Die Fantastischen Vier (, "The Fantastic Four"), often shortened to Fanta 4, is a German hip hop band from Stuttgart. The members are Michael Schmidt (Smudo), Andreas Rieke, Thomas Dürr, and Michi Beck. They were, together with Advanced Chemistry, one of the earliest German-language rap groups.

History

In the mid-1980s, Rieke and Schmidt formed the Terminal Team, which Dürr and Beck joined in 1989. Under the new name Die Fantastischen Vier they made German hip hop, or Deutschen Sprechgesang (German spoken song) as they called it, popular in Germany. Although there were German hip-hop artists prior to them (such as Advanced Chemistry from Heidelberg), it was Die Fantastischen Vier who registered the first chart hit with their 1992 single "Die da?!" (Her?!) from the album 4 gewinnt, hitting No. 2 in Germany and No. 1 in Austria and Switzerland.

After traveling to Los Angeles in the late 1980s, the group realized the lack of connection between the struggles of "the poor blacks in the United States and middle-class whites in Germany",

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| 2024

| Long Player

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Collaborative albums

{| class="wikitable"

|+ List of collaborative studio albums, with selected chart positions

! rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Title

! colspan="3"| Chart positions

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! Germany

! Austria

! Switzerland

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| 1994

| Megavier<br />

|align="center"| 28

|align="center"| –

|align="center"| –

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Live albums

{| class="wikitable"

|+ List of collaborative studio albums, with selected chart positions

! rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Title

! colspan="3"| Chart positions

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! Germany

! Austria

! Switzerland

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| 1996

| Live und direkt

| align="center"| 17

| align="center"| —

| align="center"| 30

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| 2000

| MTV Unplugged

| align="center"| 6

| align="center"| 7

| align="center"| 18

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| 2003

| Live in Stuttgart

| align="center"| 81

| align="center"| 50

| align="center"| —

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| 2005

| Viel live

| align="center"| 46

| align="center"| —

| align="center"| —

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| 2008

| Fornika für alle

| align="center"| -

| align="center"| -

| align="center"| -

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| 2009

| Heimspiel

| align="center"| 12

| align="center"| 54

| align="center"| 64

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| 2012

| MTV Unplugged II

| align="center"| 1

| align="center"| 7

| align="center"| 5

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| 2015

| Rekord – Live in Wien

| align="center"| -

| align="center"| -

| align="center"| -

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| 2016

| SuperSense Block Party

| align="center"| 69

| align="center"| 66

| align="center"| 68

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| 2022

| Für Immer 30 Jahre Live

| align="center"| -

| align="center"| -

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Compilation albums

{| class="wikitable"

|+List of compilation albums, with selected chart positions

! rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Title

! colspan="3"| Chart positions

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! Germany

! Austria

! Switzerland

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| 2005

| Best of 1990–2005

| align="center"| 26

| align="center"| 32

| align="center"| 29

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| 2015

| Vier und jetzt: Best of 1990–2015

| align="center"| 6

| align="center"| 52

| align="center"| 22

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Singles

As lead artist

{| class="wikitable"

|+List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions

! rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Title

! colspan="3"| Chart positions

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! Germany

! Austria

! Switzerland

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| rowspan="3"| 1991

| "Mikrofonprofessor"

|align="center"| –

|align="center"| –

|align="center"| –

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| "Hausmeister Thomas D."

|align="center"|–

|align="center"|–

|align="center"|–

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| "Frohes Fest"

|align="center"|15

|align="center"|20

|align="center"|–

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| rowspan="2"| 1992

| "Die da!?"

|align="center"|2

|align="center"|1

|align="center"|1

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| "Hausmeister Thomas D. '92"

|align="center"|–

|align="center"|–

|align="center"|–

|-

| rowspan="3"| 1993

| "Saft"

|align="center"|19

|align="center"|–

|align="center"|38

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| "Lass die Sonne rein"

|align="center"|92

|align="center"|–

|align="center"|–

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| "Zu geil für diese Welt"

|align="center"|22

|align="center"|–

|align="center"|20

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| 1994

| "Tag am Meer"

|align="center"|–

|align="center"|–

|align="center"|–

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| 1995

| "Sie ist weg"

|align="center"|1

|align="center"|16

|align="center"|2

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| rowspan="3"| 1996

| "Populär"

|align="center"|41

|align="center"|–

|align="center"|39

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| "Nur in deinem Kopf"

|align="center"|81

|align="center"|–

|align="center"|–

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| "Raus"

|align="center"|56

|align="center"|–

|align="center"|38

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| 1997

| "Der Picknicker"

|align="center"|42

|align="center"|–

|align="center"|–

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| rowspan="4"| 1999

| "MfG"

|align="center"|2

|align="center"|2

|align="center"|2

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| "Le Smou"

|align="center"|68

|align="center"|–

|align="center"|–

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| "Buenos Dias Messias"

|align="center"|87

|align="center"|–

|align="center"|–

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| "Michi Beck in Hell"

|align="center"|–

|align="center"|–

|align="center"|–

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| 2000

| "Tag am Meer (Unplugged)"

|align="center"|67

|align="center"|–

|align="center"|–

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| 2001

| "Sie ist weg (Unplugged)"

|align="center"|81

|align="center"|50

|align="center"|–

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| rowspan="3"| 2004

| "Troy"

|align="center"|9

|align="center"|11

|align="center"|22

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| "Sommerregen"

|align="center"|44

|align="center"|66

|align="center"|74

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| "Geboren"

|align="center"|48

|align="center"|–

|align="center"|48

|-

| rowspan="3"| 2007

| "Ernten was wir säen"

|align="center"|12

|align="center"|35

|align="center"|25

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| "Einfach sein"

|align="center"|11

|align="center"|13

|align="center"|22

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| "Ichisichisichisich"

|align="center"|45

|align="center"|-

|align="center"|-

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| 2008

| "Yeah Yeah Yeah"

|align="center"|86

|align="center"|-

|align="center"|-

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| rowspan="2"| 2010

| "Gebt uns ruhig die Schuld (den Rest könnt ihr behalten)"

|align="center"|10

|align="center"|22

|align="center"|10

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| "Danke"

|align="center"|36

|align="center"|57

|align="center"|56

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| rowspan="2"| 2014

| "25"

|align="center"|15

|align="center"|53

|align="center"|-

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| "Und los"

| align="center"| 53

| align="center"| –

| align="center"| 71

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| 2015

| "Name drauf"<small>(feat. Seven)</small>

| align="center"| -

| align="center"| -

| align="center"| -

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| 2017

| "Endzeitstimmung"

| align="center"| -

| align="center"| -

| align="center"| -

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| rowspan="3"| 2018

| "Tunnel"

| align="center"| -

| align="center"| -

| align="center"| -

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| "Zusammen"<small>(feat. Clueso)</small>

| align="center"| 2

| align="center"| 32<br />

| align="center"| 35

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| "Hitisn"

| align="center"| -

| align="center"| -

| align="center"| -

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| 2020

| "Irgendwann"

| align="center"| -

| align="center"| -

| align="center"| -

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{| class="wikitable"

|+List of singles as featured artist, with selected chart positions

! rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Title

! colspan="3"| Chart positions

|-

! Germany

! Austria

! Switzerland

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| 1993

| " 100% positiv"<br /><small>(Die Deutsche Reimachse featuring Die Fantastischen Vier)</small>

| align="center"| -

| align="center"| -

| align="center"| -

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| 1997

| "Original"<br /><small>(Sens Unik featuring Die Fantastischen Vier)</small>

| align="center"| 73

| align="center"| -

| align="center"| 27

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| 2014

| "Halt dich gut fest"<br /><small>(Samy Deluxe featuring Die Fantastischen Vier)</small>

| align="center"| -

| align="center"| -

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See also

  • Son Goku (band)

References

  • Four Music
  • Discography at Discogs