Beginner (band)

Beginner
Beginner at Chiemsee Reggae Summer 2013
Background information
Also known as	Absolute Beginner
Origin	Hamburg, Germany
Genres	German hip hop
Years active	1992–present
Labels	Buback, Universal
Website	www.beginner.de
Members	Eißfeldt Denyo DJ Mad
Past members	DJ Burn Nabil Mirko Platin Martin

Beginner (formerly Absolute Beginner) is a German rap group from Hamburg, consisting of Jan Delay (aka Eizi Eiz/Eißfeldt), Denyo and DJ Mad. Their fourth album, Advanced Chemistry, was released in August 2016.

The group was founded as Absolute Beginner in 1991, initially with six members: Jan, Denyo, Mardin, DJ Burn, Nabil, Mirko, but the latter three dropped out after a few months. They started rapping in English and German with homemade beats, but later chose to rap solely in German. During their first public appearance they met DJ Mad, who immediately joined the group.

In 1992 they released their first track, "K.E.I.N.E." on the sampler Kill the Nation With a Groove. The following year they released their first EP, Gotting, and embarked on their first tour.

Their first proper album Flashnizm was released in 1996, to a fairly moderate commercial success. Nevertheless, they produced a video for the single "Natural Born Chillaz", which MTV refused to play, and went on tour throughout the German-speaking countries to smaller crowds. Mardin became dissatisfied with the band's progress and left in 1997. That same year Eißfeldt founded the Underground tape label Eimsbush, references to which are interspersed in many German hip hop tracks. Eimsbush records later developed into a full-fledged independent label, producing new acts like D-Flame and Illo77, but closed down in 2003.

In 1998 they had a Top 10 hit with "Liebes Lied" ("Dear Song", a pun on the word for love song, Liebeslied). Their album Bambule entered the top 30 of the albums chart and they released the follow-up singles "Hammerhart" ("Hammer Hard") and "Füchse" ("Foxes"), which featured Samy Deluxe. They went on three tours with Dynamite Deluxe, Main Concept and the Beastie Boys respectively and appeared at major festivals. In 2001 the Beginners released a remix album of Bambule, called Boombule.

In 1999 Eißfeldt released his first solo reggae single, a cover version of new wave idol Nena's "Irgendwo, Irgendwie, Irgendwann". In 2001, he then released a solo reggae album, Searching for the Jan Soul Rebels. Denyo also went solo and released his album Minidisko 2001, while DJ Mad produced for other major acts and hosted a weekly radio show. They did not split, however, with Denyo and Eißfeldt going on the 60 Hz-tour together, along with Eimsbush-act D-Flame.