XATAR

German rapper Xatar, born Giwar Hajabi on December 24, 1981, in K&h-e Qal', Kordestan, Iran, arrived in Germany as a refugee and first began rapping during 1999. His earliest releases, the tracks “Bonn Brüser Berg” and “Lilane,” appeared in 2007, after which he established his own imprint, Alles Oder Nix Records, the next year. He subsequently served as rap coach on RTL2’s unsuccessful series Der Bluff, the premise of which required him to convert a literature student into a credible gangster rapper, before issuing his debut solo album, Alles Oder Nix, in November 2008. Violent lyrics prompted German authorities to place the album on the index in February 2010, thereby barring sales to minors and all advertising. Earlier legal difficulties included a period as a fugitive wanted for drug dealing from 2005 to 2007 and convictions for assault and battery in both 2007 and 2009; these culminated in an eight-year prison sentence handed down in December 2011 for the robbery of a gold transporter. During the opening months of his incarceration he wrote and recorded the follow-up album Nr. 415, which reached stores in April 2012.