Sido (rapper)

German rapper

Paul Hartmut Würdig (born 30 November 1980), better known as Sido, is a German rapper. He interprets his artist name as "super intelligentes Drogenopfer" (super intelligent drug victim). It used to stand for "Scheiße in dein Ohr" (shit into your ear), a line from his track "Terroarr". Sido distinguishes himself by using provocative and aggressive lyrics. After his breakthrough with his debut album Maske in 2004, he was always seen wearing a silver skull mask. However, since 2005, he no longer wears the mask. Würdig's career began in 1997, as one half of duo Royal TS (now A. i. d. S) with B Tight, both of whom were later signed to the label Berlin hip hop Royal Bunker and then to Aggro Berlin in 2001. As of 2009, Sido is signed to Urban/Universal Music Group.

Würdig was born to a German father and a Sinti mother. At the age of eight, he and his younger sister were brought up by their mother in East Berlin in the Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood. In 1988, the family moved to West Berlin, where they first lived in emergency accommodation in Wedding along with many asylum seekers. They then moved into Märkisches Viertel, a high rise residential area in the Berlin borough of Reinickendorf. During his childhood and youth, Märkisches Viertel had a high proportion of migrants and low income families. There he attended the Bettina von Arnim Oberschule and afterwards began an apprenticeship as an educator, which he never completed.

Sido has been active in the music business since 1997. Together with his best friend B Tight he released several EPs and demos under the name Royal TS, which were never officially published, at the Berlin underground hip hop label Royal Bunker. Sido had been friends with DJ Tomekk for a long time. The two made a dubplate from Arschficksong and DJ Tomekk played them in clubs all over Germany, presenting Sido to a wider audience for the first time. Specter was art director for DJ Tomekk at that time. At a concert the duo got the attention of Halil, Specter and Spaiche the later founders of the Aggro Berlin label.

Sido's solo career began in 2002 with the "Arschficksong" ("Ass fuck song") on the sampler Aggro Ansage Nr. 1 and the "Weihnachtssong" ("Christmas song") on Aggro Ansage Nr. 3. In 2004, Sido's debut album Maske was released, reaching No. 3 on the German charts and selling more than 180,000 copies to date, achieving gold status. The lead single "Mein Block" ("My hood") reached No. 13 on the German charts, the second single "Fuffies im Club" ("€50 notes in the club") reached No. 18 and the third single "Mama ist stolz" ("Mum is proud") reached No. 25. The original album was banned because of the song "Endlich Wochenende" ("Finally weekend") which, according to the Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons, glorified the use of drugs. The album was rereleased under the name "Maske X" with the song "Arschficksong" in replacement of "Endlich Wochenende". The song was also published (with the video slightly censored), for the first time as a single. In September of the same year, he won a prestigious German music award for "Best Newcomer." The best known song from that album, "Mein Block", describes life from a resident's perspective in the Märkisches Viertel, a low income neighborhood of Berlin, detailing the narcotics trade, alcoholism, problems with police, and poverty in Sido's Block, or building.

After this debut album, together with his Label colleagues B Tight and Fler, he released two label samplers: Aggro Ansage Nr. 4 and Aggro Ansage Nr. 5 (which featured the new label artists Tony D and G Hot). In 2005, Sido performed with and represented Berlin in the Bundesvision Song Contest 2005 with the song "Mama ist stolz", placing 3rd with 113 points. Later he collaborated with rapper Harris, as the rap duo Deine Lieblings Rapper ("Your favorite rappers"). In 2005, they released their debut album Dein Lieblings Album ("Your favorite album"), with "Steh wieder auf" ("Get up again") as the only single. In December 2006, Sido released his second album Ich, which reached No. 4 in the German album charts. Three singles ("Strassenjunge", "Ein Teil von mir" and "Schlechtes Vorbild") were released. The album achieved gold status.

In 2007, Sido and B Tight (alias A. i. d. S.) formed their label Sektenmuzik and a rap crew named Die Sekte (with Rhymin Simon and Vokalmatador). Tony D joined later.

His third album Ich und meine Maske was released at the end of May 2008. It reached No. 1 in the German album charts. The singles "Augen auf"/Halt dein Maul", "Carmen", "Herz", "Nein!" and "Beweg dein Arsch" had success in the charts. In August 2008, Sido joined the seventh season of Popstars, called "Just 4 Girls", as a jury member, along with Detlef D! Soost and Loona. Many people were surprised, wondering why Sido, the rapper with his provocative and aggressive lyrics, would join a TV show like Popstars. At the end of Popstars, the band Queensberry was formed.

On 1 April 2009, the label Aggro Berlin was closed. Sido was then signed by Urban Records, a division of Universal Music Germany. On 30 October 2009, Sido released his fourth studio album Aggro Berlin. The lead single "Hey du!" ranked No. 4 in the German Charts. In this song Sido talks about growing up in East Germany and his later life in West Berlin. He reported that he kept his East Berlin origins secret for a long time for fear of bullying.

Würdig has a son, whose name and date of birth are not known publicly, but he references him in the songs "Aggro Gold" and "2010", amongst others. He began dating former Nu Pagadi lead singer Doreen Steinert in mid 2005 and on 14 February 2010 they became engaged. But in April 2012 they broke off their engagement. Just a few weeks later, in early May 2012, Würdig confirmed rumors that he had started dating German TV presenter Charlotte Engelhardt. Sido had a second son with Engelhardt in 2013. Würdig is the second cousin of the German DSDS participant Menowin Fröhlich.

The perceived rebellious tendencies of Sido's label affiliates B Tight, Fler, and G Hot, whose persona emphasize embittered racial or class standpoints, have garnered additional discussion in widely circulated publications.

July 2004, Sido performed live in Stuttgart for the festival MTV HipHop Open. During his performances he insulted Frankfurt rapper Azad's mother saying: "If we had a bed right here, I'd bang Azad's mother". A week later Sido and Azad met each other backstage, and after a short dispute, it escalated into a brawl that involved the artists of Aggro Berlin and Bozz Music. The security and the police arrived to stop the conflict, but Azad and his crew had fled already.

Sido has been accused of promoting conspiracy theories. In a 2020 video with the rapper Ali Bumaye, Sido seemed to endorse the QAnon conspiracy theory. Sido has also been criticized for comments alleged to be antisemitic. The journalist Eliran Kendi has claimed that Sido “reaches into the anti Semitic bag of tricks” and “triggers [ ] the audience specifically in the direction of the Jewish world conspiracy”. Sido has distanced himself from the antisemitic conspiracy theorists Attila Hildmann and KenFM.