disstrack . According to the Raportaz in the Backspin, Sylvestah comes from a village near the Odenwald and the image of H&C is downright ridiculous not least because of this; in a title ( Gangsta Gangsta ) the Raportaz is further rapped the line: "There is little gangsters out there, I believe it Azad and Charnell , but check times Hecklah and Coch, unless you're at twelve." As a result, of the response track from H & C, the Raportaz apologize a little later for their assertion.
separation
In January 2009, Hecklah & Coch announced their split. Personal differences were excluded. The official press release gave three reasons for the split. Initially, after the bankruptcy of the parent label TVT in the USA and the ensuing bankruptcy of TVT Europe, the band was again without a record deal. Second, in general, the crisis in the music industry, which is plagued by file sharing and at the expense of specialty musicians, was cited. Most recently, legal disputes with the well-known weapons company Heckler & Koch were also decisive, which prevented further use of the phonetically similar-sounding name.
Discography
Albums and mixtapes
- 2003: basic training
- 2004: About everything in the world
- 2006: Konnektionz
- 2007: Shiny
Singles
- 2003: Sizzo / Bounce mit uns (non-album single, only released on vinyl)
- 2004: About everything in the world (from the album of the same name)
- 2007: We tear the club down featuring Sido (from the album "Glänzend")
Others
- 2003: My Block (as Juice- Exclusive)
- 2005: Deadly Weapons (Feat.-appearance on microphone soldiers from exit Krew)
- 2007: We Spit Fire ( Juice Exclusive! On Juice CD # 81)
Web links
- Official website ( Memento of March 13, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
- Hecklah & Coch at laut.de
- Review of Über alles in der Welt at ProSieben.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Zem in an interview with rap.de ( Memento of the original from June 22, 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.
- ↑ Brief message at rap.de ( Memento of the original from May 15, 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.
- ↑ Note in the portrait at mtv.de ( Memento of the original from September 30, 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.
- ↑ Press release at rap.de ( Memento of the original from February 17, 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.
- ↑ News on WildstyleMag.com
- ↑ Press release at hiphop-blog.com ( memento of the original from January 6, 2010 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.
