Life (album)
| Life | |||||
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| Azad studio album | |||||
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Publication |
May 28, 2001 |
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| Label (s) | Pelham Power Productions / Universal | ||||
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Format (s) |
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Title (number) |
16 + 2 |
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running time |
54:05 |
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| occupation |
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Studio (s) |
Headquarters, Frankfurt (Main) |
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Leben is the first solo album by the Frankfurt artist Azad and was released in 2001 under the 3p label. The album was represented at number 46 in the German charts for a week. All the songs were produced by Azad himself.
background
After the dissolution of the hip-hop group Asiatic Warriors , Azad was increasingly on the road with his turntablism team "Transformers" (with DJ Dragon, Twister and Release), with whom he won the 1998 "Da Swing DJ Battle" . In 1999 Azad signed a record deal with 3p , where he attracted attention in the scene with features on his label colleagues' albums and on various mix tapes. In 2000 the single Napalm was released and then his first solo album Leben was released.
illustration
The cover was designed by the Munich graffiti artist WON . It is kept in dark, predominantly brownish tones. In the middle you can see Azad, who is sitting on an armchair, looking at the viewer and holding his hands over his head. In front of him are a sheet of paper, a pile of records, and an Akai MPC . To his right is a microphone connected to a loudspeaker. A closer look at the stack reveals that the cover itself is depicted on the top record. In the lower half, the faces of his parents and his daughter can be seen, which are surrounded with leaves. The title of the album can be seen above his head, circling a flame. Furthermore, in the upper half of the cover there is on the one hand an alien DJ, from whose spaceship records are being ejected, and on the other hand an airplane that is unloading bombs. On the edges of the cover his name and the title of the album are written in Arabic script style. His logo can be seen on his sweater as well as on the table lamp.
Style and content
The beats on the album are kept minimalistic. Several samples are used and rounded off with scratches and cuts , which was common for that time. Azad often uses songs by Gang Starr or the Gang Starr Foundation for the samples . Overall, the beats create a dark atmosphere. Lyrically, Azad uses multi-syllable, sometimes unclean, rhymes that also occur as internal rhymes . The text is usually rounded off with comparisons or metaphors . The following section from the song Northwest Headlines serves as an example :
In other dimensions we shoot words like ammunition over productions on
our mission with blatant actions we ensure mass confusion through
sentence constructions that we set to music without sparing ourselves. In the 36th rap chamber
where we hike in the effect, collect our respect, ignite and
hit like a hammer
In terms of content, the album is broad. There are mainly songs from the genre of battle rap . One example of this is the song against the current . It criticizes the commercialization of the German rap scene . Songs of the rappers criticized in it are included as samples . Other songs with elements of the Battle Raps are Rapresentieren , Northwest headlines , one man army , Unstoppable and Beat Kune-Do . The song Samy de Bitch !! (7 lessons) is a distrack against the Hamburg rapper Samy Deluxe , in which he u. a. accuses the commercialization of the rap scene.
In the song Hip Hop Azad tells of his first contact with hip hop up to his development as a rapper . Thematically, this song can be assigned to storytelling .
Subjects of Conscious Rap are also dealt with, in which Azad expresses himself thoughtfully and socially critical. The song freedom thematizes u. a. the oppression of the Kurds and the exploitation of the "small" nations by the industrialized nations. In doing so, Azad criticizes people's greed and the resulting corruption . The song Life is about Azad's inner feelings: he reflects on the negative aspects of life, especially life in a deprived area, the people around him who influence him and the love of hip-hop that helped him through difficult times Has.
Track list
| # | title | Songwriter | length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Intro | 0:33 | |
| 2. | Against the current | Azad | 3:23 |
| 3. | Presenting (feat. Curse ) | Azad, Curse | 3:54 |
| 4th | Turntablizm (Skit) | 1:37 | |
| 5. | hip hop | Azad | 4:07 |
| 6th | Northwest Headlines (feat. Chabs) | Azad, Jonesmann , Jeyz , Chan | 3:47 |
| 7th | 1 man army | Azad | 3:33 |
| 8th. | Thoughts (Skit) | 0:30 | |
| 9. | Unstoppable (feat. Sezai, IZ, PBC, Ebony Prince, Lunafrow & Real Jay) | Azad, Ebony Prince, IZ, Lunafrow, PBC, Real Jay, Sezai | 5:32 |
| 10. | Life | Azad | 3:30 |
| 11. | Meditation (skit) | 0:43 | |
| 12. | Beat Kune-Do | Azad | 3:30 |
| 13. | Da Underground (feat. Group Home ) | Azad, Group Home | 3:56 |
| 14th | Human ?! (Skit) | 0:42 | |
| 15th | Freedom (feat. Naser Razzazi) | Azad, Naser Razzazi | 5:10 |
| 16. | Samy De Bitch !! (7 lessons) | Azad | 9:38 |
| 17th | Therapy (feat. Kool Savas ) [Hidden Track] | Azad, Kool Savas | |
| 18th | Revers (Skit) [Hidden Track] | Azad |
The songs Therapy and Revers are hidden tracks that appear in the song Samy De Bitch !! (7 lessons) are included.
The songs, including the scratches and cuts, were produced exclusively by Azad. The mastering was taken over by Tony Dawsey and Pompon Finkelstein in New York or Paris.
Guest musician
The list of guest musicians on the album consists largely of the Frankfurt rappers Ebony Prince, Iz, Lunafrow, Real Jay, Sezai, the Chabs (consisting of Jonesmann , Jeyz and Chan). The rapper Curse from Minden and Kool Savas from Berlin are also featured on the album. On his first solo album were also foreign artists such. For example, the Kurdish singer Naser Razzazi from Sweden and the US rap group Group Home from the Gang Starr Foundation are represented.
Single releases
From the album, the songs Gegen den Strom and Leben were released as maxi CDs and vinyl . Videos were made for these songs. As part of the maxi CD for Gegen den Strom , a video was also produced for the song Mentale Krisen , on which the Chabs appear as guest musicians.
criticism
The critics' judgment of the album is mostly positive. The website laut.de awarded the album four out of five stars. The diversity of topics on the album is particularly emphasized.
“But it's not his radical battle lyrics that make the album so worth listening to. First and foremost, Azad convinces as a deeper Emcee. In "Hip Hop" he talks calmly and thoughtfully about his great love for culture. In "Freiheit" he skilfully portrays global oppression from his Kurdish point of view, and with the title track he turns himself inside out. "
The minimalist beats were also honored:
“What runs like a red thread through the whole album are the minimalistic, but very intense-looking beats. The clean cuts, which were very numerous and always absolutely "on point", are also present. "
Occasionally, the performances of the guest musicians were rated negatively:
“The only drawback are the remaining collabos. Except Savas and, to a lesser extent, Curse, everyone else is bored with chubby cock-in-the-ass jelly. Even the Group Home from the Gang Starr Foundation cannot convince. "
More than 15 years after the album was released, MZEE's Steffen Bauer summed up :
"The brute and melancholy sound of" Leben "[...] became the blueprint for the Frankfurt rap scene and the foundation for the burgeoning street rap of the entire country."
Individual evidence
- ↑ Media Control Charts - Retrieved February 3, 2013
- ↑ a b c discogs - Retrieved February 3, 2013
- ↑ a b Azad in an interview with hiphop.de (video) - Retrieved on February 3, 2013
- ↑ Lyrics of Nordwest Kopfzeilen - Retrieved February 3, 2013
- ↑ 3p-shop.de ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 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. - Retrieved February 3, 2013
- ↑ Azad in an interview from allesreal.de ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 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. - Retrieved February 3, 2013
- ↑ Against the Current (Video) - Accessed February 7, 2013
- ↑ Life (Video) - Retrieved February 7, 2013
- ↑ Mental Crises (feat. Chabs) (Video) - Accessed February 7, 2013
- ↑ Album review on laut.de - Retrieved on February 7, 2013
