"Friendly Greetings" in Deutschrap

"MfG" and the Fanta4

The German Abbreviations in the Song
“MfG” by Die Fantastischen Vier

German Rap and Hip-Hop

Listening to German songs is one of the best and most enjoyable ways to improve your German. We constantly update our Music/Song Links, and we wrote about The Sound of Music... and Lyrics earlier.

But this time we look at (and listen to!) a particular song by the German group known as Die Fantastischen Vier (Fanta4, F4). One of the songs on their Sony/Columbia CD album "4:99" is called "MfG." If you've ever received email in German, you know that this Abkürzung stands for "Mit freundlichen Grüßen" (Yours sincerely/truly; lit., "with friendly greetings"). The song's lyrics consist almost entirely of abbreviations and acronyms in German and English.

Just for fun, we've got a short quiz in which you can test yourself on some of the German abbreviations in the song. Don't worry if you don't know every one of them. Even many German-speakers don't know what all of the abbreviations mean. So we've put together an "MfG" glossary of all the terms used in the song - in both English and German. Also see our 'MfG' Lyrics page and our German Alphabet page with its ABC-Exercises.

Below we'll show you links to both the song and the group. Die Fantastischen Vier have an excellent Web site where you can find information about the group and their many songs. Even if you're not into German rap, I think you'll find this song a fun way to learn some common German terms. After all, German uses abbreviations and acronyms as much or even more than English.

Listening to the "MfG" song is also excellent practice for the German alphabet. After all, the sound of the letters in common abbreviations, such as "VW" (fow-vay), are quite different from English. The alphabet also has some very practical applications. For example, can you spell your name out loud in German?

Now enjoy the music while you polish your listening and speaking skills!

MfG

Intro: The ‘missing’ lyrics (radio edit)

ARD, ZDF, C&A
BRD, DDR und USA
BSE, HIV und DRK
GbR, GmbH - ihr könnt mich mal
THX, VHS und FSK
RAF, LSD und FKK
DVU, AKW und KKK
RHP, USW, LMAA
PLZ, UPS und DPD
BMX, BPM und XTC
EMI, CBS und BMG
ADAC, DLRG - ojemine
EKZ, RTL und DFB
ABS, TÜV und BMW
KMH, ICE und Eschede
PVC, FCKW - is nich OK

MfG - mit freundlichen Grüßen
die Welt liegt uns zu Füßen, denn wir stehen drauf
wir gehen drauf für ein Leben voller Schall und Rauch
bevor wir fallen, fallen wir lieber auf

HNO, EKG und AOK
LBS, WKD und IHK
UKW, NDW und Hubert K
BTM, BKA, hahaha
LTU, TNT und IRA
NTV, THW und DPA
H+M, BSB und FDH
SOS, 110 - tatütata
SED, FDJ und KDW
FAZ, BWL und FDP
EDV, IBM und WWW
HSV, VFB, oleole
ABC, DAF und OMD
TM3, A+O und AEG
TUI, UVA und UVB
THC in OCB is was ich dreh

MfG - mit freundlichen Grüßen
die Welt liegt uns zu Füßen, denn wir stehen drauf
wir gehen drauf für ein Leben voller Schall und Rauch
bevor wir fallen, fallen wir lieber auf

Curse: The German Nas

CURSE Gangsta Rap - Official Site

His Wiki Biography:

Curse has had a long musical past. In his youth, he played songs like "Zwei Mal In Den Kopf" (which means something like "Twice into the head") in his former band Phat Kicks. In the 90ies, his band had gigs in the area of Stadthagen.

On his first album Feuerwasser (released in 2000), his lyrics have already been self-reflected and they have handled with things that had happened in his life, but also contained classical hip hop tracks such as representing- and battle-tracks. He especially raps about abortive relationships and admits mistakes to himself. For that reason, he is a kind of an outsider in the hip hop scene. The beats on Feuerwasser and many other releases are often produced by Sascha Bühren aka Busy.

In 2001, his next album Von Innen Nach Außen (which means something like "inside outwards") was released. On this album, Curse continued his style and the lead single Lass uns doch Freunde sein ("Let us be friends") was distinguishing from current rap clichés and thus gaining attention even outside the hip hop scene. The German hip hop magazine Juice rewarded this album with the title "Best National Album". This album has even been released in Japan. It reached the German Top-Ten Charts.

On his third album Innere Sicherheit ("Inner Security") his style changed in many aspects: While the beats on his previous albums were mainly produced electronically, the beats on this album are produced with a wide range of instruments: From sophisticated instrumentals with classical transverse flutes (Ich Versteh Dich) over the Crossoversong Schocktherapie to the very emotional Und Was Ist Jetzt?, a piano ballad, there is a broad musical array, which emphasizes and accompanies with the deep lyrics. Also an increasing amount of political society-critical texts can be detected, whereas he is not ignoring his 'old' topics. In this frame also the single Widerstand has originated with the German Reggae-Artist [[Gentleman (musician) Also with the cooperation with upcoming talents he acquired renown. So, for instance, he afforded Italo Reno & Germany as soon as Stress und Trauma the opportunity to present themselves to a general public with guest appearances on his releases and not least by his artist platform Alles Real Records. Over the Years he made many collaborations with various German and international artists, among others with Kool Savas, Xavier Naidoo, Max Herre (Freundeskreis), Samy Deluxe, J-Luv, Braz (4Lyn), Patrice, Black Thought (The Roots), Pete Rock and RZA.

On December 2, 2005 Curse released his fourth Album Sinnflut. The lead single Gangsta Rap entered the German charts on position 25. On Sinnflut Curse returns to his roots, as if the experimental album Innere Sicherheit had never exist. With deep and very private songs as Kein Weg zurück ("No way back") or Mein Leben ("My life") , or the representer tracks like Der Fluch ("The Curse") or "Broken Language Reloaded" with the Samy Deluxe Feature, which is a remake of the classic "Broken Language" from Smoothe Da Hustler Feat. Trigger Tha Gambler from 1995, the record has become homogeneous and multifaceted. Curse fulfilled himself a childhood dream with the features with Black Thought (of The Roots) and the producer legend Pete Rock. Latter has been persuaded to sing the hooks and shoutouts, which he did for Nas last. By the way he names Nas as his big idol to which he is often compared as one of Germans greatest lyricists.

Unsigned Hype Hottie: Deutschrapperin Livia

Livia's MySpace site: 4 tracks from the hot female MC ... +500 "friends" :)