TIEFBASSKOMMANDO

In the organizer's words:

DEEP BASS COMMAND

Admission from the age of 16!

When the "TBK Randgruppe" burst onto the scene, the announcements hail, "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 in perspective and
sex positivity - rap from the West Berlin school clashes with rough break beats and hyperpop borrowings. In short: TBK music is horror movie cinema, escalation in the techno basement, action in the subway shaft and dimly lit pub night all at the same time; it's riot, it's tug-of-war, it's meme, it's great art. "Why? Because!" 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 in masks. Interviews? Not a chance. Reporting? Rarely sown. As a result, the leap from Berlin underground phenomenon to nationally relevant rap crew is just 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. The fact is that most of the TBK members are native Berliners, some of them have known each other for fifteen years, some of them made music together in smaller groups and even lived together before the crew was founded. It's also a fact that some of the band got together in Leipzig in 2019 and recorded their first parts in some cubbyhole in the presence of producer Uncle F. "Deine Mutter ist ne Nette", the first unexpected underground hit by Double G, Eisberg and Don Juan, dates from this time. Even this song is characterized by attributes that are still firmly part of TBK's DNA today: rough lines, naïve flows, headset quality, anachronism and bass banging in the background. Producer Retado and videographer DDP became part of the conglomerate in the course of "TBK Familie" at the latest and from then on played a key role in the musical and aesthetic direction of the project. Retado, who played in a punk band in his youth and fished in faraway rap realms on Soundcloud, expanded the musical field of tension in which the crew operates immeasurably: from now on, West Berlin rap socialization and Detroit electro are mixed with hyperpop, pub hits and happy hardcore. The video for "TBK Familie", which has since been clicked in the mid-six-figure range, was shot by DDP, as were all subsequent videos.

Between the Nintendo NES look and camcorder footage shot in remote Berlin bunkers, he creates a visual world that also visually separates the low bass commando from the rest of the scene. The visual work is part of the TBK feeling and, like the songs themselves, plays with the aesthetics of violence, exaggerated roughness, Memphis nostalgia, hectic and anti-style. When the rest of the world goes into corona lockdown, the TBK mob quickly becomes squatters. In March 2020, an apartment building in Neukölln, which is temporarily empty due to water damage, becomes the TBK quarter - a primitive mattress camp 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" is created within two weeks, on which several phantom rappers do the honors alongside the then five-member TBK core line-up. The crew finally grew together during this time and the tape was released in August 2020 - by which time the squat had long since been blown thanks to the meter readings. While 'Vol. 1' is making the rounds, also thanks to the support of friends 102 Boys, rapper Shoki joins the gang. She contributes her empowering debut track "Eine wie mich" to the second crew project "Ekeltape", released in December of the same year, which is created in Retado's room, is very popular and sells out in physical form within days. In 2021, the Tiefbasskommando 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. During the interim release break, the number of views of long-released songs shot up to new heights on the TBK channels. "Breakdance auf Scherben" is 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 following the release, the band goes on tour for the first time. All the venues were sold out, several cities were packed out, and in Stuttgart the crowd promptly destroyed the barrier fences in front of the stage at the start of the show. The concerts at the sold-out Astra Kulturhaus, the Felsenkeller in Leipzig and the Übel & Gefährlich in Hamburg are also remembered as legendary. One year later, the deep bass commando is attacking again: the fourth LP is ready in the drawer, and in December 2023 there will be concerts in a total of nine major cities in Germany, Poland and Austria on the "Taxi Safari" tour.