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„I saw the GSi at the IAA Motor Show, and I thought it was pretty cool, even then.“
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Moses Pelham
“That which is to touch the heart must come from the heart.” Moses Pelham has been repeating this line from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe over the last few months. Pelham quoted the poet in November 2017 during his acceptance speech for the ‘Goethe Plaque of the City of Frankfurt am Main.’ And he used this aphorism as a preface to his latest album, releasing it under the title ‘Herz’ (Heart) last summer.
In sync: Moses Pelham can sit back and relax while the Navi 900 IntelliLink system plays his tunes over the Bose Sound System.
The Opel Insignia GSi Grand Sport has been setting the producer, author, rapper, and label owner’s heart aflutter since last September. We asked him a few questions about it during a photo shoot at the Kommune2010 site in Offenbach, Germany. “I saw the GSi at the IAA Motor Show, and I thought it was pretty cool, even then,” says Pelham, who is soon to cruise through Frankfurt in his very own metallic, silver-colored Opel flagship model.
“It was also important to me that everything in the Insignia was made from vegan materials, with the exception of the steering wheel,” explains the musician, who has led a vegan lifestyle for the last few years and campaigns for an end to animal cruelty in the food industry.
„It just looks so awesome!“
Erol Peker – aka Credibil – is just as smitten with the Insignia as Pelham, who is Peker’s manager, mentor, and producer. “Everyone I talk to brings up my car. It just looks so awesome,” he says. The 24-year-old furnished his model to his heart’s desire with Opel’s Exclusive program. He made the most of this customization program by fitting his snow-white Insignia with a 360-degree camera, head-up display, and certified ergonomic seats.
It’s no surprise either that music takes center stage in the car. The artist opted for the Bose Sound System with eight high-performance speakers and Active Sound Management. “The system sounds so good that I now go to the car just to do soundchecks,” explains Credibil, who is currently working on his next album. Opel is even a source of inspiration for his songwriting: “There are more songs with lyrics about Opel on my new album.”
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ABOUT MOSES PELHAM
Moses Pelham is a music producer, writer, rapper, and label owner from Frankfurt who has played a major role on the German music scene for over 29 years both onstage and offstage. He has penned 24 LPs, including the most successful Xavier Naidoo album, ‘Nicht von dieser Welt,’ and every Sabrina Setlur, Rödelheim Hartreim Projekt, and GLASHAUS LP. On top of that, he has released 71 singles and sold over nine million records with his company 3p. Pelham has composed 390 songs, reached the charts with 85 tracks, and achieved 15 gold, seven platinum, three triple gold, and two double platinum awards. He also received the ECHO Prize for ‘Best German Producer’ in 1999. In 2017 he was awarded a prestigious cultural award, the ‘Goethe Plaque of the City of Frankfurt am Main.’ Pelham received the Golden Camera in the ‘Best Show’ category in 2018 for starring in the fourth season of ‘Sing my Song – The Concert Swap.’
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Laughing out loud: Pelham now drives through Frankfurt in his new Opel Insignia GSi.
In tune: Credibil and his Opel Insignia perform best in a monochrome look.
“Because I’m Credibil”: The artist’s down-to-earth persona is the reason why he doesn’t drive around in luxury cars like other rappers.
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ABOUT CREDIBIL
Born Erol Peker in Marburg, Germany, Credibil released his ‘Deutsches Demotape’ in 2013. This was followed by live performances at the Splash! Festival, the ‘Molokopf’ EP, and the ‘Renæssance’ album in 2014 and 2015. The topics that Credibil addresses in his music are unusual for a rapper – and especially for someone in his age bracket. His songs often stand out due to their thought-provoking, difficult, and introspective content. His affinity to his home city of Frankfurt am Main, and Opel, are also two recurring motifs. The online version of the broadsheet Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, faz.net, wrote the following statement about him in 2014: “Credibil is a credit to this much-maligned genre and is acclaimed for that reason.” Kool Savas, one of the most famous rappers in Germany, shared the video for Credibil’s song ‘Mensch’ on Facebook in 2012, with the caption “The future of German rap.”
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Credibil is also a big fan of the matrix light: “Other cars don’t flash their high-beams at me anymore when I use mine on the highway. This system is amazing!” The rapper has opted for a color-coordinated appearance by giving the Insignia exterior a high-gloss black finish. The exterior door handles match the vehicle’s finish; the lateral window trims, radiator grill, and frame are all in high-gloss black. “It will look even better when it has its summer tires with black rims.”
Lighting Strikes Thrice
Credibil, who grew up in the neighborhood surrounding Frankfurt main station, has sworn by these cars with a lightning bolt symbol for years. “This is my third Opel! I used to have an Astra J and a first-generation Insignia.” The rapper says that Opel can “stand tall, because its cars are so good.” The Rüsselsheim-based company can do anything that the premium brands can. The difference is that Opel is for everyone. Or, as Opel says, “the future belongs to everyone.”
A native of Marburg, he says that he can trace his affinity with this traditional brand back to his proximity to Opel’s headquarters. “I mean, Opel comes from the same region as I do and forms a part of Rüsselsheim in the same way that Moses and I represent Frankfurt,” says Credibil, who moved to Frankfurt when he was 14 years old and spent his teenage years hanging around the main station and vicinity.
Pelham also knows the history of the manufacturer, founded only 25 km down the River Main from his home city. “I feel very attached to the brand as a native of Frankfurt,” says the 47-year-old, who recently visited the place where Opel’s heart has been beating for over 156 years, before embarking on his 2018 ‘Herz’ Tour. “I really learned a lot about its tradition on a tour of the plant in Rüsselsheim.”
Mit Opel auf „Herz“-Tour 2018
That’s why Pelham is taking two Opel Movano and a Opel Vivaro on tour with him for three weeks. “We’re using them to transport our merch and technical equipment,” says Pelham. The utility vehicles offer plenty of space: Each L1H2 model of the Movano can hold 8,600 liters of tour equipment, while up to nine crew members can fit in the Vivaro.
Anyone who wants to watch Pelham and his band perform live should act fast if they want tickets: Over the course of April, these musicians will play in Bremen (18 April), Hamburg (19 April), and Hanover (20 April). Tickets for concerts in Pelham’s home city of Frankfurt are already sold out.
But no matter where Pelham and Credibil travel in the Opel Insignia, Movano or Vivaro, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe knew one thing for sure: “The best education for a clever person is found in travel.”
Into Opel: Rapper Credibil has driven this car brand with the lightning bolt symbol for over three years.
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„Opel can stand tall, because its cars are so good.“
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Rapper Credibil
On the 2018 ‘Herz’ Tour with Opel: The Opel Movano (left) and the Opel Vivaro bring members of the Pelham crew and parts of the tour equipment to gigs all across the country.
April 2018