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Cro (musician)

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Cro
Cro in 2019
Cro in 2019
Background information
Birth nameCarlo Waibel
Born (1990-01-31) 31 January 1990 (age 34)
Mutlangen, West Germany
GenresPop rap, hip hop
Occupation(s)Rapper, singer, producer
Years active2006–present
Websitecromusik.de

Carlo Waibel (born 31 January 1990[1]), better known by his stage name Cro, is a German rapper and singer. He describes his music as a mixture between rap and pop, which he calls "raop". He is known for wearing a panda mask on stage.

Early life

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Cro was born Carlo Waibel.[2][3] He attended the Realschule Galgenberg in Aalen,[4][5] and later the Johannes-Gutenberg-Schule, a vocational school in Stuttgart.[6][7][8] He began recording music at the age of 13.[9] and learned to play piano and guitar.[10]

Musical career

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In 2009, Cro released his first mixtape, Trash. On 11 February 2011, his second mixtape Meine Musik was released.[11] It was available for free download. Cro produced the entire mixtape by himself.[12] Through the mixtape German hip-hop musician Kaas took notice of Cro.[11] Besides his musical career, Cro is also active as a designer. Since 2010, he has been designing under his clothing label Vio Vio.[12] After receiving his Mittlere Reife, he completed an apprenticeship as a media designer and worked for the Stuttgarter Zeitung as a cartoonist.[13][14]

Through Kaas, Cro met Sebastian Andrej Schweizer, founder of the independent-label, Chimperator Productions, and Kodimey Awokou. At the end of September 2011, a "Making of" video for a new artist was published by the label leading to speculations about which artist had been actually signed.[15] In October 2011, Schweizer announced that he had signed Cro.[12]

Cro performing in 2013

From 30 October until 7 November 2011, Cro was a supporting act for the Norwegian band Madcon during their Glow Tour 2011.[16] During the concert and also for photos, Cro wore a panda-mask.[12][17] Psaiko.Dino, producer at Chimperator Productions, adopted the role as a spokesperson for Cro, especially for the video-blogs.[12]

In November 2011, the music video for Easy, which had been directed by Harris Hodovic and was announcing the upcoming mixtape, was released on tape.tv.[18][19] A few days later, the video was released on YouTube, where it gained more than 500,000 views in the first two weeks.[12] In the beginning of 2012, it had gained 12 million views, mid-May, the views had risen to a number of more than 44 million.[20][21] The American blog hypetrak.com also reported about the video and Cro.[22] German hip hop and funk musician Jan Delay posted the video on his Facebook page and said, Cro was the "future of German rap".[23] Besides "Easy", "Hi Kids" and "Kein Benz" were also released prior to the release of the mixtape.[23][24] On 1 December 2011, Cro was a guest on the show NeoParadise by the channel ZDFneo, where he performed snippets of three songs from his mixtapes Meine Musik and Easy.[25] One day later, Chimperator Productions released the mixtape Easy which is available for free download on their website.[26]

In the beginning of 2012, Cro signed an author's contract with Universal Music Publishing Group.[27] On 27 January 2012, he embarked on a concert tour named "Pandas Gone Wild!", on which he was accompanied by Psaiko.Dino.[28] In mid February 2012, the music video for "Easy" gained 1,000,000 views on YouTube.[29] In mid May the number of the views rose to 3,000,000.[30] On 23 March 2012, the song "Easy" was released as a single.[31] Besides the Standard version, the Limited Edition version included the songs "Hi Kids", "Lieblingssong", as well as "Konfetti", a collaboration with Ahzumjot and Rockstah.[32] "Easy" entered the German Single Charts on second place.[33]

In June 2012, Cro's single "Easy" was certified gold in Germany. The music video for the single gained 20,000,000 views on YouTube.[34] From 29 June until 1 July, Cro released one single each day, "Du", "King of Raop", and "Meine Zeit".[35] Music videos were also filmed for every single. On 6 July, Cro released his debut album, Raop. Mid-July, "Easy", "Hi Kids", "Du", "King of Raop", and "Meine Zeit", all of his five released singles were placed in the Top 100 in the German Single Charts.[36]

On 7 September 2012, Cro released a free mixtape called Raop which included 16 remixes of songs from his album Raop.[37] On 28 September, Cro competed in the Bundesvision Song Contest with his and Die Orsons' song "Horst & Monika" and took the fifth place.[38] On 19 October 2012, Cro released the track "1 Millionen" through the iTunes and made it available for free download. He dedicated this track to having more than 1 million fans on Facebook.[39] On 21 October, he released a music video to accompany the track.[40]

On 27 October 2012, Cro released the music video for his fifth single "Einmal um die Welt" which was released on 2 November.[41][42][43] In November, Cro's debut album, Raop and single "Easy" reached platinum status in Germany whereas "Du" was certified gold. In Austria, Raop and "Easy" and in Switzerland, "Easy" were also certified gold.[44] He also won the Bambi award in the category "Pop National".[45] On 6 December, he won the 1LIVE Krone for "Beste Single" for his debut single, "Easy".[46] He was also named Newcomer of the Year 2012 by iTunes.[47] His debut album, Raop was named "Album of the Year" by MTV.[48]

In March 2013, Cro won a Swiss Music Award in the category "Best Album Urban - International" for his album Raop.[49] Cro has cooperated with H&M and has designed a collection of clothes for men and women which was released on 4 April 2013.[50] On 11 March, H&M and Cro released additional behind-the-scenes images plus an interview.[51]

Other ventures

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Mercedes-Benz CLA StreetStyle designed by Cro

Apart from his music, Cro also works as a designer.[52] In 2010, he founded his own fashion label called VioVio. In 2015, he made a unique design for a Mercedes-Benz CLA which was given as a prize to one of his fans and is now part of the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany.

After the release of his last studio album tru., Cro started showing more of his art in general. On 8 September 2017, he had his first vernissage at the Circle Culture Gallery in Berlin, where he showed several pieces of art, including masks that he colored and self-made paintings.

In 2016, Cro made his first movie titled Unsere Zeit ist jetzt [de] ("Our Time Is Now"), where he was working together with German actor Til Schweiger. The movie started on 6 October 2016 in German cinemas.

Panda mask

[edit]

Cro wears a panda mask whenever he is on stage or doing something media related. His first mask was a cut version made out of latex. He once said that the main reason for his wearing it is to protect his privacy. In 2014, he wore an alternate mask made of cotton. Since the premiere of the video to "Unendlichkeit", Cro wore a more minimalistic mask that is made of plastic and is fully white.

Since August 13 2020, Cro changed his mask with nearly every new single he released for his album, trip. Currently he has been releasing promotional photos using a “futuristic space mask”, which very vaguely resembles the panda mask he used to wear.

Discography

[edit]
Main article: Cro discography

Tours

[edit]
  • Support for Madcon's Glow Tour (2011) (8 shows)
  • Pandas Gone Wild! Tour (2012) (10 shows)
  • Hip Teens Wear Tight Jeans 2012 Tour (with Rockstah and Ahzumjot, 2012) (17 shows)
  • Road to Raop Festival Tour (2012) (20 shows)
  • Raop Tour (2012–13) (44 shows)
  • Cro Open Air Tour 2013 (2013) (14 shows)
  • Mello Tour 2015
  • stay tru. tour 2018
  • trip is (a)live Tour 2022

Awards and nominations

[edit]
Year Ceremony Category Work Result Source
2012 1LIVE Krone Best Album Raop Nominated
Best Single "Easy" Won
Bambi Awards Pop National — Won
Hiphop.de Awards Best Facebook Page /cromusic Nominated
Best Newcomer - National — Nominated
Best Rap-Solo-Act - National — Nominated
Best Release - National Raop Nominated
Best Song - National "Du" Nominated
Best Video - National "Meine Zeit" Nominated
MTV Europe Music Awards Best German Act — Nominated
World Music Awards World's Best Song "Easy" Pending
World's Best Video "Easy" Pending
World's Best Male Artist — Pending
2013 Swiss Music Awards Best Album Urban - International Raop Won
2017 Hiphop.de Awards Best Producer National N/A Won [61]

References

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  1. ^ BACKSPINTV. "BACKSPIN TV #360 – Cro (Interview)". YouTube.
  2. ^ Germany, Stuttgarter Zeitung, Stuttgart. "Rapper Cro aus Stuttgart: Steiler als die Fantas". stuttgarter-zeitung.de (in German). Retrieved 4 March 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Mösken, Anna Lea (29 February 2012). "Der Rapper mit den Puschelohren". Berliner Zeitung (in German). Berliner Verlag. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012.
  4. ^ "Das Warten und Bangen hat endlich ein Ende". Schwäbische Zeitung Online (in German). Schwäbischer Verlag GmbH & Co. KG Drexler, Gessler. 10 July 2007. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  5. ^ "Radio 7 Minikonzert mit Cro - Interview". Radio 7 (in German). YouTube. 8 August 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  6. ^ "Ex-JGS-Schüler "Cro" mischt deutsche Hip-Hop-Szene auf". Johannes-Gutenberg-Schule Stuttgart (in German). May 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  7. ^ "LYR1C und DaJuan". neue-bands.de (in German). Mario Behrendt. n.d. Archived from the original on 26 May 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  8. ^ Thomas, Fabian (4 February 2012). "Cro: Wie alles begann." jds-rap-blog.de (in German). Fabian Thomas. Archived from the original on 10 February 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  9. ^ "Mein Rap #51 – Cro". meinrap.de (in German). chb Medien. 4 December 2011. Archived from the original on 8 December 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  10. ^ "Cro/Chimperator Productions". Chimperator Productions (in German). n.d. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  11. ^ a b "Cro – Meine Musik (Mixtape)". meinrap.de (in German). chb Medien. 11 February 2011. Archived from the original on 30 November 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  12. ^ a b c d e f "Cro". Laut AG (in German). Imperia AG. n.d. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  13. ^ Heppeler, Jeremias (28 January 2012). "Was steckt hinter dem Phänomen Cro?". Südkurier (in German). Gesellschafter der Südkurier GmbH. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  14. ^ Heppeler, Jeremias (28 January 2012). "Was steckt hinter dem Phänomen Cro?". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Südwestdeutsche Medien Holding. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  15. ^ "Chimperator – Rätsel um neues Signing gelöst". meinrap.de (in German). chb Medien. 13 October 2011. Archived from the original on 20 March 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  16. ^ "Cro – Tour mit Madcon / Mixtape im Dezember". meinrap.de (in German). chb Medien. 29 October 2011. Archived from the original on 8 November 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  17. ^ "Cro – Madcon Tour Videoblog #1 (Video)". meinrap.de (in German). chb Medien. 15 November 2011. Archived from the original on 16 December 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  18. ^ "Cro – Easy (Video)". meinrap.de (in German). chb Medien. 22 November 2011. Archived from the original on 26 November 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  19. ^ "CRO – Easy". urwlcm.com/ (in German). 2011. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  20. ^ Pollmer, Cornelius (n.d.). "Nummer Eins des Internets: Deutschrap von Cro". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Südwestdeutsche Medien Holding. Archived from the original on 30 May 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  21. ^ "Cro unterschreibt bei Universal". rap.de (in German). Joint Forces Media GmbH. 23 January 2012. Archived from the original on 17 August 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  22. ^ Kujundzic, Petar (2 December 2011). "Cro – Easy". Hypetrak.com. Petar Kujundzic. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  23. ^ a b "Exklusiv: Cro – Hi Kids (Audio)". meinrap.de (in German). chb Medien. 28 November 2011. Archived from the original on 2 December 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  24. ^ "Cro – Kein Benz (Audio)". meinrap.de (in German). chb Medien. 5 November 2011. Archived from the original on 2 December 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  25. ^ "K.I.Z. und Cro bei NeoParadise (Video)". meinrap.de (in German). chb Medien. 2 December 2011. Archived from the original on 3 December 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  26. ^ Romberg, Sven (2 December 2011). "Cro: Free-Mixtape, TV Auftritt und die Maske". hiphop.de (in German). ManeraMedia GmbH. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  27. ^ Wellinger, Renzo (23 January 2012). "Universal Music Publishing angelt sich Cro / mit Video". Musikmarkt GmbH & Co. KG (in German). Musikmarkt Verlag GmbH, München. Archived from the original on 21 March 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  28. ^ "Cro: "Pandas gone wild!"-Tour". rappers.in (in German). 22 January 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  29. ^ "Cro knackt mit dem MeinRap.de-Exclusive "Hi Kids" die 1.000.000 Views". meinrap.de (in German). chb Medien. 16 February 2012. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  30. ^ "Cro knackt mit "Hi Kids" die 3.000.000 Klicks". meinrap.de (in German). chb Medien. 20 April 2012. Archived from the original on 23 April 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  31. ^ "Cro – Easy (Vorbestellung)". meinrap.de (in German). chb Medien. 3 March 2012. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  32. ^ "Cro – Easy Limited Edition (Vorbestellung)". meinrap.de (in German). chb Medien. 8 March 2012. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  33. ^ "Cro und Kool Savas in den Charts". meinrap.de (in German). chb Medien. 2 April 2012. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  34. ^ ""Easy" von Cro mit Goldener Schallplatte ausgezeichnet". meinrap.de (in German). chb Medien. 22 June 2012. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  35. ^ "Cro – Drei Singles in drei Tagen (Video)". meinrap.de (in German). chb Medien. 29 June 2012. Archived from the original on 4 July 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  36. ^ Gabric, Martina (10 July 2012). "Charts Deutschland KW 28: Cro mit fünf Singles in den Charts / mit Videos". Musikmarkt GmbH & Co. KG (in German). Musikmarkt Verlag GmbH, München. Archived from the original on 5 January 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  37. ^ "Cro – Maop". Mashup-Germany (in German). David Wessel. 7 September 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  38. ^ "Bundesvision Song Contest : Die Orsons & Cro holen Platz 5!". Universal Music Group (in German). 29 September 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  39. ^ "1 Millionen - Single". iTunes Store. 12 October 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  40. ^ "Cro - 1 Million (OFFICIAL VERSION)". Chimperator Productions. YouTube. 21 October 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
  41. ^ "Cro: Einmal um die Welt (Official Version)". Chimperator Productions (in German). YouTube. 27 October 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  42. ^ "Einmal Um Die Welt EP [Single]". Amazon.de (in German). 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  43. ^ "Einmal um die Welt - Single". iTunes Store (in German). 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  44. ^ Wellinger, Renzo (9 November 2012). "Cro: Gold- und Platin-Regen für den Panda-Rapper". Musikmarkt GmbH & Co. KG (in German). Musikmarkt Verlag GmbH. Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  45. ^ a b "Rapper Cro erhält einen Bambi". Die Welt (in German). Axel Springer AG. 13 November 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  46. ^ a b "1LIVE Krone - Beste Single". einslivekrone.de (in German). 1LIVE/WDR. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  47. ^ Marquart, Oliver (14 December 2012). "Cro ist iTunes Newcomer 2012". rap.de (in German). Joint Forces Media GmbH. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  48. ^ "MTV INTERVIEW CRO - ALBUM DES JAHRES 2012". MTV.de (in German). MTV. 17 January 2013. Archived from the original on 12 March 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  49. ^ a b "Swiss Music Awards 2013". Swiss Music Awards. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
  50. ^ "DESIGN BY CRO: H&M KOOPERIERT MIT DEM DEUTSCHEN RAPPER". artschoolvets.com (in German). 5 March 2013. Archived from the original on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  51. ^ "BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEO & BILDER: CRO FÜR H&M CAPSULE COLLECTION". artschoolvets.com (in German). 11 March 2013. Archived from the original on 20 September 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  52. ^ "Cro". cromusik.info (in German). 2011. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  53. ^ "Cro: Bei der '1Live Krone' gegen Lena und 'Die Toten Hosen'". Gala.de (in German). G+J Women New Media GmbH. 18 October 2012. Archived from the original on 24 November 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  54. ^ "1LIVE Krone - Bestes Album". einslivekrone.de (in German). 1LIVE/WDR. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  55. ^ a b c d e f Unrau, Erich (12 December 2012). "Hiphop.de Awards präsentiert von Releasehiphop.de – Das Voting". Hiphop.de. ManeraMedia GmbH. Archived from the original on 15 December 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  56. ^ a b c d e f Unrau, Erich (11 February 2013). "Hiphop.de Awards 2012 präsentiert von Releasehiphop.de – Die Preisverleihung". Hiphop.de (in German). ManeraMedia GmbH. Archived from the original on 15 February 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
  57. ^ "Nominierte der MTV Europe Music Awards". Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger (in German). M. DuMont Schauberg. 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  58. ^ "World's Best Song". World Music Awards. Archived from the original on 10 February 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  59. ^ "World's Best Video". World Music Awards. Archived from the original on 10 February 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  60. ^ "World's Best Male Artist". World Music Awards. Archived from the original on 10 February 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  61. ^ Meister, Saskia (12 January 2018). "Hiphop.de Awards 2017 presented by Ultimate Ears: Die Gewinner!". Hiphop.de (in German). Retrieved 27 March 2018.
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