Gentleman

In the organizer's words:

Gentleman at SUMMER IN THE CITY 2025 at the Zitadelle Mainz

His career is unique: Gentleman has brought reggae in and from Germany to the international stage. For 30 years, the Cologne native has been making music history as the only European to celebrate worldwide success as an authentic reggae musician. With the new studio album "Mad World", he manifests another milestone that brings him back to his musical roots and at the same time takes his life's work further forward.

Gentleman is a global fixture on the German music scene: he combines international recognition with local relevance and has done so for three decades. He is the candidate of choice for the chorus of the Beginner's comeback single, tours with the Fantastischen Vier and shines in every German living room with two seasons of the TV show "Sing meinen Song". He has received multiple platinum and gold awards and has been in the German Top 100 singles charts more than twenty times. His own edition of "MTV Unplugged" alone proves his standing as an international superstar.

Since he released "Tabula Rasa pt. II" by Freundeskreis with his chorus, which made the song a cornerstone of the German hip hop movement, Gentleman has made an essential contribution to the existence and growth of reggae in Germany. His authentic vibe and clear messages, wrapped in catchy melodies, have made him a stand-alone symbol of reggae vibes in Germany over the years. The albums "Trodin On" and "Journey to Jah" defined the reggae sound at the turn of the millennium and gave an entire generation a voice. Already recognized in the scene at the time, Gentleman landed international hits with "Dem Gone", "Superior" and "Intoxication" on beats by the best-known producers, making him an important part of the global reggae movement. His two subsequent albums "Confidence" and "Diversity" reached the number one position in the German album charts, which officially made him a superstar at home too. But his success would not have been the same with his seven studio albums alone if Gentleman had not also impressed and enthralled audiences with his live performances: As a headliner at almost every relevant festival in Europe, the USA, Central and South America and Africa, he thrilled audiences and built up his fan base on a lasting basis. His musical work in reggae was crowned by a very rare collabo album with Bob Marley's son, Ky-Mani Marley, in 2016.

"Reggae unites people," says Gentleman when asked why he still believes in this musical genre from the small Caribbean island of Jamaica. "There is something very fundamental in reggae that everyone understands immediately. What's more, reggae and dancehall have influenced all pop music so intensively

that many sound like it today. But this genuine, authentic thing can only come about if you also feel the music on a spiritual level." This is why he has come full circle with the new album "Mad World", which is once again sung entirely in English. "The songs in German were important and necessary and also defined me more strongly as an artist," says Gentleman of his work on the German-language album "Blaue Stunde" from 2020.

With "Mad World", he picks up where his "Journey to Jah" once began and once again addresses a global audience. "English speaks to people all over the world and the message in my music and in my songs is also universal. That's why it was only logical for me to continue in English again," says Tilmann about his return from his linguistic excursion.

"Mad World" as the album title describes the increasingly chaotic state of our society from the observer's point of view. As an artist and musician, Gentleman cannot be neutral or apolitical, but sees it as his task to name problems and offer ways out. "Reggae has never lost its rebellious character, it is part of its DNA to address uncomfortable things - and at the same time to provide them with the hope that they can be overcome." Self-determination and confidence have always been the relevant core of reggae's philosophy for him. This was true back in the early 90s when, as a hip-hop fan, he noticed that the Jamaican dancehall acts had even more and even more explosive things to say and that their MC styles were even more drastic and extreme than those of the already more successful and commercialized US rappers. And this is still true today, when dancehall and Afrobeats are pumping through the charts worldwide and Gentleman is redefining the message of his reggae for himself. He does not allow himself to be squeezed into the molds of political parties or fixed political views, but has always stood for his own philosophy of a better world for all.

The album "Mad World" was created during a phase in Gentleman's life in which he escaped the fast-paced and superficial life of the big city and repositioned himself in the inspiring landscape of Mallorca: organic food, a self-sustainable lifestyle, fewer digital distractions and more natural impressions now determine his everyday life. This reduction of complexity is reflected in the songs: the solutions to an increasingly complicated world lie in simplicity. And in the belief that good will triumph in the end - be it in the big picture or on a small, personal level. The songs are characterized by an all-encompassing love that wants to understand everything, even if it also recoils in horror from the world outside. Nevertheless, the light of hope always prevails in the end - perhaps a constant that runs through his Christian upbringing as a pastor's son.

Musically, too, you can sense the further development and specialization: sensitively arranged, modernly produced and powerful instrumentals bring his sound across the membrane with contemporary sophistication. His reggae doesn't sound backward-looking, but rather like a new sound that fits the new times. All in all, "Mad World" is like a cure for this crazy world, like a musical therapy that takes you out of a low to reach the next high.