Down Low – a success story from Germany
Down Low was founded by Joe Thompson in December 1995 in the K-Town studios in Kaiserslautern, at a time when rap or hip hop music was not yet an issue for the German music industry.
Rapper Joe Thompson, who served in the US Army during Operation Desert Storm, received little attention with the first release of Down Low, but Joe was soon joined by the then 18-year-old singer Michael Dalien and released his first single of the debut album “Vision” entitled “Vision Of Life” quickly became a hit in several European countries in mid-1996 and stayed in the top 30 of the German sales charts for months.
A new music genre EURORAP was born. Down Low’s mix of catchy hooklines, rap and pop music also paved the way for many other artists and became a pioneer for hip hop and R&B in Germany.
The second album “It Ain’t Over” followed at the end of 1997. The song “Johnny B”, a cover version of the Hooters classic, became a smash hit across Europe and also reached the top 3 of the charts in Germany.
Further chart successes at home and abroad as well as various gold and platinum awards followed.
In the fall of 1998, Down Low released their third studio album entitled “Third Dimension”. The single “Once Upon A Time” was able to build on their past successes: probably the group’s saddest song contained elements from the film music for “Play me the Song of Death” by Ennio Morricone, which Joe and Mike themselves sang during a stay in Italy congratulated him on the successful interpretation of his piece.
Michael Dalien decided to leave the group in 2001 at the beginning of work on the fourth studio album entitled “The 4th Level” because he wanted to start a family.
But now Joe Thompson and Michael Dalien have decided to continue the Down Low project together after a 10 year break.
The return of the trendsetter…
