When it comes to favorite hobbies and teenagers, gaming, hanging out with friends, and an odd sport or two almost always top the list. While there are some variations to this combination of hobbies for young adults in this age group, the answers are pretty much standard for both boys and girls. Not for Basel-based Kevin Rehman, though. Deeply fascinated by music from a young age, Kevin Rehman grew up dabbling in singing and songwriting throughout his childhood. So much so that at 16, Kevin Rehman decided to drop his debut music album. He began to record songs professionally, under the stage name Faustbatal and tasted success with his maiden music.
A song with Eko Fresh, a popular German rapper from the debut album, quickly gained notoriety in the Basel hip-hop scene and catapulted Faustbatal to fame. Through the next four years, Faustbatal’s rapidly growing popularity culminated in a series of collaborations as opening acts for some of the biggest names in the Swiss music scene. As of 2018, Faustbatal was signed by Camouflage Music Switzerland, an independent music label in the prolific German and Albanian music industry. The partnership was the result of Faustbatal’s growing fame as an artist par excellence; he became one of Switzerland’s most-streamed rappers that year. In 2019, his hip-hop and rap music became a sensation on Spotify, a popular online streaming service – his songs’ Scheinen’ and ‘Enemies’ garnered great appreciation by fans and critics alike. The same year, Faustbatal launched his debut music video for the song ‘Enemies’, featuring S4MM, one of the most famous artists in Albania and Northern Macedonia. The music video was an instant hit and garnered over a million videos since its launch in July 2019.
Growing up in a working-class family of Albanian origins, in Basel, Switzerland, in the Gundeldingen district, Kevin Rehman’s story is hardly one that fits the standard tropes. A young man of many talents, this Albanian singer-songwriter is also a successful entrepreneur, having ventured into an independent business after completing ninth grade in high school. Since 2017, Rehman is the proud owner of The Cannabis Express, a specialty lifestyle store that sells and home-delivers medicinal cannabis products – another first for Switzerland!