Down Low (rap group)

Down Low
Down Low on July 16, 1999 shortly before their concert in Dresden, Germany
Background information
Origin	Germany
Genres	Hip Hop Rap[1]
Years active	1995–2006
Labels	K-Town
Past members
Joe Thompson

Down Low is a rap group formed in Kaiserslautern, Germany in 1995 by Joe Thompson and Darren Tucker. The group is known for hits like "Johnny B.". Down Low are considered as one of the first bands who brought Hip Hop in a European style in the middle of the 1990s together with artists such as C-Block, Nana and A.K. - S.W.I.F.T..

History

The band was formed in December 1995 in the K-Town studios of Kaiserslautern. The members were the rapper Joe Thompson, who served in the US Army during Operation Desert Storm and had a friendship with Rod. D from Fun Factory, as well as the singer Darren Tucker. The first single "Don't Look Any Further", a Hip Hop version of the song of the same name of the M People received still no attention, the second song "Vision of Life" however became a hit in several European countries in the middle of 1996.

Shortly after the publication of "Vision of Life", Darren Tucker had to leave the group due to disputes with his manager. He was replaced by Mike Dalien. The album Visions and the singles "Murder" over the case of O. J. Simpson, "Potion" and "Lovething/We Do It Like That" followed soon. Together with Flip Da Scrip Down Low produced the song "Nothing Like Viva" as a hymn on the German music TV-channel VIVA under the project name Hip Hop Alliance.

At the end of 1997 followed the second album It Ain't Over. The song "Johnny B.", a cover version of The Hooters became the largest hit from Down Low and climbed up to No. 4 in the German single charts. Radio NRJ distinguished Down Low as the best rap act in 1997.

In the spring of 1998 Down Low created Rapper Against Racism in order to promote talented new singers and rappers (La Mazz, Trooper Da Don, Jay Supreme and others) and point a spot on racism still present in Germany at that time. In the autumn of 1998 Down Low published the album Third Dimension. The single "Once Upon A Time" could tie to past successes; the probably saddest song of the group contained elements from the film music to Once Upon a Time in the West of Ennio Morricone. With the song "H.I.V." one drew the attention of the dangers of the AIDS virus.

After the publication a greatest hit album Down Low took a break for 1½ years. In 2001 the fourth album The 4th Level, which was clearly an R&B-album, was published. Mike Dalien left the band due to musical differences in 2001 at the beginning of the work on The 4th level. His successor became Erick „Rick“ Lamont Smith, which had already co-operated in the past with Down Low and had published some singles under the name La Mazz and Dressman. Since the German public had lost the interest in European Rap in the meantime, Down Low could celebrate no further successes in Germany. In 2002 the record company published a remix of Murder with samples of the rapper Warren G.

2003 appeared a DVD under the title Visions – The Singles 1997–2003. In the autumn of 2003 the single "Living In The Ghetto" appeared. The publication was however a single-handed attempt of the record company; the artists experienced only later of it, and for the lack of promotion the song found no commercial attention, but nevertheless became a club hit. Joe Thompson accused SHIFT Music later to cannibalize Down Low from money scarcities.

For 2004 an album named Down Low V / Adrenaline was announced. But since the new style of the group did not please the record company, the album was not published. For a while it looked like as if the artists would possibly close a contract with a new label in the United States, for legal reasons probably under a new project name, but in April 2005 Joe announced Down Low had settled the controversy with SHIFT and would work on new material again. The first song "Every Day (MMMM)" of the album Return of The Trendsetter was published on the 27th of October 2006.

2010 is the come back of Mike Dalien in the Group Down Low. Down Low plan a new album in the end of 2010.

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album	Chart positions
		GER [2]	AUT [3]	FIN [4]	ITA [5]
1996	Visions	77	-	-	-
1997	It Ain't Over	37	47	9	-
1998	Third Dimension	84	-	-	-
1999	Moonlight (Released in Italy Only)	-	-	-	5[6]
2001	The 4th Level	-	-	-	-
2006	Return Of The Trendsetter	-	-	-	-

Compilation albums

Year	Album	Chart positions
		GER [2]	AUT [3]	FIN [4]	ITA [5]
1999	Best Of	-	-	-	-
2003	Visions: Best of the Singles 1997-2003	-	-	-	-

Singles

Year	Single	Chart positions							Album
		GER [7]	AUT [3]	FIN [4]	FRA [8]	ITA [5]	SWE [9]	SWI [10]
1996	"Vision of Life"	19	-	-	10	-	-	-	Visions
	"Murder"	25	-	-	-	-	-	38
	"Nothing Like Viva" Hip Hop Alliance (featuring Down Low & Flip Da Scrip)	91	-	-	-	-	-	46
1997	"Potion"	37	-	-	-	-	-	-
	"Lovething"	82	-	-	-	-	-	-	It Ain't Over
	Moonlight	35	-	-	-	-	-	-
	"Johnny B."	4	13	7	33	-	14	8
1998	"Hit Me Right"	95	-	-	-	-	-	-
	"Once Upon a Time"	4	7	-	26	6[11]	-	6	Third Dimension
1999	"H.I.V."	53	-	-	-	-	-	-
	"So Long Goodbye"	64	-	-	-	-	-	49
2001	"Don't You"	99	-	-	-	-	-	-	The 4th Level
2002	"Murder 2002" Down Low (featuring Warren G.)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Non-album track
2007	Africa'	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Return of the Trendsetter

Other Singles

Year	Single	Chart positions		Album
		GER [7]	AUT [3]
1998	I Want to Know What Love Is (Rappers Against Racism feat. Down Low & La Mazz & Scream Factory)[Notes]	36	20	The Message

Notes^ The track is from the album The Message by Rappers Against Racism.

DVDs

2003

• Visions – The Singles 1997–2003 (DVD)

External links

• Fan site with Biography and Discography at T-Music

Notes

1. ^ "Down Low". Musicline.de. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p290101. Retrieved 2010-03-09. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Charts.de: Down Low (Albums)" (in German). Musicline.de. http://www.charts.de/search.asp?search=Down+Low&x=9&y=10&cat=a&country=de. Retrieved 2011-06-01. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d} "Austrian Positions: Down Low Discography". Hung Medien. http://www.austriancharts.at/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Down+Low. Retrieved 2010-03-09. 
4. ^ ^{a b c} "Finnish Positions: Down Low Discography". Hung Medien. http://www.finnishcharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Down+Low. Retrieved 2010-03-09. 
5. ^ ^{a b c} "Italian Positions: Down Low Discography". Hung Medien. http://www.italiancharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Down+Low. Retrieved 2010-03-09. 
6. ^ Hits of the World: Italy (Issue: March 27, 1999). Billboard Magazine. http://books.google.com/books?id=XQ0EAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA7&lr=&rview=1&pg=PA70#v=onepage&q=&f=false. Retrieved 2010-03-09. 
7. ^ ^{a b} "Charts.de: Down Low (Single)" (in German). Charts.de. http://www.charts.de/search.asp?search=Down+Low&x=8&y=7&cat=s&country=de. Retrieved 2011-06-01. 
8. ^ "French Positions: Down Low Discography". Hung Medien. http://lescharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Down+Low. Retrieved 2010-03-09. 
9. ^ "Swedish Positions: Down Low Discography". Hung Medien. http://www.swedishcharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Down+Low. Retrieved 2010-03-09. 
10. ^ "Swiss Positions: Down Low Discography". Hung Medien. http://www.swisscharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Down+Low. Retrieved 2010-03-09. 
11. ^ Hits of the World: Italy (Issue: February 20, 1999). Billboard Magazine. http://books.google.com/books?id=Zg4EAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA7&lr=&rview=1&pg=PA42#v=onepage&q=&f=false. Retrieved 2010-03-09.