Farid Bang

Among Germany's leading gangsta rappers stands Farid Bang, who launched his recording career in 2005 and quickly established himself among the highest-ranking entries on the nation's official GfK Entertainment album chart. Following his initial releases, he launched a consistent run of solo Top Ten projects beginning with Der Letzte Tag Deines Lebens (2012). Joint headline efforts with Kollegah, encompassing the Jung, Brutal, Gutaussehend series that extended through 2017 and Platin War Gestern (2018), likewise achieved strong chart results.

Farid Hamed El Abdellaoui entered the world in Melilla, Spain, and spent his childhood in Málaga before relocating at age eight with his family to Düsseldorf, Germany. At nineteen, encouraged by his friend Tekken, he began rapping and soon crossed paths with Eko Fresh, who placed him under contract with the German Dream Entertainment label. Credited under the alias Farin Urlaub, he contributed to three selections on Eko Fresh's 2005 mixtape Fick Noch Immer Deine Story. His first full-length project, Asphalt Massaka, arrived in 2008, while the 2009 collaborative album Jung, Brutal, Gutaussehend with Kollegah climbed to number 30 on the German chart.

Successive projects steadily elevated his profile: Asphalt Massaka 2 reached number 56 in 2010, and Banger Leben Kürzer attained number 11 the following year. Der Letzte Tag Deines Lebens entered at number three in 2012. Issued on his own BangerMusik imprint between 2014 and 2016, Killa, Asphalt Massaka 3, and Blut each peaked at or near the summit of the chart. By the close of 2018, three additional number-one albums had appeared through his partnership with Kollegah, namely the second and third installments of Jung, Brutal, Gutaussehend plus Platin War Gestern.