westbam

westbam is the alias of maximilian lenz, born 4 march 1965 in münster, westphalia, germany, and brother of fabian lenz (dj dick). the name is a contraction of westphalia bambaataa, referencing both his home state and his stated role model afrika bambaataa. his dj career began in 1983 at the odeon club in münster, and in 1984 he relocated to berlin, where his work at the metropol brought him wider recognition. in 1985 he produced his first 12-inch, "17," inspired by paul hardcastle's "19," and in 1986 co-founded low spirit recordings with fabian lenz, william röttger, klaus jankuhn, and sandra molzahn. his 1989 album "the cabinet" was described as the first dj-concept album released on the german market.