Introduction
Ekrem Bora (born 3 September 1983), better known by his stage name Eko Fresh, is a German rapper of Turkish descent.
Biography
Bora was born in Cologne and grew up in Mönchengladbach, raised by his single mother, a postal worker.He began rapping at age 14 and eventually dropped out of school in tenth grade. Afterwards, he started working in a shoe store to make ends meet. While working his retail gig, Bora met Kool Savas, who agreed to produce his 2001 Royal Bunker debut EP, "Jetzt kommen wir auf die Sachen".
The German Stampede Wrestling, a professional wrestling promotion based in Cologne, featured Bora. He had wrestling matches in promotional events including Night in Motion X, Southern Conflict II, X-Limits, Battlefield 2008, and Northern Night since 2007.
Beginning in 2010, Eko Fresh began an extremely prolific run, releasing four new albums over a three year span. In 2013, he delivered the wildly successful Eksodus which topped the charts in Germany and reached the top ten in Austria and Switzerland as well.
Feuds with other rappers
In 2004, Eko Fresh started a feud with his song "Die Abrechnung", where he criticized his former mentors Kool Savas, Optik Records, Bushido and Aggro Berlin. The song was released on 23 December 2004 on Juice CD # 49 and is a diss track against various other rappers, including his former mentor Kool Savas. With the track billing in which he attacked Savas and Optik Records, he laid the foundation for the battle. Savas is suppressing his labelmates and MOR, Sava's former crew, would also have disintegrated for this reason, the statement said. The Berlin label Aggro and Bushido are also dissected in the track. However, he overdid it a little, which Sava's answer track quickly clarified the verdict. Many rappers replied to "Die Abrechnung", including Illmatic with "4Eko" and Fler with "Hollywoodtürke". Rappers from Optik Records also reacted: Caput with "Ich geb n fuck" and Ercandize with "Verdanken".
Discography
Eko Fresh has released 10 studio albums, two collaboration albums, three extended tracks, three compilation albums, 18 singles (including three singles as featured artist) and 45 free tracks.
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GER | AUT | SWI | |||
| 2003 | Ich bin jung und brauche das Geld
|
16 | — | — | |
| 2006 | Hart(z) IV
|
24 | 70 | — | |
| 2007 | Ekaveli
|
100 | — | — | |
| 2010 | Was kostet die Welt?
|
36 | — | 97 | |
| 2011 | Ekrem
|
5 | 33 | 15 | |
| 2012 | Ek to the Roots
|
3 | 10 | 4 | |
| 2013 | Eksodus
|
1 | 6 | 2 | |
| 2014 | Deutscher Traum
|
6 | 10 | 7 | |
| 2016 | Freezy
|
4 | 14 | 13 | |
| 2017 | König von Deutschland
|
4 | 16 | 10 | |
| 2018 | Legende (Best Of)
|
— | — | — | |
| 2020 | 2020 Bars (The Goat) | — | — | — | |
Compilation albums
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Sales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Jetzt kommen wir auf die Sachen | — | — | — | |
| 2003 | König von Deutschland | — | — | — | |
| 2005 | Eko Fresh Presents German Dream Allstars | 56 | — | — | |
| Elektro Eko: Fick deine Story | — | — | — | ||
| Elektro Eko: Fick immer noch deine Story | — | — | — | ||
Singles
As lead artist
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | "Ich bin jung und brauche das Geld" |
5 | — | 29 | Ich bin jung und brauche das Geld |
| 2004 | "Die Abrechnung" | — | — | — | |
| 2006 | "Gheddo" |
15 | 40 | — | Hart(z) IV |
| "Ek Is Back" |
32 | — | — | ||
| 2007 | "Ring frei" |
64 | — | — | Ekaveli |
| 2010 | "Königin der Nacht / Arschloch" |
94 | — | — | Was kostet die Welt? |
| 2011 | "Jenseits von Eden" |
64 | — | — | Ekrem |
| 2012 | "Diese Zwei" |
35 | 53 | 46 | Ek to the Roots |
| 2013 | "Guten Morgen" | 57 | 74 | 62 | Eksodus |
| "Quotentürke" | 56 | — | — | ||
| 2014 | "Joko Diss" |
24 | 18 | 35 | non-album track |
| "U-Bahn Ficker" |
— | 51 | — | Deutscher Traum | |
| "Gheddo Reloaded" |
74 | — | — | ||
Collaboration singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | "Dünya Dönüyor" |
— | — | — | Dünya Dönüyor – Die Welt dreht sich |
| 2004 | "Ich will dich" |
57 | — | — | L.O.V.E. (Life of Valezka & Eko) |
| "L.O.V.E." |
16 | — | — | ||
| "Eigentlich schön" |
— | — | — | Dünya Dönüyor – Die Welt dreht sich | |
Free tracks
| Year | Title | Notes | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | "Renexekution" | Reen (formerly MC Rene) diss track Contains a sample of "Born, Never Asked" by Laurie Anderson |
|
| 2004 | "Gegensätze ziehen sich an" (feat. Bushido) |
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| "Die Abrechung" | |||
| "Mein Block" (Remix) | Instrumental of "Mein Block" by Sido | ||
| 2005 | "Nette Kanaken" (feat. Chablife) |
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| "I Need a Girl" (feat. G-Style & Caput) |
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| "Die Bestrafung" (feat. Summer Cem & SDiddy) |
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| 2006 | "Mir steht die Rolex" | ||
| "F.L.E.R." | Fler diss track Instrumental of "L.O.V.E" by Eko Fresh & Valezka |
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| "Hart hier draußen für 'n Stenz" | |||
| "Für HipHop.de" (feat. G-Style) |
Released on the web site Hiphop.de Aggro Berlin diss track |
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| "Warum?" (feat. Summer Cem, Farid Urlaub & J-Luv) |
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| "Landsleute" (feat. Summer Cem) |
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| "Schlag Alarm" (feat. Ramsi Aliani) |
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| "Hartz 1" (feat. Capkekz & SD) |
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| 2007 | "Eksclusive" | ||
| "Toy Soldier" | Instrumental of "Like Toy Soldiers" by Eminem | ||
| "EkAttack" (feat. Hakan Abi) |
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| "Vielen Dank" (feat. Hakan Abi) |
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| 2008 | "200 Bars" | Instrumental of "Shook Ones Part 2" by Mobb Deep | 9:17 |
| "Alles oder nichts" (feat. Kay One) |
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| "Es ist hart" (feat. Ado) |
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| "Wir killen" (feat. Ado & Hakan Abi) |
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| "16 Bars Exclusive" (feat. Capkekz, Summer Cem, Farid Bang & Ice H) |
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| "Ich steh zu meinem Wort" | |||
| "Ich bleibe hier" (feat. Intikam) |
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| "Mein Lifestyle" | |||
| "Hollywood Türke" | |||
| "Weil der Himmel weint" (feat. Sharief) |
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| "Pimp der Branx" | |||
| "Cologne State of Mind" | |||
| "Harte Zeiten" (feat. Crazy Kanaks) |
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| "6 Meter 90" (feat. JokA) |
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| 2009 | "Grembranxshop Exclusive" | ||
| "Mein Präsident steht auf" (feat. Summer Cem) |
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| "Ich bin weg von Bushido" | |||
| "germandreamer.de-Exklusive" (feat. Capkekz & Hakan Abi) |
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| "DBD" (feat. Sentino) |
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| "Changes" (feat. Sentino) |
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| "24 Bars Exklusive" | |||
| "Day 'n Nite" (Remix) | |||
| "Wo ich bleib" (feat. El Chicko & Ado) |
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| "Space Is On" | |||
| "Mickey Rourke" | |||
| "Was weißt du davon" (feat. Sharief & Farid Bang) |
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| 2010 | "Angie" | ||
| "Der Einspruch" | Instrumental of "Das Urteil" by Kool Savas | ||
| "Wavin' Flag" (Remix) | |||
| "Sachen gibt's" | |||
| "Leg das Mic weg" | |||
| "Mach 'n Taui" (feat. PA Sports) |
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| "Keinen Swagger wie ich" | Instrumental of "They Don't Care About Us" by Michael Jackson | 2:36 | |
| "Americano Mix" | Remix of "We No Speak Americano" by Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP | 4:30 | |
| "I Need a Dollar" | Remix of "I Need a Dollar" by Aloe Blacc | ||
| "Over the Rainbow" | Remix of "Over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwoʻole, original by Judy Garland | 5:04 | |
| 2011 | "300 Bars" | 13:05 | |
| "500 Bars" | 22:20 | ||
| 2012 | "Schalt die Cam an" (Ill-yes & Aymen feat. Eko Fresh) |
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| "Scheibenwischer an" | |||
| "700 Bars" (produced by Phat Crispy) |
Used samples: Part 1: "Make Me Say It Again Girl" by The Isley Brothers Part 2: "Wildflower" by Hank Crawford Part 4: "Rock On" by Funkdoobiest |
30:02 | |
| 2014 | "Handys runter Hände hoch" (feat. MoTrip) (prod. by Isy B) |
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| "WTF" (feat. Massiv) |