Clueso

Clueso emerged as the first rap star from central Germany, upending the notion that only the country’s western areas could spawn hit-making hip-hop MCs and DJs. Born Thomas Hübner in Erfurt on April 9, 1980, he trained initially as a hairdresser yet switched to hip-hop at fifteen, appearing that same year on the compilation Erfurt Projekt 1996. He took his stage name from Inspector Clouseau, the bumbling detective played by Peter Sellers in The Pink Panther films. In 1998 he signed with manager Andreas Welskop, and soon afterward BMG released his debut solo project, the Clüso EP. After joining the Four Music roster he delivered his first full-length album, Text und Ton, in 2001.

A short stay near Köln followed before he returned to Erfurt to record his second album. Released in 2004, Gute Musik moved away from straight rap toward vocal lines and reggae-inflected grooves. Clueso represented his home state of Thuringia at the 2005 Bundesvision Song Contest with the track “Kein Bock zu Geh’n.” His third album, Weit Weg, reached stores the next year and absorbed a broader mix of jazz, funk, and rock. On 2008’s So Sehr Dabei the music shifted further into electric singer/songwriter pop performed with a complete live band. That same year he again represented Thuringia at Bundesvision and finished second.

Two years later he issued the symphonic live set Clueso & STÜBA Philharmonie together with his first book, Clueso: Von und Über, a volume of photographs, lyrics, anecdotes, and stories. His fifth studio album, An und Für Sich, arrived in 2011 and brought in numerous electronic textures. At the 1Live Radio awards that year he was voted best artist, edging out German pop veteran Herbert Grönemeyer. September 2014 brought his sixth album, Stadtrandlichter, his first to enter the charts at number one; he again won best artist at 1Live, and the record later earned gold certification.

After nearly fifteen years he parted ways with his longtime recording and touring band, then produced and released an acoustic album on his own. Despite the change of direction, Neuanfang debuted at number one in Germany upon its October 2016 release.