„The ground was shaking, the ears were booming when I lost my young heart to a fat sound“ – Berlin, also called ‘Dickes B’ by the local group Seeed, has been an inspiration for all kinds of music and subcultures for many years. From one corner in Spandau to the other end in Marzahn, one would think that Berlin has more than enough filthy prefabricated-slab buildings to produce some beats that would put those of Hamburg’s bigwig kids and Frankfurt’s spoiled ones in their shadows. Well indeed – although our at the same time hated and beloved moloch provides a nutrient for authentic gangster rap, Berlin became one of the – no, probably THE – most relevant hub of the German hip hop scene in recent times.
If you want to experience and get to know more about how the separate neighbourhoods sound to the new rap generations and what old (rap) friends made out of it, then take about 16 minutes of your time and go to the bars of these acts.
.
K.I.Z
(KREUZBERG)
.
.
The guys from K.I.Z cannot be missed out on our list, because with their satirical texts taken from their ordinary Berlin life happening in Kreuzberg in-between airs and graces, sexism, women’s rights, etc., they have been sticking around for long eleven years now. This one particular time, when they played ‘Reclaim your U-Bahn’ in front of the tube station Schlesisches Tor, turned them into true Kreuzberger heroes. Besides this, honourable actions such as giving a concert exclusively for women on International Women’s Day and the political application with their party called DIE PARTEI (twice!) are definitely worth mentioning. But K.I.Z is way more than spreading aggression potential and that’s why following quotes are our favourites: “Klosterschüler im Zölibat” [monastery student in celibacy] and because of the current situation “Kapitalismus ist Zauberhaft” [capitalism is charming/enchanting].
.
.
Fargo
(TREPTOW)
.
.
This new solo project of former Indie-Rap pioneers ‘The Love Bülow’ frontman Falk-Arne Goßler is ‘Fargo’ and embraces – against his numerous rap colleagues – simply the simplicity. Allready his first songs states how all this availability and great variety makes us incapable of making decisions. Within the last few weeks we gave his ideas a suitable platform on motor.de called ‘Einfach Fargo’ where he posted his thoughts around what’s really important in life in form of interviews and songs.
We completely agree with his opinion and lifestyle, so: cancel your options, don’t go on dates blindly and meet your friends more often. Luck is not complicated, not expensive and especially not somewhere in the future. Make your luck happen!
.
Die Futschis
(LANKWITZ)
.
.
Every well-prepared list has an inside tip – guess what: we have two! After introducing Fargo to you, we’ll go over to the Futschis; our favorite skat mates. Behind that band name stand Kauz and Nordin. You might assume two old guys with beer bellies but no…they’re actually fresh cool two young Lankewitzer lads. Last year they published their first tape ‘Beats & Bratpfanne’ where the duo takes you through a 30 minute trip all over West-Berlin’s places by night. The next album has a promising and probably the best title of 2016 with ‘Futschifilm’ which surprises with cheeky TV and movie cut-outs in the intro.
The two appear to be antisocial but appealing at the same time what makes them to our favorite rappers from West-Berlin.
.
MC Bomber
(PRENZLAUERBERG)
.
.
MC Bomber is being celebrated as the ‚East-Berliner with the West-Berlin flow’. His raps are just like the good old-school Berlin flows you’re familiar with although he’s young enough to not even have been around at that time. MC Bomber is called several names such as P.Berg Ayatollah between Prenzlauer Berg and Wedding, but in the end he’s known everywhere for complete disrespect, maximal drug abuse and absolute political incorrectness. To put it in other words: no matter if this guy drops a track or simply bombs a train like in his good, old times as a proper sprayer, we can’t do anything else than to sympathize with him, because deep down, our crummy Berlin-rap-hearts are beating with the bars of his wasted stories just off the streets. And at the end we’ll buy his record, just as he predicted it: „Wegen freshness“ (because of his „freshness“).
Text: Viktoria Renner
About the Author:
Our guest author Viktoria Renner leads the digital music and lifestyle magazine motor.de. she writes about what drives her, since digital content became a major driving force of our media.
She studied Communication in Social and Economic Contexts at the University of the Arts Berlin and works as a consultant for cultural content within marketing contexts, if she is not discussing it in her articles. She and the internet grew up simultaneously and they both developed quite a bit since their first MySpace page, overloaded with colorful presets.
Check out motor.de, to see what the two are up to lately.
