It had been in the making for a long time, now it’s happened. The legendary German rap label “Selfmade Records”, which only had Karate Andi under contract, has closed after almost 18 years. Label boss Elvir Omerbegovic announced this on Instagram. Some of the most important German rap artists of the past two decades have released their albums on “Selfmade Records”, including Kollegah, Casper, Genetikk and the 257ers.
Total released that Label over 30 albums, more than half of which ended up in the top 10 of the German charts. Twelve of the albums even went to number 1. “Selfmade Records” sold more than five million albums in the 18 years. The label samplers CHRONIK 2 (2009), JUNG,BRUTAL GUTASCHEND (2009) by Kollegah and Farid Bang and DNA (2013) by Genetikk are among the most important.
With the news of the label closing it is also clear: The last album that ever appeared on “Selfmade Records” is the current album by Karate Andi. It is called HANDELSGOLD TAPE and was released on May 6th, 2022. With him ends the history of the label that has shaped German rap like no other.
For label boss Elvir Omerbegovic, however, the closure is by no means the end of the music industry. The 43-year-old has been building up the hip-hop label Division for years. RIN and Schmyt are under contract there. Schmyt recently released his debut album UNIVERSUM REGELT.