Beginner & Nina Hagen

Formed in Hamburg in the early '90s, German rap group Beginner first went by the name Absolute Beginner, a four-man band comprised of MCs Jan Ei+ƒfeldt (aka Jan Delay), Denyo, and Mardin and producer DJ Mad. Although they initially rhymed in both German and English, they soon decided to stick solely to their native tongue and released their first single, the politically charged "K.E.I.N.E." in 1993, with the EP Gotting coming out that same year. In 1996, they issued their album Flashnizm, which was enough to get them major-label attention, though Mardin left the group before t...