Massive Töne is one of the oldest German hip hop groups, founded 1991 in Stuttgart.
The four founding members, Schowi, Ju, Wasi and DJ 5ter Ton all originated in Stuttgart's hip hop scene and modeled themselves at first on the American and French hip hop groups like Breakdance Soundtracks, Beastie Boys, Public Enemy and Ultramagnetics, before they finally found their own style.
In 1993 Massive Töne joined up with other hip-hop musicians, BBoys und Graffiti artists to form the Stuttgarter Kolchose. Along with Massive Töne, the best known members were Afrob, Freundeskreis, DJ Thomilla and Breite Seite.
From 1994 to 1995 Massive Töne appeared at most of the important hip-hop concerts, where they appeared alongside well-known hip-hop groups like Fettes Brot, Spax, Absolute Beginner, the Stieber Twins, and MC Rene.
Massive Töne's debut album Kopfnicker appeared in 1996, making them well known to the entire German hip-hop scene. It remains today as their most important album and as an emblem for the group. In 1998 Massive Töne switched to the major label Eastwest and produced the single Unterschied. The video for Unterschied became was an enduring hit in Germany.