Sabrina Setlur

Born in Frankfurt, Germany, to Indian immigrant parents, rapper Sabrina Setlur landed a recording contract in 1993 when she delivered an a cappella version of Dr. Dre's "Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang" to Thomas Hofmann, co-owner of the 3p label. Hofmann had formed the label with Moses Pelham, member of the German rap crew Rödelheim Hartreim Projekt, who gave Setlur a guest vocal shot on their 1993 single "Wenn Es Nicht Hart Ist." Two years later she made her full-length solo debut with S Ist Soweit, an album featuring some production work by Pelham and released under the pseudonym Schwester S. The successful single "Ja Klar" pushed the album to the 11th spot on the German charts and earned the artist an ECHO Award for sales. Two years later she returned to her birth name for the album Die Neue S-Klasse. The album's single, "Du Liebst Mich Nicht," went to number one with 300,000 copies sold, and Setlur was awarded her second ECHO. Her third came when her 1999 album, Aus der Sicht und Mit den Worten Von ......., reached number three. That same the year she was romantically linked with tennis star Boris Becker, and made a guest appearance on the Faithless track "Bring My Family Back." A year later she made her acting debut in the horror film Anatomie and contributed a Top 20 hit to the soundtrack, "Alles," featuring her protégé, Xavier Naidoo. Her 2003 album, Sabs, made it to number 11 without any of its singles cracking the Top 20. Two years later the compilation 10 Jahre das Beste rounded up the hits. ~ David Jeffries, Rovi