Silla

German rapper Silla, born Matthias Schulze on May 5, 1984, performed under the stage name Godsilla until 2010. During his high school years he connected with King Orgasmus One, the future founder of I Luv Money Records, and contributed a guest verse to Rap Braucht Kein Abitur, the 2003 debut album by Bass Sultan Hengzt, another co-founder of that label. Silla issued his first solo project, Übertalentiert, the following year and soon afterward teamed with King Orgasmus One for the joint release Schmutzige Euros. After appearing on Bushido’s Staatsfeind Nr. 1 in 2005—Bushido having departed I Luv Money in 2002—the same artist offered Silla a contract with his new imprint Ersguterjunge, an offer Silla declined in order to remain with I Luv Money.

His sophomore effort, Massenhysterie, arrived in 2006, and a second collaborative album with King Orgasmus One followed in 2007. Later that year Silla unveiled his third solo album, City of God. Teaming once more with Fler, who recorded his portions as Frank White, Silla released Südberlin Maskulin in 2008; the project climbed to number 22 on the German charts.

After parting ways with I Luv Money in 2009, Silla announced plans for a fourth solo album titled Silla Instinkt, yet treatment for alcoholism forced repeated delays, including an emergency hospitalization in June 2009 when his blood alcohol level reached 0.49 percent. In April 2010 the Japanese firm T_h_, which controls the Godzilla trademark, compelled him to abandon the name Godsilla, prompting the permanent switch to Silla. The long-delayed Silla Instinkt finally appeared on I Luv Money in March 2011 and debuted at number 30. Six months later Silla joined Fler’s Maskulin roster, and in March 2012 the pair delivered the sequel Südberlin Maskulin II.