Die Fantastischen Vier

The Fantastischen Vier, often abbreviated as Fanta 4, are a German hip-hop group from Stuttgart consisting of the members Michael Schmidt aka Smudo, Thomas Dürr aka Hausmeister Thomas D and Michael Beck aka Michi Beck. The fourth member, Andreas Rieke aka And.Ypsilon, is the producer. The musicians perform under the name Die Fantastischen Vier for the first time on July 7, 1989. in 1991, their song "Jetzt geht's ab" appeared on the first German hip-hop sampler Krauts with Attitude. They were the first rap group to achieve chart success in the German rap genre in 1992 with the song "Die da!?!!" In the German rap genre and thus paved the way for the popularization of the genre. The following albums 4 gewinnt (1992), Die 4. Dimension (1993) and Lauschgift (1995) all reached positions in the top 15 of the German album charts. With their fifth studio album 4:99, which was released in April 1999, Die Fantastischen Vier reached number 1 in the charts in all German-speaking countries. Among other things, the LP contains the number 2 hit single "MfG - Mit freundlichen Grüßen". The following albums Viel (2004), Fornika (2007) and Für dich immer noch Fanta Sie (2010) all go platinum in Germany. in 2014, the band celebrates its 25th anniversary with its ninth studio album Rekord. Die Fantastischen Vier receive numerous awards and prizes over the course of their career, including the 1-Live Krone for the best single of 2018: "Zusammen, feat. Their tenth studio album Captain Fantastic is released on April 27, 2018, followed by the single "Irgendwann" in 2020. The live album Für immer 30 Jahre Live follows in 2022. The album climbs to number 13 in Germany. 2024 is followed by the single "Wie weit" together with MiA. At the beginning of October of the same year, the Fantastischen Vier released their eleventh studio album, Long Player.