Bligg

Bligg (born September 30, 1976 in Schwamendingen; real name Marco Bliggensdorfer ) is a rapper from Zurich, Switzerland. His album 0816 reached #1 on the Swiss charts; four of his other albums have peaked in the top 20.

Background
At age 16, Bligg began freestyling. In 1995, he released a limited EP, "Zürislang Freistiil," which was the first opportunity to really hear him rap. Three years later, he met Lexx, a producer and rapper. The two worked together on "Chocolate, Cheese and Sounds." In 1999, they released their first single, called "Schnitzeljagd" under the name Bligg'n'Lexx. The single was remixed by DJ Cutmando, whom the pair met while on tour. Ever since then, DJ Cutmando has worked with Bligg.

In 2000, Bligg'n'Lexx collaborated with Pete Penicka to release the single "Du & Ich" from their album "Nahdisnah." The album received positive reviews and increased the group's popularity. Bligg then began to work on more songs and was signed to the Universal label.

In 2001, Bligg released his first solo album, entitled "Normal," which reached number 20 on the Swiss charts. He worked with Hip-Hop artists Spooman, Lexx and Stress, as well as the American rap group The Alkaholiks. Another song included the soul musician Emel, whom Bligg had known for awhile.

The songs "Alles scho mal ghört" and "Relaxtra" reached the Swiss Singles Chart Top 20. "Alles scho mal ghört" remained on the chart for 16 weeks, eventually reaching position 7. In 2002, "Relaxtra" was released as an EP for a second time.

After the release of "Normal," Bligg ended his relationship with Universal and signed with Nation Music. In 2004, he released his second album, entitled "Odyssey." On this album, he worked with many Swiss producers. "Odyssey" stayed on the Swiss charts for 9 weeks and reached 19th place. Featured guests on this album include Emel, Stress, Stephanie, and Berlin rapper Kool Savas. The single "King Size" became very popular, and after the release of this album, Bligg went on tour for a second time with DJ Cutmando and other musicians.

In 2005, Bligg released an album called "Okey Dokey" on the Musikvertrieb label. The album is the first Dualdisc that was ever released to the Swiss market. Emel and Kool Savas were replaced on this album. The single "Gang Nöd" is Bligg's advertisement for Swiss suicide prevention campaign featured on television. In 2006, Bligg released the album "Mit Liib & Seel." This was the first time that Bligg sang on one of his albums, as well as the first time that he used English lyrics. After the album's release, Bligg went on tour accompanied by a seven person band.

A year after the release of this album, Bligg released his fourth album, called "Yves Spink." He worked on this album with DJ Cutmando in their own well-furnished recording studio. THe album reached the Top 10 Swiss charts. On "Yves Spink," which is named after the Swiss party organizer of the same name, there is a song called "Suzanne." This song is dedicated to Susanne Wille, the moderator of the German news show 10vor10.

In October 2007, the song "Volksmusigg" was used for the TV show "Die größten Schweizer Hits." It was performed by the folk group Streichmusik Alder. This version was successful and was released as a single, then stayed on the Swiss charts for 20 weeks. Bligg then went on tour with Streichmusik Alder. After successful work with the group, Bligg decided to incorporate traditional folk elements into his songs, especially using the Hackbrett in his beats. This resulted in the album "0816," which was released at the end of October 2008.

After 8 weeks, Bligg reached the number 1 place on the Swiss charts and stayed there for weeks afterward. The first single off the album was the song "Rosalie," which was about a woman who falls in love with a florist. The song reached number 5 on the Single charts. From January 8th to April 18th, 2009, Bligg went on tour. At the concerts, up to nine musicians were on stage at all times. In order to reproduce the recorded album's style elements while on tour, the band included accordian player Nicolas Senn, who played the Hackbrett onstage.