Fünf Sterne Deluxe has been played on NTS shows including Hannah Holland, with Happy Hip Hop (DJ Koze Remix 1998) first played on 5 February 2015.

Fünf Sterne deluxe (FSd) is a German hip-hop group consisting of the rappers Das Bo, Tobi Tobsen, the designer marcnesium, and DJ Coolmann. Das Bo (Mirko Bogojevic) and Tobi Tobsen (Tobias Schmidt) had already released the album “Genie und Wahnsinn liegen dicht beieinander” as Der Tobi & das Bo in the mid-1990s, along with the singles “Der Racka” and “Morgen geht die Bombe hoch.” Another release followed, titled “Genie & Wahnsinn… (Wir sind die Best Ofs),” featuring the singles “Is’ mir egal” and “Wir sind die Besten.”

In mid-1997, the two rappers teamed up with marcnesium (Marc Clausen), who had also appeared with DJ Koze as Adolf Noise, and DJ Coolmann (Mario Cullmann) to form Fünf Sterne deluxe. Tobi had previously been a member of the English-speaking Hamburg hip-hop crew Poets of Peeze and, along with his brother Oli, was part of the original lineup of Fettes Brot. Marcnesium is a certified communications designer, photographer, and art worker. In the group, he is responsible for the visual presentation, takes part in production, and contributes to writing some of the lyrics. Live, he operates a sampler with special effects and supports the two rappers with vocal snippets that he modifies using a connected vocoder.

In 1998, the group released their first album, SiLLiUM, featuring the singles “5 Sterne deluxe,” “Willst Du mit mir gehn?,” and “Dein Herz schlägt schneller.” Both the album and the singles entered the sales charts, and SiLLiUM has sold over 150,000 copies to date. Fünf Sterne deluxe's lyrics were considered humorous at the time, which led to them being just as controversial within the hip-hop scene as the previous duo, Der Tobi & das Bo.

In 1999, the single “Ja, ja,.. Deine Mudder” was released. Das Bo followed this with an EP in 2000 titled “Türlich, türlich (sicher, Dicker)/Nur der Zorn zählt,” which was released almost simultaneously with Fünf Sterne deluxe’s second single, “Die Leude,” and became a commercial success. “Türlich, türlich” sold over 240,000 units, making Das Bo mainstream-friendly and significantly more successful than the Fünf Sterne releases that year. At the end of 1999, the second Fünf Sterne deluxe album, Neo.Now, was released. Unlike the production of SiLLiUM, Fünf Sterne deluxe spent three months in a house on the Baltic Sea for this release. Critics noted that you could hear this in the album. Others were enthusiastic about the powerful production. To date, Neo.Now has sold over 120,000 units but could not replicate the impact of SiLLiUM. Other groups with a much harder sound and lyrics gained significance. The third single release in 2000, “Stop Talking Bull” by the Discotizers featuring the European funk group Supermax, received only moderate attention despite its elaborate production and matching animated music video. “The fans didn’t understand us anymore… Neo.Now was actually supposed to be called Wieder drei Jahre zu früh,” said FSd in an interview. At the end of 2000, a fan club CD titled Alles muss raus – Die zähe Pampe aus drei Jahren Hirnforschung was released in a limited edition of 500 copies. It featured 28 tracks, including unreleased pieces, remixes, sound experiments, and interview excerpts, and was sold with a Fünf Sterne deluxe skateboard.

In 2004, after DJ Coolmann’s departure, the group, now a trio, released the EP Wir sind im Haus. That summer, they performed once again at major open-air festivals, including a second appearance at the rock-oriented Hurricane Festival. The planned third album was never released. On Das Bo’s 2008 album Dumm aber Schlau, the track “Die Insel” saw FSD reunite in their final lineup.

In August 2013, the group performed in their original lineup at the “Beats auf der Bahn” festival on August 28 as part of the Hamburg Cultural Summer at the Hamburg harness racing track.

During a performance at the 2015 Reeperbahn Festival, it was announced that the group had signed a new record deal and was planning to release their third studio album in 2016.

This album was eventually released on October 6, 2017, under the title “Flash.” Since then, marcnesium no longer performs live with the group. In his place, rapper, singer, and DJ Luis Baltes has been a permanent member of the group since 2018.

Solo Careers
In addition to Fünf Sterne deluxe, DJ Coolmann worked on his own label, Hong Kong Recordings, which signed the group Doppelkopf. He also released two albums under the name Visit Venus with Mario von Hacht (then sound mixer for Fettes Brot and others/Container Studio): Music for Space Tourism Vol. 1 (1995) and The Endless Bummer (1998).

After a creative break, Das Bo released his solo album Best of III – Alleine in 2004, with the singles “Seid Ihr bereit für Das Bo” and “Ich hab Rap für Dich.” These releases were commercially unsuccessful. Das Bo parted ways with the label Yo Mama, which ultimately folded in 2005 after financial struggles and its takeover (2003) by Four Music/Berlin following FSd’s disbandment. In 2005, Das Bo toured with Deichkind and collaborated on singles such as “Wie geil ist das denn??” with Jansen & Kowalski and “Ey Yo” with DJ Tomekk. On the Samy Deluxe So deluxe, so glorious mixtape, he settled scores with his former record label on one track. His second album, Dumm aber schlau, was released in 2008, and its singles “Ohne Bo” and “Dumm aber schlau” charted successfully.

Tobi Tobsen released his first album in 2005 as part of the electro project Moonbootica with koweSix, after previously gaining significant attention in the electro scene with various singles and remixes. Moonbootica is now a sought-after DJ duo. Even during the FSd days (since 2001), they hosted their own Moonbootica parties in Hamburg, which over the years became Hamburg’s best-known electro event, attracting up to 3,000 guests.

As a communications designer, marcnesium oversees the visual aspects of DJ Koze’s label Pampa Records, as well as other musicians and companies. He also teaches communication design at the Ruhrakademie.