Mellowbag

Mellowbag existed from 1994 - 2001, with half the group based out of Berlin and the other half in Cologne, Germany, the group recorded 2 albums between 1996 and 1999 on Downbeat Records as well as several singles and remixes for other artists as well. The group has seen several formations since its inception. Their first album "Around the Clock in a Day" was recorded in French and in English, with Tyron Ricketts, the host of "Word Cup" a german weekly hip-hop show on VIVA TV, rhyming in english and Jeremy Baudouin a.k.a J. Bo Monkey, a french MC, graffiti artist and designer based out of Berlin. DJ B. Side and Coldfingha on production and Cecile Brown on vocals, their album was well received by the critics, and the single "Illusion" got some rotation, but it didn't translate well in terms of sales, J. Bo left the group in 1997, to concentrate his efforts on the clothing company "Irie Daily" to which the response was quickly picking up. The following year Mellowbag celebrated a big success, teaming up with Freundeskreis, and a then relatively unknown Mr. Gentleman to produce the hit "Tabula Rasa". The video was shot in Accra, Ghana, and the song merged english, german and patois lyrics nicely, making it to 13 in the German charts. In 1998 Akanni, an American MC from the Bronx, joined the group, and they released the album "Bipolar Opposites" with it's first single "Props", the group went on to tour Germany, Austria and Switzerland together with Walkin' Large and the Aphrodelics. Akanni left the group a year later, and Metaphysics would be the last addition to the group, appearing on their last release, with the single "Day to Day" for the "Kanak Attack" Movie Soundtrack in 2000 which came out on Netrecord-Z, the movie also co-starred Tyron Ricketts as an actor. Mellowbag performed in this formation at the Splash! Festival in 2001, before Meta and Tyron parted ways and the group disbanded.