LOW BASS COMMAND

When the "TBK Randgruppe" bursts onto the scene, it hails announcements, "tasteless like burgers without meat". Then 808's bang like bricks and bricks like 808's, then rough basses roll through the pleasing German rap idyll. The Tiefbasskommando - consisting of the rappers Eisberg, Double G, Shoki, Don Juan and MC Kneipenkrieger, the producer Retado and the videographer Downtown Destruction (DDP) - has turned autodidacticism into a virtue, the collective into a front MC and destructiveness into entertainment. With sheer pretentious effortlessness, raw underground attitude and an unprecedented dose of Berlin ignorance, the "TBK Familie" takes an ironic look into the abysses of human thought. Drug mania, exaggerated obscenity and maximally obtuse punchlines carom with awakened social criticism, subcultural references, changes of perspective and full-blown sex positivity - rap from the West Berlin school clashes with rough break beats and hyperpop borrowings.

The TBK cosmos is an inscrutable thicket - many-headed, mysterious, a little wicked. Outside of their cryptic lyrics, the seven-piece have so far revealed little about themselves, appearing on stage and in their low-pixelated videos exclusively under masks. As a result, the leap from Berlin underground phenomenon to nationally relevant rap crew is as sparsely documented in the media as the founding story of the Posse. The latter is also told in many variations within the collective. No wonder, since most of the members - with a sharpie in one hand and the umpteenth beer mug in the other - got to know each other in party toilets.

An apartment block in Neukölln, which is temporarily empty due to water damage, becomes the TBK neighbourhood in March 2020 - a primitive mattress dormitory is set up in one room, while a sparse studio is created in the other. Various moderately to heavily intoxicated people cavort around a free-standing cheap microphone day and night, outdoing each other with absurd punchlines. Everything is allowed, classic song structures are secondary. In this mode, the first TBK mixtape "Vol. 1" was created within two weeks, on which several phantom rappers did the honours alongside the then five-strong TBK core line-up. While "Vol. 1" was making the rounds, also thanks to the support of their friends 102 Boys, rapper Shoki joined the gang. She takes part in the second crew project "Ekeltape" with her empowering debut track "Eine wie mich". In 2021, the deep bass commando is finally complete: MC Kneipenkrieger, who had previously been visible in the Nordachse and Hot Money Records context, joins as the last protagonist. The third tape, the XXL project "Breakdance auf Scherben", was created in the usual self-taught manner, but nevertheless more conscientiously than its two predecessors - it contains, among other things, possibly the most impressive theme track to date, "U8", which is written from the perspective of heroin addicts. "Breakdance auf Scherben" was released in May 2022 and is considered the most experimental release to date, also due to the clear stylistic separation into an A-side and a B-side. Immediately afterwards, the band goes on tour for the first time. All venues are sold out, and there are shows in several cities.