Marteria

Marteria
Marteria performing at Sonnenrot Festival 2011
Background information
Birth name	Marten Laciny
Also known as	Marsimoto
Born	(1982-12-04) 4 December 1982 Rostock, East Germany
Origin	Germany
Genres	German hip hop, pop-rap, alternative hip hop, abstract hip hop
Years active	1998–present
Labels	Magnum12 (2006–07) Four Music (since 2008) Green Berlin (since 2015)

Marten Laciny (born 4 December 1982), better known by his stage name Marteria, is a German hip hop artist from Rostock.

His stage name is derived from his first name, and also the Latin word ‘materia’ meaning ‘matter’ or ‘substance’. He has met with success in Germany (his 2012 collaboration with Yasha and Miss Platnum, Lila Wolken, reached Number 1 in the German music charts) and the single Verstrahlt, featuring Yasha, was included in the console game FIFA 12.

His alternative stage name and alter ego is Marsimoto (see section). Before his music career, he was a successful football player and male model.

Life

Laciny was born to a teacher (mother) and a sailor (father), and spent his childhood in the district of Lichtenhagen in Rostock. A talented footballer, he played for the youth team of F.C. Hansa Rostock, that he still maintains a close relationship with. He played under Horst Hrubesch up in the U-17 squad of the German national football team.

When he was discovered in 1999 during a trip to New York City by a model scout, he got model assignments all over the world.He worked for Diesel and Hugo Boss, among others, after which he discontinued his modeling and went back to Rostock to pursue his rap career.

In 2003 he moved to Berlin. There he trained as an actor at a Drama School. He has one son, and now lives in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district.

Music career

At the age of 16, Marteria was a member of the hip-hop group 'Underdog Cru', signed to the label Posin music. At 18, Marteria then signed his first solo contract with Punchline/SPV, and released his debut album. In 2002 he went as part of the Underdog Cru on a European tour with other British and German groups. A year before, in 2001, he performed as part of the Underdog Cru in the largest hip-hop and reggae festival in Europe, Splash!.

His debut album, Halloziehnation, was praised by the press, and the scene magazine Juice awarded 4 1/2 of 6 stars. He then released his second album Base Ventura. These two albums he released on the indie label Magnum12, where he laid the foundations for his current career. In late Autumn 2007 he signed a contract with the music publisher Nesola. In December 2007, under his other pseudonym Marsimoto, he accompanied Jan Delay as tour support. In spring 2008 he signed a label deal with Four Music (owned by Sony Music Entertainment). He also founded an own label called Green Berlin.

Marsimoto

In addition to his stage name Marteria, he is also known under the pseudonym Marsimoto.^[1] Marsimoto originated as a tribute to Quasimoto - the alter ego of rapper Madlib - with an altered high pitched voice. The sound differs considerably from the Marteria sound, as he uses more experimental hip hop, electronic, reggae music and dubstep elements as Marsimoto. This alter ego resulted from a jam session and was later used by Marten Laciny at performances. Due to the positive response, he decided to release albums as Marsimoto. As Marsimoto, he published his solo albums Halloziehnation, Zu zweit allein, Grüner Samt, Ring der Nebelungen and Verde. A common leitmotif of all Marsimoto albums is the exaggerative consumption of Cannabis.

Discography

Sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Marteria.

• Official Marteria website
• Official Marsimoto website
• Marteria discography at Discogs