Ян Дилей: от Absolute Beginner до Евровидения и Eimsbush Records

German rapper and singer

Jan Phillip Eißfeldt (born 25 August 1976), known professionally as Jan Delay, is a German rapper and singer whose stylistic range includes mainly hip hop, reggae, dub and funk. An accomplished solo artist, he became known to the public as a member of the German bands Absolute Beginner and La Boom. He performed with his group 'Disko No. 1' at the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in Düsseldorf.

Delay was born in Hamburg on 25 August 1976. He attended the bilingual Helene Lange Gymnasium from 1986 to 1995.

In the 1990s, Delay became known as one third of the pioneering German hip hop group Beginner. His stage name is a reference to Young Deenay, a pop music act in the 90s: the delay/echo is an important effect in reggae and dancehall music. Delay's most significant trademark is his somewhat nasal voice. He also frequently changes his stage name depending on his current music style, mood and collaboration partners. Bald, he often wears a hat and sunglasses.

In 1997, Delay founded his own record label Eimsbush together with partners from the Hamburg hip hop scene. The label's main goal was to support and guide fresh underground talents and pave their way into the music business without having them "selling out" to the major labels. The label was initiated by the German hip hop scene while it was going through a boom phase in the mid and late 90s, which led to "every Horst [jerk] being allowed to rap if only he can hold up a mic" (Jan Delay, MTV Germany, 2007). As a result, real talent stepped back for fear of being seen as sellouts by the underground hip hop scene. The label was shut down in 2003 due to financial reasons and as a result of the "naive idea of just believing in talent outside the mainstream."