1999–2005: Debut and Mamani Around the same time, Denalane came in first contact with
hip hop group
Freundeskreis, who searched for a female counterpart to lead singer
Max Herre's voice on their track "Mit Dir" then. However, the duet was released as a single in July 1999 and made the top 10 in Germany, the top 30 in Austria, and the top 15 in Switzerland—pushed by the fact Denalane and Herre had become a couple. Afterwards Denalane joined the
FK Allstars, which also consisted of
Afrob,
Gentleman, Sekou, and Brooke Russell, among others, and went on tour with them for more than two years. Later on she signed a contract with
Four Music (founded by
Die Fantastischen Vier) and began working on her debut album
Mamani, which was released in June 2002 and debuted at number eight on the
German Albums Chart. Inspired by
African roots, the album was primarily produced by husband Max Herre. In total
Mamani spawned six singles, including the lead single "Sag's Mir", the socially critical track "Im Ghetto von Soweto" (featuring her uncle, South African
flugelhorn legend
Hugh Masekela), and "Kinderlied", a song dedicated to her oldest son Isaiah. at the Gurtenfestival in Bern, Switzerland in 2000 In 2003, Denalane went on a solo tour and finished collaborations with
Youssou N'Dour,
ASD, and
Till Brönner. She also performed in New York City and
Philadelphia for the first time and eventually received a Comet for Best Hip-Hop/R&B National and three
ECHO nominations, including Best Female Artist. Soon after she released a live edition of
Mamani on CD and DVD, which was recorded during a special performance at Berlin's Tränenpalast and involved a set of previously unreleased remakes. In summer 2005 Denalane contributed vocals to the German version of
Common's 2005 single "
Go!".
2006–2015: Born and Raised and Maureen In April 2006, Denalane and Herre founded their own label, Nesola. Simultaneously Denalane prepared the release of her second album,
Born & Raised, her first record in English. Pre-programmed in Germany, the album was entirely recorded in Philadelphia and features appearances by American rappers
Lupe Fiasco,
Raekwon, and
Governor. While its lead single "Let Go" reached a moderately successful number 40 on the German Singles Chart, the critically acclaimed
Born & Raised (released in August 2006) debuted at number two (behind
Christina Aguilera's
Back to Basics) on the national albums chart, making it Denalane's highest chart entry to date. Further singles from the album, "Heaven or Hell" and "Sometimes Love", failed to chart within the top one hundred. In early 2007, Denalane released the single "Change" (featuring
Lupe Fiasco) in the United Kingdom, which failed to chart; however, it was featured in the 2008 blockbuster film,
Taken, starring
Liam Neeson. In 2008, Denalane worked with
Tweet,
Dwele and
Bilal on the project
The Dresden Soul Symphony in
Dresden, Germany. They performed classic soul cuts like "Let's Stay Together", "Natural Woman", "
It's a Man's Man's Man's World", "Ain't Nothing Like a Real Thing", etc. with the
MDR Symphony Orchestra. An album,
The Dresden Soul Symphony, and DVD were later released on 24 October 2008. Denalane's third studio
Maureen, titled after her middle name, was released May 2011. Her first German-language studio album since
Mamani (2002), it received a positive response from critics and reached number eight on the
German Albums Chart. Elsewhere the album peaked at number thirty-six in Austria and number eleven on the
Swiss Albums Chart, becoming both her highest and lowest-charting album yet, respectively. Spawning four singles, an English language version of
Maureen was released in March 2012. In August 2014, Denalane became a judge on the debut season of the
RTL reality program,
Rising Star along with
Sasha,
Gentleman, and
Anastacia.
2016–present: Gleisdreieck and Let Yourself Be Loved In 2017, Denalane released her fourth studio album,
Gleisdreieck, her third German-language album. On 4 September 2020, Denalane released her fifth studio album,
Let Yourself Be Loved, via
Motown Records. It is her second English-language album. ==Discography==