CRO

Carlo Waibel, aka Cro, is a German rapper, designer, and visual artist who hides behind a latex panda mask. Born in 1990, he started writing and producing his own music at the age of 13 while learning how to play the piano and the guitar. His first mixtape Trash arrived in 2009 under the moniker Lyr1c, followed by 2011’s Meine Musik, which garnered the attention of rapper Kaas. This connection led to a recording contract with indie label Chimperator Productions, who released his third mixtape Easy. Thanks to the title track’s video, which accumulated millions of views on the rapper’s video streaming channel, the mixtape became an underground hit, setting the stage for Cro’s highly-anticipated studio debut, Raop, issued in July 2012. Propelled by the singles “Du,” “King of Raop,” and “Einmal um die Welt,” the album quickly climbed to the top of the German charts and was certified gold in both Germany and Switzerland. A second full-length titled Melodie saw the light in 2014 and also achieved pole position in Germany and Austria, a feat he would repeat once again with 2017’s tru. In the following years, Cro released a handful of standalone singles and collaborations with Trettmann and Kitschkrieg (“10419”), Jamule (“1000 Hits”), and Capital Bra (“Frühstück in Paris”), and also devoted time to his other projects, mainly film and visual arts. 2021 marked the release of Trip, his fourth album, which included the singles “Alles dope,” “SYGL” with Shindy, and “Hör nicht auf,” featuring fellow rapper Teesy