15th Century Hip Hop
TobiasClassical Music and Hip Hop have been mixed before, most noticeably on the commercial jam "Rapsody", which featured Norwegian singer Sissel amongst others. But it is probably the first time that a single group has dedicated an entire album to this style mix. German band einshoch6 (meaning one to the power of six and referring to its line-up of six musicians centred around mastermind Amadeus) is now offering their CD "Vernünftig gepaart" and its title ("Sensibly coupled") indicates that they're not aiming at the cheap surprise effect. After winning a big local competition, the boys went on a nationwide tour, convincing audiences everywhere that they were not pre-manufactured - something that might well be thought of a bunch of guys whose age ranges from 17 to 31 and whose "leader" was born in Vienna. Almost everyone has been enthusiastic and the press has been so kind as to publish on them on a regular basis. So is einshoch6 really the missing link between Public Enemy and Grieg? Not quite and the reason for that is that "Vernünftig gepaart" is basically a well-produced album with a lot of references to the early phase of German Hip-Hop and some passages featuring Classical instrumentation - but not a stylistic battle. The Classical references always follow the modern ones, the beats always have the upper hand (except for the ballad "Overkill"). That's probably what makes the record so relaxed and tight, but it's also in the way of something more radical. But then they're just getting started.
Homepage: einshoch6