Baschi

pop

He’s wild, he’s cheeky, and he tells it like it is. Many honest folks in Switzerland blush with embarrassment when Sebastian Bürgin (a.k.a. Baschi) steps up to the microphone. His songs speak the same language as young people in urban Switzerland: outspoken, direct, and crude. Baschi National, a docu-soap about the singer that ran on Swiss television in 2007, made it plain for all to see: this straight-talker from the canton of Basel-Land doesn’t want to be anyone’s idol; he is the way he is. Saying exactly what you think can’t be all that bad. Baschi, his debut album from 2004, went platinum and topped the Swiss album charts; his follow-up album, Irgendwie Held (2005), is well on its way to platinum status; and his third and current album, Fürs Volk (2007), is his most successful to date. It has already gone platinum and is number 1 in the album charts. His singles have also been an undisputed success: Gib mer ä Chance (no. 2), Bring en hei (no. 1), and Wenn das Gott wüsst (no. 3). Baschi is the first artist to sing in dialect to have three singles reach the top 3 of the Swiss single charts. Chum bring en hei! (loosely translated as ‘Go on, bring it home’ or ‘Go on, put it away’) was chanted across the country by thousands of football fans during the 2006 World Cup. Since releasing his football hymn, Baschi himself a football fanatic has become one of the most successful singers to perform in dialect. His no.-1 single Bring en hei which was also u...