Our guest on 24.10.2010 Michael Bernd "Smudo" Schmidt, Rapper and Musician

Smudo was one of the co-founders of the German hip-hop group Die Fantastische Vier. The rappers have enjoyed more than two decades of success and have made German-language rap popular in at home and abroad.

Smudo was born on March 6, 1968 in Offenbach. After finishing primary school, he moved with his family to the state of Baden-Württemberg and settled near the capital, Stuttgart. As a young person, Smudo was taken with hip-hop music and decided to become a rapper himself. With three school friends he founded the group, Die Fantastische Vier in 1989. Their breakthrough came in 1992 with the song Die da?. The German-language hit made rap and hip-hop popular in Germany and Smudo and his fellow band members became stars. Since then, the group has had releases make it on to the charts again and again. They have set up a record company and a concert promotion agency. At the same time, Smudo also is pursuing his hobbies. He's a passionate amateur race car driver and has a pilot's license as well. The 42-year-old has two daughters and lives in Hamburg.