Tic Tac Toe (band)

Tic Tac Toe
Tic Tac Toe in 2006
Background information
Origin	Ruhr, Germany
Genres	Hip-hop, rapcore, pop
Years active	1995–2000, 2005–2007
Labels	Sony BMG Germany
Past members	Liane "Lee" Springer-Wiegelmann, Ricarda "Ricky" Wältken, Marlene "Jazzy" Tackenberg, Sara Brahms

Tic Tac Toe was an all-female German group. Formed in 1995 in Ruhr, they released their self-titled debut album in 1996. Their second album, Klappe die 2te, was released the following year to even a greater success. After a successful first few years, the group split due to personal difficulties in 2000, having sold over 3 million records. Tic Tac Toe attempted a return to the spotlight by releasing a hit single "Spiegel" in 2005. After disappointing sales of their 2006 Comeback album, the Tic Tac Toe project was abandoned.

The band was established in 1995 by three young women from the industrial Ruhr valley area: Lee (Liane Wiegelmann), Ricky (Ricarda Wältken) and Jazzy (Marlene Tackenberg). According to their record company, the three girls met at a hip hop festival. However, as many details of their biographies later turned out to be manipulated, it should be taken with a grain of salt - especially since the company never disclosed where and when said festival had taken place.

Their first single was "Ich find' dich scheiße" which became a major hit in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The debut album, Tic Tac Toe, was released in 1996 to a great success, reaching Top 5. It spawned further singles: "Funky" and "Leck mich am A, B, Zeh". However, it was the fourth single, "Verpiss' dich", that became the band's first number 1 hit in Germany. A string of rap-influenced pop hits helped to spread Tic Tac Toe's popularity outside German speaking countries, but it was also their company's careful marketing plan what contributed to the band's success. In order to appeal to young audience, official biographies said the age of all girls was 18. That reflected only Ricky's real age as the other two vocalists were already in their twenties at that time. Much media publicity was caused by Tic Tac Toe alleged conflict with a German rapper Sabrina Setlur, which most likely was also fabricated.

In 1997 the band released their second album, Klappe die 2te. It met with even greater reception than the previous one, topping German and Swiss charts, and remains their only chart-topping album. "Warum?", a song based on a real story of the band's friend who had died of drug overdose, became the lead single. The track went to number 1 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and remains group's best-known hit to date. Reggae-influenced "Mr. Wichtig" was released as the second single and became a Top 10 success. Two next singles charted outside Top 20, including "Bitte küss' mich nicht" which told about sexual harassment.