Samra

With his moody, shadowy beats, Samra came strutting on to Germany's gangsta rap scene in 2016 as a protégé of Bushido, before his big hit 'Cataleya' became his first number one single as a solo artist in 2018.

Born in Berlin to Lebanese parents, Hussein Akkouche idolised the new wave of German rap such as Fler, Azad and Xatar and first started making appearances on songs by Alpa Gun and Mert, initially under the moniker Samra45. That was later shortened just to Samra (a feminine name in Arabic meaning 'the dark ones'), and he started lighting up the scene with early underground tracks 'Lila' and 'Die Eins'. He began crossing over into the charts in his own right with singles 'Rohdiamant' and 'Roadrunner' as well as featuring on Bushido's chart-topping hit 'Fur Euch Alle', but it was the eerie love song 'Cataleya' that really announced Samra as a major new star when it reached number one in Germany and notched up tens of millions of views on YouTube.

Known for his gruff delivery and his smooth, rampant flow, he also topped the charts when he teamed up with Capital Bra on 'Wir Ticken' and was named Newcomer of the Year at the Hiphop.de Awards, but he later left Bushido's label Ersguterjunge and signed a deal with Universal Records. He returned again with top five single 'Ya Salame' featuring Luciano in 2019 and his debut album 'Malboro Rot' followed later in the year.