The long, green journey to Panama

Our Artist of the Month for the summer month of August is the hotshot of the year GReeeN. Born in Mannheim in 1989, the musician, who was born Pasquale Valentin Denefleh, likes weed, the colour green and Panama. The rapper and singer is not a newcomer, but he topped the chart for the first time in his long career and caused a stir on the streaming and social media giants Spotify and TikTok. Previously known as “Der Grüne” (“The Green One”), “B!Smoke” and finally since 2014 by his alter ego “Grinch Hill”, GReeeN’s working genres vary from hip-hop to battle rap and reggae.

Reggae vibe, DIY and the colour green

In 2013, battle rap brought him to the limelight as he ended up on JULIENSBLOGBATTLE. Shortly afterwards he became inspired by reggae music and embraced Caribbean flair with a cover version of SIDO’s Arschficksong. This marked a new beginning, and the reggae vibe has played an important role in the development of his musical career ever since. Without the normal major moves, GReeeN has managed to build up a colourful, versatile and above all loyal fan base in the shortest possible time, who follow him unconditionally in his musical and social media world. He has made his releases without the usual label and management work. GReeeN’s artistry and self-taught actions have proven themselves with chart successes, which he has achieved independently.

In 2015, GReeeN’s debut album “Vergessenes Königreich” (“Forgotten Kingdom”) entered the German album charts at number 33. Four years later, in 2019, he reached 6th place on the German album charts with “Smaragd” (“Emarald”), followed by the third album “Highland”, which reached 5th in September 2020. Album number 4 – “Hybrid” was released in July 2021, reaching 10 in the charts. “Das verlorene Album” (“The Lost Album”) reached 19th in December 2021. His EP Glückskind (Lucky Child), which he released in April 2023, reached 29th in the German charts. And that’s where the journey to Panama began.

And then came Panama

In June 2024, “Panama” launched GReeeN into the world of TikTok and his followers and streaming numbers shot through the roof – everyone moved to the groove of his beat, danced to his whirling words and carried the positive feeling of the song into their lives. A good year after the release of “Panama”, a viral hype appeared, resulting in the song reaching 5th in the German singles charts and 1st on the Spotify charts in July 2024. The love song, written for his girlfriend, became a mega hit. The video also helped the song. It shows shaky mobile phone recordings of holiday moments between two people who love each other: GReeeN and his girlfriend. The energy and love are felt by those who see it. And as GReeeN puts it:

Since I saw you, nothing is like it was
You are art, my mandala
I’m in love – to the max
I just can’t give you any more.

The already sold-out Glückskind tour will take place in autumn 2024.
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See more of GReeeN on Instagram, YouTube and Spotify.

Once a month, recordJet has an Artist of the Month. The recordJet crew chooses an artist that has especially impressed us. Take a look at our AotM playlist. It is a playlist of all of our AotMs from past years up to today.