Cassandra Steen
Encyclopedia
Cassandra Steen is a German
singer, songwriter
and voice actress, who rose to fame as the lead singer of the trio Glashaus
.
After a series of commercially successful releases with the group, Steen released her moderately successful solo debut album Seele mit Herz in 2003. After her departure from Glashaus and a label change to Universal Urban Records
in 2007, she released her second album Darum leben wir in February 2009. A gold-certified the top ten success, it spawned three singles, including "Stadt," the fourth biggest-selling single of 2009 in Germany. In 2010, she won the ECHO Award for Best National Artist Rock/Pop.
Also in 2009, Steen voiced the character Tiana
in the German dub of Disney's 49th animated feature The Princess and the Frog. "Never Knew I Needed
," a duet with original singer Ne-Yo
, was the first single to be lifted from the accompanying soundtrack
.
father and a German mother in Ostfildern
-Ruit near Stuttgart
, Germany
in 1980.
In 1997, Steen's demo tape got into the hands of a befriended producer, who passed it to an up and coming hip hop group, he was working with: Freundeskreis
. Impressed by her voice, Steen was invited to contribute backing vocals to the trio's 1997 debut album Quadratur des Kreises, gaining her first official feature credit on their collaboration "Telefonterror." The following year she appeared in Freundeskreis' music video for their single "Wenn der Vorhang fällt" and accompanied the band on their first tour throughout German-speaking Europe
. Further collaborations with Freundeskreis failed to materialize as Steen decided to move to Hamburg
in hopes of a solo career launch and soon she was offered a contract with the independent label Booya Records. Due to musical differences she soon asked for a release however. Steen holds both German and American citizenship.
Evolution. Steen eventually signed a solo contract with the Frankfurt am Main-based soul label and started work on what initially was to be her solo album but soon moved into a collaborative endeavor and finally emerged as the debut album of Glashaus
, a trio consisting of Steen, Pelham and 3p studio musician Martin Haas, with Steen contributing the lead vocals. After months of recording the group released their debut single, the piano ballad
"Wenn Das Liebe Ist," in 2001. The song became an instant success, reaching number five on the German Singles Chart, and garnered the band three ECHO Award nominations. Four albums later, the band unofficially disbanded in 2006. Steen decided not reunite with Pelham and Hass for another album and in 2009, she was replaced with a new female leading singer.
. Additionally, Steen continued singing background and chorus for label mates Illmatic
, Franziska and Setlur
, and made guest appearances on several new releases by J-Luv, W4C, Melbeatz, Bushido
and Curse
. Her collaboration with rapper Azad
, "Eines Tages" was released in 2006.
In February 2009, Steen released her second studio Darum leben wir on the Universal Domestic/Urban
label. Containing production by Marek Pompetzki & Paul NZA, Andreas Herbig und Michael Herberger, the album reached the top ten of the German Albums Chart
and sold more than 100,000 copies domestically, resulting into a gold certification by the IFPI
. The album's same-titled lead single reached number six on the German Singles Chart and was chosen to represent Baden-Württemberg
on the 5th Bundesvision Song Contest where Steen finished fourth with 103 points. Second single "Stadt," a collaboration with Ich + Ich
singer Adel Tawil
, was released to even greater success, reaching number two in Germany and the top five in Austria. It eventually became the fourth biggest-selling single of 2009 in Germany. Also in 2009, Steen voiced the character Tiana
in the German dub of Disney's 49th animated feature The Princess and the Frog. "Never Knew I Needed
," a duet with original singer Ne-Yo
, was the first single to be lifted from the accompanying soundtrack
. In 2010, she won the ECHO Award for Best National Artist Rock/Pop.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
singer, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and voice actress, who rose to fame as the lead singer of the trio Glashaus
Glashaus
Glashaus is a German musical band, consisting of lead singer Peppa Singt, songwriter and rapper Moses Pelham and producer Martin Haas. The trio is best known for their mixture of R&B, soul and pop music with lyrics in German language....
.
After a series of commercially successful releases with the group, Steen released her moderately successful solo debut album Seele mit Herz in 2003. After her departure from Glashaus and a label change to Universal Urban Records
Universal Records
Universal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group, and it is now owned by Manny Patino and Michael Jackson, and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group.-History:...
in 2007, she released her second album Darum leben wir in February 2009. A gold-certified the top ten success, it spawned three singles, including "Stadt," the fourth biggest-selling single of 2009 in Germany. In 2010, she won the ECHO Award for Best National Artist Rock/Pop.
Also in 2009, Steen voiced the character Tiana
Princess Tiana
Tiana is the main protagonist of Disney's 2009 film The Princess and the Frog which is loosely based on the 2002 novel The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker. At the start of the movie she is a waitress and aspiring restaurateur living in the French Quarter of New Orleans during the Jazz Age...
in the German dub of Disney's 49th animated feature The Princess and the Frog. "Never Knew I Needed
Never Knew I Needed
"Never Knew I Needed" is a 2009 Single by American pop/R&B singer Ne-Yo. The song was produced by Chuck Harmony. It is the first single from The Princess and the Frog: Original Songs and Score soundtrack. The song had an accompanying music video which was in heavy rotation on the Disney Channel....
," a duet with original singer Ne-Yo
Ne-Yo
Shaffer Chimere Smith, Jr. , better known by his stage name Ne-Yo, is an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer and actor. Beginning his career as a songwriter, Ne-Yo penned the hit "Let Me Love You" for singer Mario...
, was the first single to be lifted from the accompanying soundtrack
The Princess and the Frog: Original Songs and Score
The Princess and the Frog: Original Songs and Score is the soundtrack of the 2009 Disney animated film The Princess and the Frog. It was released by Walt Disney Records on 23 November 2009, just a day before the limited release of the film in New York City and Los Angeles...
.
Early life and career
Steen is the only child born to an African AmericanAfrican American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
father and a German mother in Ostfildern
Ostfildern
Ostfildern is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is located approx. 8 km southeast of Stuttgart...
-Ruit near Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in 1980.
In 1997, Steen's demo tape got into the hands of a befriended producer, who passed it to an up and coming hip hop group, he was working with: Freundeskreis
Freundeskreis
Freundeskreis also known as FK, was a German hip hop group from Stuttgart, whose songs were in German but also in English, French and Esperanto. The members were Max Herre, Don Philippe and DJ Friction....
. Impressed by her voice, Steen was invited to contribute backing vocals to the trio's 1997 debut album Quadratur des Kreises, gaining her first official feature credit on their collaboration "Telefonterror." The following year she appeared in Freundeskreis' music video for their single "Wenn der Vorhang fällt" and accompanied the band on their first tour throughout German-speaking Europe
German-speaking Europe
The German language is spoken in a number of countries and territories in West, Central and Eastern Europe...
. Further collaborations with Freundeskreis failed to materialize as Steen decided to move to Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
in hopes of a solo career launch and soon she was offered a contract with the independent label Booya Records. Due to musical differences she soon asked for a release however. Steen holds both German and American citizenship.
Breakthrough with Glashaus
In 2000, 3p label head Moses Pelham took notice of Steen after listening to her demo tape. Following a first meeting in February 2000, the pair began recording "So Lange," a song that appeared on the 3p compilation albumCompilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
Evolution. Steen eventually signed a solo contract with the Frankfurt am Main-based soul label and started work on what initially was to be her solo album but soon moved into a collaborative endeavor and finally emerged as the debut album of Glashaus
Glashaus
Glashaus is a German musical band, consisting of lead singer Peppa Singt, songwriter and rapper Moses Pelham and producer Martin Haas. The trio is best known for their mixture of R&B, soul and pop music with lyrics in German language....
, a trio consisting of Steen, Pelham and 3p studio musician Martin Haas, with Steen contributing the lead vocals. After months of recording the group released their debut single, the piano ballad
Piano ballad
Piano ballad is a term often used to refer to a piece for solo piano in the 19th century, during the romantic era. It was a term used to refer to a piece written in a "narrative" style, and was often lyrical in nature. This type of work made its premiere with Chopin's first romantic ballad, the...
"Wenn Das Liebe Ist," in 2001. The song became an instant success, reaching number five on the German Singles Chart, and garnered the band three ECHO Award nominations. Four albums later, the band unofficially disbanded in 2006. Steen decided not reunite with Pelham and Hass for another album and in 2009, she was replaced with a new female leading singer.
Solo career
Among three successful albums and a number of hit singles the trio also partially produced Cassandra's solo album, Seele Mit Herz, which was eventually released in summer 2003 and yielded the slow jam "Wenn Du Lachst" as its lead single. Both the album the single were a critical success but widely failed to chart or sell noticeably on the German Media Control chartsMedia Control Charts
The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...
. Additionally, Steen continued singing background and chorus for label mates Illmatic
Illmatic
Illmatic is the debut album of American rapper Nas, released April 19, 1994, on Columbia Records. Following his signing to Columbia with the help of MC Serch, recording sessions for the album took place during 1992 to 1993 at Chung King Studios, D&D Recording, Battery Studios, and Unique Recording...
, Franziska and Setlur
Sabrina Setlur
Sabrina Setlur , formerly known as Schwester S., is a German rapper, songwriter, Hebbar Iyengar and occasional actress...
, and made guest appearances on several new releases by J-Luv, W4C, Melbeatz, Bushido
Bushido (rapper)
Anis Mohamed Youssef Ferchichi, , better known as Bushido, is a German rapper. The word Bushido is Japanese and means "Way of the Warrior". He also uses the pseudonym Sonny Black, based on Dominic Napolitano. As of 2009, he sold more than 1,5 million albums in Germany alone...
and Curse
Curse (rapper)
Michael Kurth , better known as Curse, is a former hip hop artist from Minden, Germany.- Biography :Curse has had a long musical past. In his youth, he played songs like "Zwei Mal In Den Kopf" in his former band Phat Kicks...
. Her collaboration with rapper Azad
Azad (rapper)
Azad Azadpour is a German rapper of Kurdish descent based in Frankfurt am Main.-Career:After having arrived in Germany from Iran as young as 10, he was into hip hop, rap, beatboxing and graffiti. In 1988 he joined D-Flame , A-Bomb, and Combad in Cold-N-Locco...
, "Eines Tages" was released in 2006.
In February 2009, Steen released her second studio Darum leben wir on the Universal Domestic/Urban
Universal Records
Universal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group, and it is now owned by Manny Patino and Michael Jackson, and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group.-History:...
label. Containing production by Marek Pompetzki & Paul NZA, Andreas Herbig und Michael Herberger, the album reached the top ten of the German Albums Chart
Media Control Charts
The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...
and sold more than 100,000 copies domestically, resulting into a gold certification by the IFPI
IFPI
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland...
. The album's same-titled lead single reached number six on the German Singles Chart and was chosen to represent Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
on the 5th Bundesvision Song Contest where Steen finished fourth with 103 points. Second single "Stadt," a collaboration with Ich + Ich
Ich + Ich
Ich + Ich , also pronounced "Ich und Ich", is the name of a musical project by the German musicians Annette Humpe and Adel Tawil. They met in a Berlin recording studio in 2002 when Tawil sang on a production that Humpe had written...
singer Adel Tawil
Adel Tawil
Adel Tawil , is a German singer part of the popular German pop duo Ich + Ich, after being part earlier of the German boy band The Boyz.-Family background:...
, was released to even greater success, reaching number two in Germany and the top five in Austria. It eventually became the fourth biggest-selling single of 2009 in Germany. Also in 2009, Steen voiced the character Tiana
Princess Tiana
Tiana is the main protagonist of Disney's 2009 film The Princess and the Frog which is loosely based on the 2002 novel The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker. At the start of the movie she is a waitress and aspiring restaurateur living in the French Quarter of New Orleans during the Jazz Age...
in the German dub of Disney's 49th animated feature The Princess and the Frog. "Never Knew I Needed
Never Knew I Needed
"Never Knew I Needed" is a 2009 Single by American pop/R&B singer Ne-Yo. The song was produced by Chuck Harmony. It is the first single from The Princess and the Frog: Original Songs and Score soundtrack. The song had an accompanying music video which was in heavy rotation on the Disney Channel....
," a duet with original singer Ne-Yo
Ne-Yo
Shaffer Chimere Smith, Jr. , better known by his stage name Ne-Yo, is an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer and actor. Beginning his career as a songwriter, Ne-Yo penned the hit "Let Me Love You" for singer Mario...
, was the first single to be lifted from the accompanying soundtrack
The Princess and the Frog: Original Songs and Score
The Princess and the Frog: Original Songs and Score is the soundtrack of the 2009 Disney animated film The Princess and the Frog. It was released by Walt Disney Records on 23 November 2009, just a day before the limited release of the film in New York City and Los Angeles...
. In 2010, she won the ECHO Award for Best National Artist Rock/Pop.
Studio albums
- Seele mit Herz (2003)
- Darum leben wir (2009)
- Mir so nahMir so nahMir so nah is the third studio album by German recording artist Cassandra Steen, released by Universal Music Urban on April 29, 2011 .-Track listing:-Charts:-External links:* — official website...
(2011)
External links
- CassandraSteen.com — official site