Max Herre

Maximilian Herre (born 22 April 1973 in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg), better known by his stage- and nickname Max Herre, is a German musician who rose to fame as a member of the group Freundeskreis.

Biography

He is married to singer Joy Denalane. They have two sons, Isaiah Naledi (2001) and Jamil (2003). They separated in October 2007. In March 2011, they showed up at different events together and stated that they are back together again.

Career

He is the frontman and a founding member of the hip hop group Freundeskreis and the Kolchose, a federation of artists from Stuttgart.

After the birth of his two sons, Herre decided to have a time-out after almost five years of success with the band.

Herre collaborated with the German rapper Curse for his album Innere Sicherheit. He produced his wife Joy Denalane's album Mamani. His own debut solo album Max Herre was released in 2004. In 2012, his new solo album Hallo Welt! was released.

Discography

Albums

Samy Deluxe

Samy Sorge (born 19 December 1977), commonly known as Samy Deluxe, Wickeda MC or Sam Semillia is a German rapper, and hip hop artist from Hamburg. When his Sudanese father left Germany when Samy Deluxe was just two years old, Samy grew up with his mother's family. His half-sister was born shortly after his father left. The family lived in Barmbek for many years, then moved to Eppendorf, a better-off part of Hamburg. His family was able to make this move after a recommendation from a family friend after his mother remarried. He attended the Wolfgang-Borchert-Schule and attained the Realschulabschluss, or certificate of general education similar to a high school diploma or British GCSE. He cites his upbringing in a middle-class neighbourhood as part of his inspiration. He says he felt out of place, “At (one) point I would stand out in front of my own house and people who lived here before me would ask “can I help you?”. Additionally, he cites American rappers as his inspiration instead of relying on German history. Samy recalls taking up an interest in rap music in 1988.

Joy Denalane

Joy Maureen Denalane (born 11 June 1973) is a German singer-songwriter, known for her mixture of soul, R&B, and African folk music with lyrics in German and English.

Early life

Yvonne Davis (Joy Denalane) was born in the Berlin-Schöneberg., but grew up in the Berlin district of Kreuzberg. At the age of sixteen Denalane left home and started focusing on music and joined the reggae and soul bands Culture Roots and Family Affair. At nineteen she was signed to a major pop music label, but she and her management could not agree on what her music and image should be like and Denalane soon asked for a release. Afterwards, she moved to Stuttgart, where she met DJ Thomilla and Tiefschwarz (two already well-known producers active in the Kolchose), with whom she wrote and produced the club hit "Music".

Career

1999—2005: Debut and Mamani

Around the same time, Denalane came in first contact with hip hop group Freundeskreis, who searched for a female counterpart to lead singer Max Herre's voice on their track "Mit Dir" then. However, the duet was released as a single in July 1999 and made the top ten in Germany, the top thirty in Austria, and the top fifteen in Switzerland—pushed by the fact Denalane and Herre had become a couple.