Beginner

Formed in Hamburg in the early '90s, German rap group Beginner first went by the name Absolute Beginner, a four-man band comprised of MCs Jan Eißfeldt, Denyo, and Mardin and producer DJ Mad. Although initially they rhymed in both German and English, they soon decided to stick solely to their native tongue and released their first single, the politically charged "K.E.I.N.E." in 1993, with the EP Gotting coming out that same year. In 1996 they issued their album Flashnizm, which was enough to get them major-label attention, though Mardin left the group before their Universal debut, Bambule, came out in 1998. Around this time, the remaining members began to focus more on their individual and side projects (Eißfeldt, for example, with his Eimsbush imprint, and as one of his many alter egos, including Jan Delay and Eißfeldt 65) although they did come back together in 2002 to begin working on their third full-length, Blast Action Heroes, released under the name Beginner, the following year. ~ Marisa Brown, Rovi