Marten Laciny (born 4 December 1982), better known by his stage name Marteria, is a German rapper. He has met with success in Germany (his 2012 collaboration with Yasha and Miss Platnum, "Lila Wolken", reached Number 1 in the German music charts) and the single "Verstrahlt", featuring Yasha, was included in the video game FIFA 12.[1]
His alternative stage name and alter ego is Marsimoto. Before his music career, he was a football player and model.[2]
Laciny was born to a teacher (mother) and a sailor (father), and spent his childhood in the district of LichtenhageninRostock. A talented footballer, he played for the youth team of F.C. Hansa Rostock, that he still maintains a close relationship with. He played under Horst Hrubesch up in the U-17 squad of the Germany national team.
When he was discovered in 1999 during a trip to New York City by a model scout, he got model assignments all over the world. He worked for Diesel and Hugo Boss, among others, after which he discontinued his modeling and went back to Rostock to pursue his rap career.
In 2003, he moved to Berlin. There, he trained as an actor at a drama school.
At the age of 16, Marteria was a member of the hip hop group 'Underdog Cru', signed to the label Posin music. At 18, Marteria then signed his first solo contract with Punchline/SPV, and released his debut album. In 2002 he went as part of the Underdog Cru on a European tour with other British and German groups. A year before, in 2001, he performed as part of the Underdog Cru in the largest hip hop and reggae festival in Europe, Splash!.
Marteria's debut album, Halloziehnation, was praised by the press, and the scene magazine Juice awarded 4 1/2 of 6 stars. He then released his second album Base Ventura. These two albums he released on the indie label Magnum12, where he laid the foundations for his current career. In late 2007, he signed a contract with the music publisher Nesola. In December 2007, under his other pseudonym Marsimoto, he accompanied Jan Delay as tour support. In early 2008, he signed a label deal with Four Music (owned by Sony Music Entertainment). He also founded an own label called Green Berlin.
In addition to his stage name Marteria, he is also known under the pseudonym Marsimoto.[3] Marsimoto originated as a tribute to Quasimoto – the alter ego of rapper Madlib – with an altered high pitched voice. The sound differs considerably from the Marteria sound, as he uses more experimental hip hop, electronic, reggae music and dubstep elements as Marsimoto. This alter ego resulted from a jam session and was later used by Marten Laciny at performances. Due to the positive response, he decided to release albums as Marsimoto. As Marsimoto, he published his solo albums Halloziehnation, Zu zweit allein, Grüner Samt, Ring der Nebelungen and Verde. A common leitmotif of all Marsimoto albums is the exaggerative consumption of Cannabis.
