Culcha Candela

Biography

Culcha Candela is a dancehall, hip hop, house and reggae group from Berlin, Germany. Sources say they formed at different times but in the range of 2001–2003. Their lyrics range from political issues, such as "Una Cosa" or "Schöne, neue Welt" to party songs, such as "Partybus". The name Culcha Candela can be translated into English roughly as "hot" or "bright" culture.

History

Culcha Candela themselves set their founding on 7 July 2002 through the band members Johnny Strange, Itchyban and Lafrotino. They were later joined by Larsito, Mr. Reedoo, Don Cali and DJ Chino. The different origin of the members is also reflected in the music so the band members rap and sing in English, German, Spanish and Patois. In the years after that, they performed numerous concerts, in 2004 the debut album Union Verdadera×Union Verdadera20 September 2004 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 15 tracks1Union Verdadera3:582In da City3:413Augen auf3:404Solarenergie3:145Chant as One3:256Colombia4:027No es igual3:578One Destination (Wir wollen's schnella)3:389Homie3:3210Tres tristes tigres3:2711Traumhaft4:4912Shotgun Lady3:3613Musica3:3214This is a Warning3:2215Back to Our Roots9:20 was released, reaching the German Charts.
The band toured together with Saïan Supa Crew, Gentleman and the Söhne Mannheims. In May 2005 they made a remix of "Siéntelo", the reggaeton hit of the Puerto Rican Speedy and the US-singer Lumidee. On 12 September 2005 their second album, Next Generation×Next Generation2005 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Fuego3:342Next Generation4:253Mother Earth4:014Una Serenata3:185Who Got the Key5:026Una Cosa...4:167Partybus3:408Jeder Tag ist ein Comeback3:479More Peace3:5810Scheinwelt4:03112ter Blick4:1512La bicicleta3:5013Tanz2:4814Give Thanks5:29, was released, followed by their first tour of their own. Its style resembles that of the first one, with a strong reggae influence.
On 10 August 2007, their single "Hamma" was released. The pre-single from their third album, "Culcha Candela" was released on 31 August 2007.

In the following six weeks they were able to successfully defend first place in the single charts. "Hamma" later also went platinum A Hamma! Tour followed in German-speaking countries. The second single released from the album was Ey DJ×Ey DJ24 November 2007 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Ey DJ (Single Edit)3:372Ey DJ (mi barrio remix)3:513EY DJ (Album Version)3:46 on 23 November 2007.
On 14 February 2008 the band represented their hometown Berlin with the song "Chica" at the Bundesvision Song Contest in the TUI Arena, in which they took seventh place.
On 28 August 2009 their fourth studio album was released, Schöne neue Welt×Schöne neue Welt28 August 2009 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Schöne neue Welt3:402Somma im Kiez3:263Monsta3:164Siento4:095Gimme Some3:476Manchmal4:007No hay mal3:348The Greatest3:519I Like It3:4310Eiskalt3:2111Relax4:2612Nobody3:5913Steh auf4:06, which went Platinum in Germany and Gold in Switzerland in 2011. The album stayed in the German charts for over a year. In terms of style, it was based on its predecessor: there are party songs, serious songs, but also two ballads on it. The first single was the song of the same name, "Schöne Neue Welt", which is about social, political development and environmental issues. The second single, "Monsta×Monsta4 December 2009 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 7 tracks1Monsta (original version)3:182Monsta (Vincent Thomas remix) (radio edit)3:423Monsta (DJ Teddy O remix)3:264Monsta (Mysto & Pizzi remix)3:275Monsta (Alba Candela TSB remix)3:256Monsta (DJ Kore remix)3:197Monsta (Vincent Thomas remix) (extended version)7:37", was released on 22 October. It went gold in Germany and in Switzerland even platinum. The third single was "Eiskalt×Eiskalt16 March 2010 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Eiskalt3:212Eiskalt (Instrumental)3:163Eiskalt (Crada Remix)3:20", which was released on 19 March 2010. In summer 2010 the fourth and final single, "Somma im Kiez×Somma im Kiez28 May 2010 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Somma im Kiez (original version)3:272Somma im Kiez (S.I.K. remix by Wir)3:21", was released.
In November 2010 Culcha Candela went on tour in Central America for three weeks at the invitation of the Goethe-Institut. The same year, Lafrontino left the band.
On 22 October 2010 their first best-of album was released, Das Beste×Das Beste22 October 2010 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 20 tracks1Monsta3:182Schöne neue Welt3:403Hamma!3:354Berlin City Girl3:475Siento3:486Chica4:227Eiskalt3:228Move It3:129Next Generation4:2510Partybus3:3911Somma im Kiez3:2912General3:2113In da City3:4014No es igual3:5615Give Thanks4:1016Ey DJ3:3717Vitamina3:5618Solarenergie3:1419Steh auf4:0620Union Verdadera3:57, which includes songs from their four studio albums, but also three new songs: "Move It×Move It5 October 2010 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Move It3:112Move It (Instrumental)3:10", "Berlin City Girl×Berlin City Girl18 January 2011 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Berlin City Girl („WIR“ Single Edit)3:122Berlin City Girl („WIR“ Club Mix)4:51" and "General". The first single released was "Move It" on 8 October, which rose to number 7 on the German charts. The second release, on 14 January 2011, was "Berlin City Girl"as a Wir Edition Remix.
On 27 May they performed in the König-Pilsener-Arena in Oberhausen at the VIVA Comet 2011 award ceremony and received the award in the Best Band category. After the award ceremony, they announced a new album for the end of the year, the first song of which they presented on their tour: "Hungry Eyes×Hungry Eyes18 November 2011 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Hungry Eyes3:242Hungry Eyes (WIR Club Mix)4:493Hungry Eyes3:264Culcha Grüße0:16".
The single "Wildes Ding×Wildes Ding6 January 2012 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Wildes Ding3:382Wildes Ding (Instrumental)3:39" was released on 6 January 2012. The "jungle version" of the song was the theme song for RTL - Dschungelcamp 2012. On 8 March 2012 they started their 15-concert Flätrate Tour with a concert in Dresden. Three weeks later they performed a final concert in their hometown Berlin in front of nearly 7000 fans.
At the end of 2012 they announced that they would take a break the following year. There would be no concerts and no new music would be released. Instead, they wanted to work on solo projects. Larsito offered drum workshops and recorded an album called Etwas bleibt, Johnny Strange got involved with the organization Afrika Rise, Don Cali produced as part of the project KAO Music, Chino and Itchy appeared as Itchinosound. In June 2014 Itchyban released his solo album Unperfekt under his real first name Mateo on the label Warner.
On 15 May 2014 Culcha Candela officially announced that Larsito and Mr. Reedoo had left the band and wanted to continue working solo. At the beginning of 2015, the four remaining band members also announced the change to Warner Music and the release of a new album together in summer 2015. On 1 May 2015 they released the song "La Noche Entera×La noche entera1 May 2015 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1La noche entera2:26", which premiered as a pre-single exclusively on their Facebook page. On 5 June their first official single "Wayne×Wayne5 June 2015 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Wayne3:05" (feat. Curlyman) was released from the new album Candelistan×Candelistan28 August 2015 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Welcome To Candelistan3:012La Bomba3:023La Noche Entera2:294Wayne3:065Coming Home3:176Traumwelt2:537Natural3:158Du weißt3:319Schöne Frauen3:1110Nie genug3:5611Lass ma einen bauen3:3512Bei uns läuft3:1613Scheiße, aber happy3:2814Zeiten ändern sich3:27, which was released on 28 August 2015.
In 2017, they released their seventh studio album, Feel Erfolg×Feel Erfolg25 August 2017 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 15 tracks1Rodeo2In meiner City3Mach Dein Ding4Cool mit mir selbst5Genieß Mein Leben6Komma Klar7Piste8Original Gyal9Pull Up10Versace11Schlager schlägt zurück12Copacabana13Ey DJ II14Starting Over15Feel Erfolg. This was followed in 2021 by Top Ten and in 2023 by Zu wahr um schön zu sein.