John Known

In the hip-hop world, John Known is making a name for himself with his versatile music. He blends powerful rhymes with classic boom-bap while also experimenting with autotune and cloud rap.

Growing up near Hamburg, his family’s literary background introduced him to German poetry. His father, a journalist, nurtured his passion for lyricism. However, it was US rap that captivated him the most during his youth. By the late 2000s, he had started creating his first tracks.

A major milestone came when Samy Deluxe discovered one of his mixtapes. This led to their collaboration on Gute Alte Zeit in 2014. After this breakthrough, John took a step back to refine his style. In 2017, he made a comeback with the EP S01E01, produced by Figub Brazlevic.

Recently, I had the chance to capture John Known through my lens. In this spontaneous moment, he revealed himself as a truly authentic artist. If you haven’t listened to his music yet—especially Season 1 Episode 1—you should definitely change that.