Marco Bliggensdorfer better known as Bligg is a Swiss rapper. His albums 0816 and Bart Aber Herzlich reached #1 on the Swiss charts; four of his other albums have peaked in the top 20. In 1999 and 2000, he was part of a duo Bligg'n'Lexx with rapper and producer Lexx releasing one album together.
Career
Beginnings
At age 16, Bligg began freestyling. In 1995, he released a limited EP, Zürislang Freistiil, which was the first opportunity to really hear him rap.
Bligg'n'Lexx
Three years later, Bliggensdorfer met Alex Storrer, a producer and rapper known as Lexx. Forming a hip hop duo, the two worked together on Chocolate, Cheese and Sounds. In 1999, they released their first single, called "Schnitzeljagd" under the name Bligg'n'Lexx. The single was remixed by DJ Cutmando, whom the pair met while on tour. Ever since then, DJ Cutmando has worked with Bligg. In 2000, Bligg'n'Lexx collaborated with Pete Penicka to release the single "Du & Ich" from the Bligg'n'Lexx debut and only studio album Nahdisnah.The album received positive reviews and increased the group's popularity.
Solo career
Bligg also started working on additional songs and was signed as a separate act to the Universal label. In 2001, Bligg released his first solo album, entitled Normal, which reached #20 on the Swiss charts. He worked with hip-hop artists Spooman, Lexx and with Stress, as well as the Americanrap group The Alkaholiks. Another song included the soul musician Emel, whom Bligg had known for a while. The songs "Alles scho mal ghört" and "Relaxtra" reached the Swiss Singles ChartTop 20. "Alles scho mal ghört" remained on the chart for 16 weeks, eventually reaching #7. In 2002, "Relaxtra" was released as an EP for a second time. After the release of Normal, Bligg ended his relationship with Universal and signed with Nation Music. In 2004, he released his second album, entitled Odyssey. On this album, he worked with many Swiss producers. Odyssey stayed on the Swiss charts for 9 weeks and reached 19th place. Featured guests on this album include Emel, Stress, Stephanie, and Berlin rapper Kool Savas. The single "King Size" became very popular, and after the release of this album, Bligg went on tour for a second time with DJ Cutmando and other musicians. In 2005, Bligg released an album called Okey Dokey on the Musikvertrieb label. The album is the first Dualdisc that was ever released to the Swiss market. Emel and Kool Savas were replaced on this album. The single "Gang Nöd" is Bligg's contribution for Swiss suicide prevention campaign featured on television. In 2006, Bligg released the albumMit Liib & Seel. This was the first time that Bligg sang on one of his albums, as well as the first time that he used English lyrics. After the album's release, Bligg went on tour accompanied by a seven-person band. A year after the release of this album, Bligg released his fourth album, called Yves Spink. He worked on this album with DJ Cutmando in their own well-furnished recording studio. The album reached the Top 10 Swiss charts. The album, which is named after a Swiss party organizer, features a song called "Suzanne." This song is dedicated to Susanne Wille, the moderator of the Swiss news show10vor10. In October 2007, the song "Volksmusigg" was used for the TV show "Die grössten Schweizer Hits." It was performed by the folk group Streichmusik Alder. This version was successful and was released as a single, then stayed on the Swiss charts for 20 weeks. Bligg then went on tour with Streichmusik Alder. After successful work with the group, Bligg decided to incorporate traditional folk elements into his songs, especially using the Hammered dulcimer in his beats. This resulted in the album 0816 which was released at the end of October 2008. After eight weeks, Bligg reached the #1 place on the Swiss charts and stayed there for weeks afterwards. The first single off the album was the song "Rosalie", which was about a woman who falls in love with a florist. The song reached #5 on the Hitparade Single charts. From January 8 to April 18, 2009, Bligg went on tour. At the concerts, up to nine musicians were on stage at all times. In order to reproduce the recorded album's style elements while on tour, the band included accordion player Nicolas Senn, who played the Hammered dulcimer on-stage.
