WHO?
"Who is up for a beat again?" asks Cro boldly in the intro of his debut album "Raop". And who could be so cheeky if not him? Cro, who has effortlessly written and produced one of the first big hits of the year with "Easy". The one who has brought fun back into rap music with his relaxed lyrics and catchy hooks. The Cro that Jan Delay has called "the future of German HipHop". Who else?
WHERE FROM?
If you grow up like Cro, alias Carlo, in a suburb of Stuttgart, then youth is not particularly difficult, dangerous, or exciting. Rather, it might be a bit dull. Out of boredom and for fun, Carlo founds Black Box Records with a few friends. A basement room becomes a studio, and a repurposed headphone serves as a microphone. Carlo writes his first song - as expected - for a girl he is really into at the time. "But unfortunately, she never heard the song," he recalls.
Music connects Carlo's family; his father introduced him to the great masters of rock, while his mother taught him how to play the piano. "And from my brother, I at least learned enough guitar chords to impress the girls around the campfire," he grins.
Carlo discovers another talent: drawing and designing. To supplement his pocket money, he sells self-designed shirts in the schoolyard. Carlo trains as a media designer and works as a cartoonist for a Stuttgart newspaper. In his free time, he starts his own small fashion label, selling self-designed and printed shirts.
At this time, rap is just a hobby. Still under the name Lyr1c, he records his first mixtape "Trash". The first performance follows in his hometown Stuttgart. "I stood in front of 300 people who went totally wild. I thought to myself: If this keeps going, I’ll never stop doing this".
And it continues. Carlo now calls himself Cro and releases his second mixtape "Meine Musik" for download on the internet in early 2011. KAAS from the Stuttgart indie label Chimperator also hears the talent in the young man and starts a search for the exceptional rapper via Twitter. And as it often goes, someone knows someone who knows someone...
Shortly after, Cro sits in the Chimperator office and signs a record deal. Shortly thereafter, in November 2011, the video for the song "Easy" goes online, counting several million clicks within a few weeks and flooding Cro with an unexpected fan base on Facebook.
In March 2012, "Easy" is released as a single, and the wave spreads. No magazine that doesn’t report on Cro, no TV station that doesn’t want to accompany him to the studio, no radio station where "Easy" isn’t playing. No concert of his that isn’t sold out. No one who wouldn’t like to know who is behind the panda mask.
And no one who isn’t eagerly awaiting the debut album.
WHERE TO?
Cro remains relaxed. He has taken as much time for this first album as he needs. He even skipped the tour with Casper for it. He has moved back in with his mother and set up a recording space in the basement. Back to the beginning, just like when the journey started. Right there, amidst the carefree and relaxed living day by day, "Raop" was created.
"Raop" [rae:op] is his creation, a portmanteau that combines the words rap and pop. The merging of Cro's very own definition of hip-hop with catchy pop sounds; the confused college rap of Mac Miller or Wiz Khalifa with hits from indie disco and the rock of his parents. And right in the middle: Cro, who raps, sings, and hums in his own unique way - carefree, but never thoughtless.
When Carlo puts on his mask, he transforms from the nice boy next door into a hit machine. A cheeky beat that immediately gets you moving, Cro's quirky way of rapping - and then that moment when the chorus sneaks into your ear: that is the "Raop" secret recipe. Cro has melodies to hum along to and lyrics to sing along with. He manages everything at once: charming the girls, being a good buddy with their friends, and at the same time beautifully packaging heavy themes lightly.
"It’s an album for anyone who grew up with rap and now sometimes looks back nostalgically at the old times, but also always enjoys new, fresh stuff," says Cro about "Raop".
Like no other, the King Of Raop embodies the feelings of a generation in their early twenties. "Raop" is: YouTube flickering, Tumblr, sex, love, heartbreak, freedom, living, suffering, being cool, questioning oneself, saying screw it to everything, looking forward, moving on.
"Raop" is the soundtrack for summer, for hanging out together and the best friends in the world, for the first great love and the first big breakup. The music for the trip to the lake, the first time, the last kiss, the farewell into the unknown. For the days you only realize afterward how great they actually were. An album to waste your youth with.
Web:
"Road to Raop Festival Tour"
29.06. Osterburg - Made in Germany
30.06. Bonn - Jan Delay Support
05.07. Ferropolis - Splash! Festival
06.07. Hamburg - Campus Open AIR
14.07. Stuttgart - HipHop Open
15.07. Mgladbach - Horst
28.07. Großefehn/Ostfriesland - Omas Teich
29.07. Paaren/Glien - Greenville Festival
09.08. Feldkirch - Poolbar Festival
17.08. Wirges - Spack
21-22.09. Hamburg - Reeperbahn
Cro "Raop Tour 2012"
Autumn tour is already almost sold out!
01.10.12 Saarbrücken - Garage
02.10.12 Köln - E Werk
03.10.12 Köln - Live Music Hall
04.10.12 Dortmund - FZW
06.10.12 Münster - Skaters Palace
07.10.12 Hannover - Capitol
08.10.12 Herford - Club X
10.10.12 Bremen - Schlachthof
11.10.12 Kiel - Max
12.10.12 Flensburg - Max
13.10.12 Rostock - Zwischenbau
15.10.12 Frankfurt - St. Peter Church
16.10.12 Kassel - Musiktheater
17.10.12 Fulda - Kreuz
18.10.12 Heidelberg - Halle02
20.10.12 Freiburg - Haus der Jugend
21.10.12 München - Muffathalle
22.10.12 Erlangen - E-Werk
23.10.12 A-Salzburg - Rockhaus
24.10.12 A-Wien - Flex
25.10.12 A-Graz - PPC
26.10.12 A-St. Pölten - Warehouse
27.10.12 Würzburg - Posthallen
28.10.12 Konstanz - Blechnerei
30.10.12 CH-Zürich - Dynamo
31.10.12 Augsburg - Kantine
01.11.12 Leipzig - Werk 2
02.11.12 Magdeburg - Festung Mark
03.11.12 Dresden - Strasse E
04.11.12 Erfurt - Centrum
06.11.12 Stuttgart - LKA
07.11.12 Stuttgart - LKA
Videos:
Cro - Road to Raop DVD - Trailer:
Cro “Easy” (official Video)
