Peter Fox is basically my hero... I don't think I've ever managed to do a set or record a mix without playing a tune from his band Seeed or one of his solo efforts. Not only is he a great MC (although - according to a native german speaker - not lyrically, but I can't understand the majority of what he's actually saying, and in terms of delivery he's spot on) but an amazing producer as well, behind a bunch of Seeed's best work - Doctor's Darling riddim anyone? y'know... Tanya Stephens - It's a Pity... yeah that was him! Who'd have thought one of the biggest riddims of the decade was German??

His solo album Stadtaffe deserves the same international recognition if you ask me. I love foreign language hip hop - one of the things I love about hip hop is that it's not about using your voice as an instrument so much as using language as an instrument, and listening to someone do it using a language you don't really understand opens up it's pure sonic qualities. But Stadtaffe isn't just good because it's a German hip hop album. In terms of production and vision it's one of the most original hip hop albums in any language that I'm aware of. It's orchestral, cinematic, huge, even apocalyptic, whilst always being full phat. It's executed so completely and with such confidence - other hip hop albums might have a track flirting with something this new then veer back into more familiar territory, but Peter's style holds throughout, taking advantage of the album more than anyone in the genre usually manages.

BASICALLY I THINK HE'S GREAT OK

So anyway when I spotted this over at Man Recorder I had to repost... This is Bani Silva's reimagining of Haus Am See from Peter Fox's solo album. It's really not that far from the original but with vocals in Portuguese (I'm guessing since Bani is Brazilian). and some cut up samples giving it the lightest dusting of Baile Funkness. Awesome!

Peter Fox – Casa Do Rio feat. Bani Silva (zshare)

You can shake your bacon to one of his tunes on my 15 minute mix, or check this out from Stadtaffe:
Peter Fox - Kopf Verloren.

And finally on a sort of related note here's a mashup of mine from a while back, It's A Pity given a more afrobeat setting... Tanya Stephens vs Oscar Sulley