Image Ctrl
Image Ctrl Live
The secretive rap collective Image Ctrl emerged from the depths of the Berlin underground in late 2013, self-releasing their debut "Better Living through Image Ctrl" without the support of a record label or releasing a single press picture of the 6 members that comprise the group. Through the force of this release and a batch of stolen press contacts, the single "Push" and Image Ctrl's cult-like vocabulary quickly reached the blog landscape (Rap.de, Kultmucke, C-heads, Tape.tv, etc), setting the group up to spend 2014 touring Europe, jumping from club nights in Poland to the legendary Fusion festival, to Zürich's notorious Gonzo club and back to Germany to play with everyone from Trapmasters to Frittenbude to Venus X
Coming off a german tour with Neonschwarz and the release of Vanderkush's remix of "Manage_Hustle" through Tealer Records, Image Ctrl are polishing their first full-length label and vinyl releases and climbing further into the outer reaches of bass. With a synthesizer-heavy sound that criss-crosses from cloud rap to bass to trap without ever becoming friends, and the melodic southern staccato of the group's MC, Image Ctrl's live performances become dark rituals in the name of club music.
Image Ctrl Soundsystem
Breaking with the classic constellation of a Dj backing one or several MC's and essentially being little more than a backdrop for rappers, Image Ctrl's Forster.Ctrl and Boogie Dan are a central part of the group and their live performance. As a veteran of the Berlin B-Boy/B-Girl movement, Boogie Dan is a classically trained turntablist with both digging hands far out in the future, building on a skill set developed at dance battles and as support Dj for Sookee, Big Daddy Kane and Phat Kat (to name a particularly random sampling). A resident of Berlin's Hip Hop Temple Cassiopeia and regular guest at about:blank, Boogie Dan effortless jumps from today's to tomorrow's classics without ever losing his feel for the crowd.
Forster.Ctrl is without a doubt Image Ctrl's musical universalist, converting a single underground techno set on Soundcloud into a Dj'ing history that includes sets with Rampue, Krink, Trapmasters and untold MC in the span of two years. On a constant mission for new styles, Forster.Ctrl's sets can reach Dancehall, UK Bass and Baltimore Club within the space of an hour, creating the illusion of endless crates.
Boogie Dan and Forster.Ctrl comprise the Image Ctrl Soundsystem, which back-ends the group's live performances or acts as an autonomous body of the collective. Expanding and deepening the soundscapes opened by Image Ctrl's musical releases, the Soundsystem functions as Image Ctr's outreach program for the dancefloor. Rooted in street styles and oriented towards space, it is the perfect fit for any rap event that wants to be more than just another rap event.