Söhne Mannheims

Founded in Mannheim in 1995, Söhne Mannheims emerged within a German scene where pop, soul, R&B, hip‑hop and gospel intersect, with German‑language songwriting focused on vocal harmonies and collective arrangements. The project coalesced around several musicians and singers, including Xavier Naidoo, Michael Herberger, Ingo Landeck, Claus Eisenmann and Billy Davis, and operated from the outset as a collective with a rotating lineup rather than as a fixed band. Söhne Mannheims came to prominence around the turn of the millennium with Zion (2000), then followed with Noiz (2004), the live album Power of the Sound (2005), the acoustic Wettsingen in Schwetzingen (2008), and later Iz On (2009), Barrikaden von Eden (2011), ElyZion (2014) and MannHeim (2017). Their repertoire blends soul‑pop songs, rap, ballads and tracks marked by urban rhythms, in a contemporary‑choir aesthetic carried by several lead voices. After Xavier Naidoo’s departure in 2017 and further lineup changes, Söhne Mannheims continued with a new configuration led notably by Dominic Sanz, Michael Klimas, Karim Amun, Giuseppe Porrello and Metaphysics. This phase resulted in the studio album Kompass, released in 2023, and in distinct live formats ranging from the full collective setup to a more compact piano‑based formation.