Marcus Staiger

Marcus Staiger (or just Staiger) was born in Kornwestheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. After passing the 'Abitur' at the local high-school and starting a apprenticeship as fabric worker he moved to Berlin in 1992 where he enrolled at the university to study Economic Science and Philosophy which he cancelled in 2000 without any degree. At that same time he also started to write articles for various Hip-Hop magazines like Juice or MK.Zwo and worked as freelancer for two Berlin-based radio-stations. In 1997 he began to organize weekly rap battles in a bar called 'Royal Bunker'. Freestyling there was the set-off for many now well known German rappers like Sido, Kool Savas or Frauenarzt. Not much later he, Kool Savas and DJ MK1 founded the label Mikrokosmos, but due to disagreements in content Staiger and most of the signed artists split up from Mikrokosmos to create a new Label called Royal Bunker (like the already closed bar) in 1999. According to Staiger himself it was one of the most successful German Hip-Hop labels until he decided to shut it down in 2008. In April 2008 he became editor in chief of the German Hip-Hop online magazine 'rap.de'. There he was known for his provoking interviews and ironic reviews, which many artists criticized. In July 2011 he gave up his job at rap.de to continue his work as freelance journalist, book author and activist. On March 7th, 2014 he released a novel called "Die Hoffnung ist ein Hundesohn" ["Hope is a cul"].