Cro – Einmal um die Welt

Cro is the name of a true game-changer in German Hip Hop. He has introduced a more cheerful and relaxed form of rap to a country where the Hip Hop-scene was dominated by gangster rap for quite some time. Today it is not possible to imagine the German charts without “Raop”, the new genre Cro has invented combining Rap and Pop.

When it comes to his music and his success, the numbers speak for themselves. After a few self-produced mixtapes and videos, Cro was signed by the Indie-Label Chimperator Productions. The official video for his single “Easy” was released in 2011 and now has almost 39 million views on YouTube. Cro’s first studio album “Raop” entered both the German and the Austrian charts at number one in July 2012 and was awarded five Golden records in Germany as well as one in Austria.

But not only his music has hit a real nerve, his personal style has attracted people’s attention as well. Cro alias Carlo Waibel always wears a panda mask in public. Be it on stage, during interviews, in photos or in his videos, the mask helps him protect his privacy. “Without the mask, I am just Carlo, a totally normal guy” - a 23-year-old who grew up in a small city in the Southern German state of Baden-Württemberg. Carlo learned to play the guitar and the piano as a child, started recording music when he was ten and later trained to be a media designer at a local newspaper.

On the Internet, there are a few photos floating around of Carlo not wearing his panda face. However, it has not been confirmed that they are the real Carlo. What is certain though, is that Cro’s lyrics and his music are the real thing. Find out for yourself while listening to “Einmal um die Welt” (Once Around the World).