Mohamed El Moussaoui (Arabic: محمد الموسوي), known by the stage name MoTrip (born 7 March 1988), is a German rapper of Lebanese descent. His stage name uses the first syllable of his name and plays off the Arabic word for "singer" or "lyricist". MoTrip came into his own with hits such as 2013's "Guten Morgen NSA" ("Good Morning NSA") and his 2015 song "So wie du bist" ("Just as you are"). Since 2011, he has been under contract with Universal Music.
MoTrip | |
|---|---|
 MoTrip in 2016 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Mohamed El Moussaoui |
| Born | 7 March 1988 Beirut, Lebanon |
| Origin | Aachen, Germany |
| Genres | |
| Occupation | Rapper |
| Labels | Universal Music |
Early life
editMohamed El Moussaoui was born in Beirut, Lebanon, though his family fled the country during the Lebanese Civil War. He grew up in Aachen, at Germany's borders with Belgium and the Netherlands. El Moussaoui's older brother was also a rapper and the young MoTrip began writing his first lyrics at the age of 15.[1] Aachen was also the hometown of Turkish-German rapper Kool Savas, who took notice of the up-and-coming MoTrip. With the promotion of Kool Savas, MoTrip was able to make important industry connections and promote his work.[1]
Career
editAccording to MoTrip, he has written or contributed to writing many German-language rap tracks performed by other artists.[2] He says that all of the lyrics he performs, however, are his own words. While MoTrip has not indicated for whom he has written music, in 2011, German rapper Eko Fresh claimed on Twitter that MoTrip wrote the Fler album Airmax Muzik II.[3][4] MoTrip is also credited as a co-author on the 2012 album AMYF by Berlin rapper Bushido.
MoTrip's first album, Embryo, was released in 2011. His first charting single did not come until his 2013 song "Guten Morgen NSA" ("Good Morning NSA"). In the context of the United States' National Security Agency spying controversy, MoTrip mocked NSA surveillance for hacking his Game Boy.[citation needed] Comparing the NSA to the 'Stasi', the official state security service of East Germany, MoTrip was echoing a comparison first made by German chancellor Angela Merkel. The song also remarks on MoTrip's status as an Arab in Europe.
The 2015 album Mama featured the hit single "So wie du bist" ("Just as you are"), which became MoTrip's highest charting song, reaching number 3 on the German charts.[5] The track featured German vocalist Lary who appeared as a stripper in the music video, romantically pursued by MoTrip. The song remained at number 51 on the charts until it was featured as background music for a Beats by Dre commercial, which focused on German football player Bastian Schweinsteiger and his departure from long-time club Bayern Munich to join Manchester United. The commercial catapulted the song to the top of the charts.[6]
Discography
editStudio albums
edit- 2012: Embryo
- 2015: Mama
Collaboration albums
edit- 2018: Mohamed Ali (with Ali As)
Singles
editAwards and nominations
editResults
edit| Year | Award | Nomination | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | HipHop.de Awards | Best Newcomer National | Himself | Nominated | [7] |
| 2011 | Won | [8] | |||
| Best Collaboration | Himself (with Samy Deluxe) | Nominated | |||
| Best Single National | Albtraum | Nominated | |||
| 2012 | Best Rap-Solo-Act National | Himself | Nominated | [9] | |
| Best Release National | Embryo | Won | |||
| Best Song National | Triptheorie (ft. Marsimoto) | Nominated | |||
| 2015 | 1LIVE Krone Awards | Best Album | Mama | Nominated | [10] |
| Best Hip-Hop Act | Himself | Nominated | |||
| HipHop.de Awards | Best Release National | Mama | Won | [11] | |
| 2016 | Echo Awards | Best Video National | So wie du bist (ft. Lary) | Longlisted | [12] |
| 1LIVE Krone Awards | Best Hip-Hop Act | Himself | Nominated | [13] |
References
edit- ^ a b "MoTrip – laut.de – Band".
- ^ "MoTrip: "Ist ja kein Heroin. Sind nur Texte" – laut.de – Interview".
- ^ Ghostwriting im HipHop: Welche Texte wurden nicht selbst geschrieben? Vice, 13. August 2013, retrieved 11 January 2014.
- ^ Eko behauptet: MoTrip ist Flers Ghostwriter hiphop.de, 12 April 2011, retrieved 11 January 2014
- ^ "Suche – Offizielle Deutsche Charts". www.offiziellecharts.de.
- ^ Lindemann, Jonas (13 July 2015). ""Beats by Dre" produziert Clip mit MoTrip und Bastian Schweinsteiger".
- ^ "HIPHOP.DE AWARDS 2010".
- ^ "HIPHOP.DE AWARDS 2011".
- ^ "HIPHOP.DE AWARDS 2012".
- ^ WDR (20 October 2015). "1LIVE Krone 2015 – Nominierte stehen fest – Presselounge – WDR". presse.wdr.de (in German). Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ "HIPHOP.DE AWARDS 2015".
- ^ "Die Preisträger – Echo 2016 – ARD | Das Erste". www.daserste.de (in German). Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ WDR (29 October 2016). "1LIVE Krone 2016: Die Nominees stehen fest – Presselounge – WDR". presse.wdr.de (in German). Retrieved 19 November 2021.