Artist Research - Madcon

Madcon are a Norwegian duo consisting of Tshawe Baqwa and Yosef Wolde-Mariam. Madcon's musical style is a retro-urban mix with influences from funk, soul and hip hop (with additional elements and vibes from reggae, Latin and African in the finished product). Yosef and Tshawe blend singing and rapping in a unique and harmonious way.

Live in concert, Madcon delivers an energetic musical showcase with a full band on stage. The experience is unique for the European music scene, best described as Outkast meets The Roots meets Black Eyed Peas meets Gnarls Barkley.

Madcon quickly established themselves in the Nordic music industry as 'everybody's favourite rappers', and they created a remarkable hype supporting for various international superstars like Destiny's Child, 50 Cent, Alicia Keys etc. Madcon supported the last European tour with the legendary Ganstarr.

Madcon released their first single 'God Forgive Me' in 2000 (virgin records) but their first commercial breakthrough was with long time collaborators. Paperboys with the hit single 'Barcelona' in 2002 (Bonnier Amigo). In 2004, Madcon released their first official album titled 'Its All A Madcon' which won them a Norwegian Grammy and several other awards.

In 2005 Madcon became TV-personalities on the Nordic music channel The Voice, while growing with their music in the studio. The show “The Voice of Madcon” became a huge success for both Madcon and the network, showcasing the behind the scenes life of Norway’s favorite rap stars.

In late 2007 Tshawe was invited to join the hugely popular "Dancing With The Stars" TV-show in Norway, and against all odds he won. When the media hype was at its biggest, Madcon released their brand new single Beggin’ (a cover version of an old Frankie Valli classic), and it immediately became a smash hit. Beggin’ became the first urban track in Norway to make it all the way to the top of the sales and radio charts. Their second album "So Dark The Con Of Man" was released December 2007, and sold gold in 3 hours, and platinum in 3 days.

The single Beggin’ worked its way to 7 x platinum status in Norway, becoming one of the biggest hits of all time in the Norwegian charts, and the impact was strong enough to make waves through Europe.

Interest for this fresh and exciting talent from the Nordic territory was gathering in Europe, and after several negotiations Madcon's label (Bonnier Amigo) signed a licensing agreement with SonyBMG for Europe. Beggin’ was released in Germany, France, The UK, Austria, Russia, Greece, Poland, Italy to name a few countries, and the single quickly became a smash hit on the European radio and sales charts.