Cro

Cro stands among Germany's most recognized musicians, earning multiple awards and accumulating millions of streams through his energetic fusion of rap and pop, a sound he fittingly labeled "raop." Both this musical approach and the panda mask that appeared in all his promotional images helped define his public image. After breaking into widespread attention via his debut single in 2011, he sustained and expanded that momentum, securing the top spot on the German charts with each successive album from the 2015 release Raop through the 2017 album tru., while later tracks such as 2020's "Fall Auf" and "Endless Summer" kept him in the spotlight.

Born Carlo Waibel in 1990, he started producing his own recordings at age 13. Still completing his schooling, he issued self-made mixtapes under the name Lyr1c, beginning with 2009's Trash and continuing with 2011's Meine Musik. He switched to the Cro alias later that year for the single "Easy" and its matching mixtape. Within weeks of the track's arrival alongside its video, the song gained rapid traction, surpassing half a million views in the opening fortnight and eventually accumulating over 60 million. Building on this momentum, he prepared a full-length debut that surfaced in July 2012 under the title Raop, a 13-track set featuring the already-viral "Easy." The project claimed number-one positions in both Germany and Austria and earned platinum certification, prompting an expanded edition, Raop +5, in 2013. That same year he also delivered the Sunny mixtape amid touring dates and a clothing collaboration with H&M for men's and women's lines.

His second official album, Melodie, arrived mostly self-produced with contributions from Shuko and Freedo. Issued in June 2014 on the Chimperator label, it immediately topped the German chart, performed strongly in Austria and Switzerland, and remained on those listings for nearly twelve months; the single "Traum" likewise reached the summit. Cro's MTV Unplugged set came out in 2015 and again led the charts, as did its single "Bye Bye." Ahead of the September 2017 release of his third studio album tru., the gold-certified "Unendlichkeit," "Baum," and "Tru" served as precursors. Like its predecessors, tru. ascended to number one in Germany and generated tens of millions of streams. In the following years his output shifted toward standalone singles and guest spots on other artists' releases while he pursued additional projects in film and visual art. Standalone tracks such as "One Way" and "Victoria's Secret" appeared in 2018, followed by the 2019 single "1000 Hits" and features on releases from Kitschkrieg and Majan. New material resurfaced in 2020 with "Fall Auf" and "Endless Summer" plus several collaborations involving fellow figures in the German rap community.