Kollegah

Felix Martin Andreas Matthias Blume, known professionally as Kollegah, is a German rapper who releases his music through his own record label, Alpha Music Empire. Born on August 3, 1984, he established himself as a prominent figure in German hip-hop through a succession of successful mixtapes, solo studio albums, and collaborative projects.

Blume was born in Friedberg, Hesse, to a Canadian father and a German mother. Following his parents' divorce during his childhood, he was raised by his mother in Simmern, Rhineland-Palatinate. He attended the Herzog-Johann-Gymnasium, passing his Abitur exam in 2005, and later studied law at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz for several years. At fifteen years old, he converted to Islam through his Algerian stepfather.

Blume began his music career by participating in online rap battles on the Reimliga Battle Arena platform between December 2004 and May 2005. Pursuing a solo career, he released his first mixtape, Zuhältertape, for free on his website in July 2005. In December of that year, he signed with Selfmade Records, which re-released his debut mixtape. After releasing his second mixtape, Boss der Bosse, in 2006, Blume published his debut studio album, Alphagene, in November 2007. Alphagene became his first release to enter the German album charts, and was followed by his self-titled second studio album, Kollegah, in August 2008.

Over the following years, Blume achieved significant commercial success. Between 2009 and 2018, he recorded a four-part collaborative album series with German rapper Farid Bang titled Jung, brutal, gutaussehend. The second installment, released in 2013, reached number one in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. His fourth solo studio album, King, was released in 2014 and became his best-selling album to date, reaching the top position on the charts. He achieved another tri-national number-one release with Zuhältertape 4 in December 2015.

In March 2016, Blume founded his independent label, Alpha Music Empire. Under this imprint, he released his sixth studio album, Imperator, in December 2016, which reached number one in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. He followed this with the best-of compilation Legacy in 2017, his seventh studio album Monument in 2018, and his eighth number-one album Alphagene II in December 2019.

In January 2021, Blume released the collaborative project Natural Born Killers with artist Asche, followed by Zuhältertape Vol. 5 later that year. He subsequently released the solo albums Free Spirit in 2022, La Deutsche Vita in 2023, and his final album, Still King, in 2024. Beyond music, Blume launched the fitness program Bosstransformation in 2014 and the clothing brand Deus Maximus in 2015. Throughout his career, his work and public statements generated various media controversies, while his collaborative album JBG 3 was recognized with a German ECHO award in 2018.