Megaloh HHV Records 4 Items

Berlin rapper with Independent Blood

Uchenna van Capelleveen, a child with Dutch-Nigerian roots, grew up in Berlin-Moabit in the 80s and 90s and attended the French Gymnasium Berlin, which gave rise to artists like Peter Fox, Maxim and K.I.Z. Rap as an art form has accompanied him since his childhood days, especially US hip hop, which has captivated him and inspired the young boy to create his own chains of rhymes – initially only in English. After completing school, he abandoned his studies to fully focus on music: with his self-founded label Level Eight, the rapper followed in the footsteps of American indie giants and releases a series of albums, EPs, and mixtapes under the name Megaloh starting from 2003 – his album Game Set Match was crowned Demo of the Month by Juice magazine in the same year, earning the Berliner with Independent blood a lot of street credibility. With a powerful vocal performance, the newcomer showcased his skills on Fler’s 2005 album Neue Deutsche Welle – uncensored street rap was the order of the day. In the same year, Megaloh presented his debut album Im Game and navigated somewhere between boom-bap and 808, while clearly marking his territory: “Wir sind Berlin, wir vergessen und verzeihen nichts.”

No Perfection Without Sacrifice

In 2007, underground legend Frauenarzt invited the Berliner to his studio, where an entire album was created in just a few days. With the Atzen founder at the mixing desk and alongside Mannheim MC Sprachtot on the mic, Alles Negertiv was released shortly after on Ghetto Musik. The expected dose of gangsta rap cannot be missing here, further establishing Megaloh in the scene. After guest appearances alongside giants like Samy Deluxe, K.I.Z, Massiv and Xavier Naidoo, he released the Monster EP. What followed can best be described as an artistic turning point: he joined Max Herre and Samy Deluxe on Joy Denalane’s track Niemand (Was wir nicht tun) in an unexpectedly R&B inspired manner. Shortly after, he was signed by Denalane, while also being invited by Samy Deluxe to contribute to his track Hände Hoch, adding the necessary coolness to the song. But he also made it clear that he was far from reaching his goal: “Gebe nicht Ruhe bis Hip Hop meins ist.” With the album Endlich Unendlich in 2013, Megaloh entered the top 10 of the charts. It sounded more personal and pop oriented than ever before, and equally poetic in a way often foreign to the genre, captivating both hip hop enthusiasts and those unfamiliar with rap: “Große Pläne sind nicht bloße Überlegungen / Neuronentraining, Wiederholung der Bewegungen / Keine Perfektion ohne Entbehrungen.”

Speaking to Others’ Souls

Megaloh doesn’t hide the fact that despite his success with the album Regenmacher, which immediately climbed to number 2 in the charts in 2016, he could hardly finance his life through music: “Morgens im Lager, tagsüber Studio und abends Bühne.” With artists like MoTrip, Jan Delay, Gentleman and Trettmann by his side, he takes a few steps towards soul, then ventures back to boom-bap and pop. In the same year, he can be heard on the comeback album of the legendary group “Beginner”:Beginner, and when it comes to conscious rap on drill beats, he once again tries his hand with 21 and Drei Kreuze. In doing so, he carves out his own world amidst the rap mainstream – Megaloh knows his place, something many of his colleagues can hardly claim: “Rapper müssen eine Rolle spielen, weil sie sonst keine Rolle spielen.” In 2023, he contributed a track to the political series Sam – ein Sachse alongside guests like Sylabil Spill. The rapper also distanced himself from his early days, stating, “Nowadays, it’s more about speaking to others’ souls with my lyrics rather than trying to appear particularly cool myself.”