Status: 06.04.2023 07:55 a.m
Fat bread dissolve this year. The Hamburg hip-hop band started their farewell tour in Rostock on Wednesday, celebrating more than three decades of music history.
The giant screen features photos of the band over the years. Then the curtain falls: the three Hamburgers stand on a ship that was specially mounted on the stage of the sold-out Stadthalle. Behind them, the cranes of their Hamburg home port soar into the air – a huge seagull circles above them. Their classic “Jein” from 1996 echoes through the town hall. Most people can sing along to the lyrics. The arms of the nearly 5,800 fans are shaking to the beat – the band doesn’t even have to ask the audience to do so. Fettes Brot is not only supported by a DJ, but by a whole band including a brass section. On the coast, it’s not surprising that the song that helped Fettes Brot break through in 1995 is a sure-fire hit, because everyone here feels “Nordic by nature”!
The first steps into the music business were bumpy
König Boris, Doktor Renz and Björn Beton will play 20 concerts in Germany, Switzerland and Austria until mid-July.
But even before that, the three made music together. They founded Fettes Brot back in 1992. The hip-hop wave from the USA also reached the port of Hamburg. “We wanted to present authentic hip-hop, which was more than music. There were DJs, graffiti and breakdance. It was important to us to counteract the negative image of hip-hop in the media,” says Doctor Renz about the beginnings. They were characterized by cassette recordings from NDR radio. Later they use records to string together small music sequences – so-called loops – in order to create instrumentals for their texts. “Sometimes I spent hours at flea markets to find a certain record,” says Björn Beton. But because of their funny lyrics, they often experience rejection within the hip-hop scene. “But that made us want to try a lot more,” said King Boris. There were excursions into rock and pop, but jazz influences also played a role. Nevertheless, it was about making danceable music. The fans in Rostock use them – whether in front of the stage or in the side ranks.
The story is told
Around 5,800 fans celebrated with Fettes Brot in Rostock’s Stadthalle.
Doctor Renz had already feared that the audience might not be dancing and jumping as usual because everyone was thinking of saying goodbye. But the audience didn’t get to that until after the concert. Everyone thinks it’s a pity that it was the last time they saw their idols live. For the band, the decision to break up was a long process. Several reasons led to this. “On the one hand we want to decide for ourselves how we want to make the ending, on the other hand we feel like we have told everything,” notes King Boris.
According to Doctor Renz, her farewell should be reminiscent of a funeral in New Orleans: “A funeral procession that goes through the streets with music. Sad and euphoric at the same time. Both go together. That’s how we want to celebrate life”. This is exactly what their fans do in the Rostock Stadthalle. Maybe there is some hope that they will see the three Hamburgers again. Because according to King Boris, everyone still has creative energy: “I can well imagine that we will reappear as individuals on the surface”. The three rappers didn’t want to reveal more. Because now they are concentrating on their farewell tour, which will also take them to Bremen, Hanover and finally to Hamburg.
