German rap artist Casper, born Benjamin Griffey in the village of Bosingfeld, spent his formative years overseas with his mother in Augusta, Georgia. It was there, amid a fertile, American hard rock, rap, and hip-hop scene, that he began to develop a talent for rhyming. He moved back to Germany as a teen and formed a metalcore band, A Fear Called Treason, before deciding to release a solo mixtape called Die Welt Hört Mich in 2006. His debut album, Hin Zur Sonne, arrived in 2008, followed by XOXO in 2011. XOXO went gold in Germany and in 2012, Casper won the ECHO award for best Hip-hop/Urban album. He released his follow-up, Hinterland, in 2013. ~ James Christopher Monger