Marginal Soundscapes: Immigration, Racism and German-language Rap

in the ‘90s

Anna Ayse Akasoy

In the episode of their podcast broadcast on March 7, 2022, two of the journalists who cover culture for the German high-brow weekly Die Zeit, Nina Pauer and Lars Weisbrod, addressed the phenomenon of ‘90s nostalgia.^[1] Their analysis was facilitated by a discussion of Chuck Klosterman’s recently published The Nineties. A Book.^[2] Exploring the attraction of the ‘90s as a destination for time travel, they speculated that the decade seemed to sit comfortably between great crises, the Cold War on the one hand and on the other the Noughts, with the War on Terror, the economic crisis of 2008, as well as the rising threat of climate change and further political conflicts including the war in Ukraine. In Europe, the ‘90s might also be associated with Cool Britannia and the optimism of New Labor, German reunification, and European integration. We all know how selective and malleable memory can be.

Unlike Klosterman, Pauer and Weisbrod spent little time on specific examples of music, but rather discussed the nature and lasting aesthetic value of popular culture in general, including music, film, television, literature, fashion and design. In line with their impression of the decade in general, they found these examples to be marked by innocence, perhaps naivete, optimism, joy, and hedonism. They also remarked that the ‘90s involved a false promise of a kind of happy ending of history, even though on closer consideration events such as the war in former Yugoslavia or concerns such as unemployment were more present in the minds of many people than may be nowadays remembered. Overall, they concluded, their memories of the period may be a function of the time when they were teenagers, rather than defined by general trends and events. Going very briefly over all the phenomena of the ‘90s they did not have a chance to explore in detail in this episode, Pauer mentioned the band Die Fantastischen Vier (‘The Fantastic Four’).

Popular in Germany at the time and, at least among some listeners to the present day, Die Fantastischen Vier are widely known for popularizing German-language rap. Released in 1992, their song Die da!?! (‘Her over there!?!’) was one of the first to inaugurate a new wave of German-language popular music.^[3] The ‘Fanta 4’ were not the only such band at the time. Another popular band, Fettes Brot (‘Phat Bread’), only recently announced their retirement, celebrated in their Fettes Brot … is History tour. Both bands, but especially Die Fantastischen Vier, are emblematic of what is widely perceived to be the early commercially successful phase of German-language rap, marked by humorous and light-hearted lyrics, a ‘pop rap’ style, and musicians who were ethnic Germans or ‘white.’^[4] In later years, from about the mid- to late-90s, German-language rap more prominently emulated US gangsta rap in style. Many gangsta or battle rappers have their ethnic origins outside of Germany, especially in Turkey or in other countries of the Middle East. Prominent examples include Eko Fresh, Kool Savas, Bushido and more recently Haftbefehl. High-profile rappers also often have their own labels.

Rap had long attracted Germans with foreign roots, long before gangsta rap became the predominant form of the genre. Marginalized in socio-economic, cultural and civic ways, they identified with Black artists in the US who had created Hip Hop culture in the 1970s. In addition to the general global success of US popular music, rappers in West Germany were sometimes exposed to the music through US soldiers stationed in the country. Musical references to the traditions of their countries of origin, or those of their parents, were often created by way of sampling or multi-lingual lyrics. Labels such as ‘Oriental Hip Hop’ are controversial, although adopted by some rappers.^[5] Among gangsta rappers, matters of ethnic identity and racism are sometimes brought up, but not foregrounded, especially not as part of a political campaign. Political discussions about gangsta or battle rap focus on the glorification of violence, misogyny, homophobia and antisemitism.

In the first half of 2023, several stories circulated in German media that reminded readers of a different chapter in the history of German-language rap, which had gone underappreciated in this narrative of an evolution from ‘white’ ‘pop rap’ to ethnically diverse gansta rap, and the underlying ways in which German-language rap offered ways for different constituencies to contribute to political debates. These news items also served as an important reminder of events that shaped the memories of the ‘90s for many Germans, and which offer limited occasion for nostalgia.

***

When the wall fell, Germans on both sides of the iron curtain were celebrating. Having grown up in a fairly ethnic German suburb in a left-leaning family with Turkish roots just about a hundred miles west of the border, in retrospect I underestimated the hardship of life in the German Democratic Republic. I cared little about the plight of families who had been separated or about the restrictions citizens of the GDR experienced in their access to the world. To a young teenager in West Germany, the imprisonment of political opponents and extensive surveillance network of the Stasi were realities much more distant than a hundred miles.

Pogrome entstehen, Polizei steht daneben

Ein deutscher Staatsbürger fürchtet um sein Leben

In der Fernsehsendung die Wiedervereinigung

Anfangs hab ich mich gefreut, doch schnell hab ich‘s bereut

Denn noch nie seit ich denken kann, war‘s so schlimm wie heut

Pogroms followed, police standing by

A German citizen fears for his life

Reunification on the television screen

First, I was happy, but soon had regrets

For as long as I can remember, it’s never been as bad as today ^[6]

The reality of German reunification in the early years of the ‘90s brought to my mind that great specter of German history in the twentieth century. As Germans east of the wall chanted ‘Wir sind das Volk’ (‘We are the people’), a great many of us asked ourselves where that left those who did not belong to ‘das Volk’.^[7] ‘Volk’ was just too reminiscent of ‘das deutsche Volk’ as constructed by the Nazis, ‘völkisch’ meaning ‘Aryan’ in the ideology of a pure-blood and superior German ‘Volk’. Fears of violence soon saw confirmation in several German towns that have since become emblematic of post-reunification racism. Neo-Nazis rioted for several days in Hoyerswerda (1991) and Rostock-Lichtenhagen (1992), attacking labor immigrants and refugees. In West Germany, arson attacks led to the death of three people of Turkish origin in Mölln (1992) and five in Solingen (1993).

In May 2023, thirty years to the day after the attack in Solingen, several German media published reflections on experiences at the time and their lasting impact. The newly appointed director of the federal anti-discrimination office, Ferda Ataman, described her memories in Die Zeit.

Solingen ist Chiffre für die Angst vor Neonazis, die Menschen wie mich umbringen wollen. Und sie ging nicht mehr weg. Die Angst ist Teil meines Lebens geworden, unserer Leben, der Leben von vielen Migrant*innen in diesem Land. Der Brandanschlag von Solingen ist ein kollektives Trauma.

Solingen stands for the fear of neo-Nazis who wanted to kill people like me. This fear never went away. It has become part of my life, of our lives, the lives of many immigrants in this country. The attack in Solingen is a collective trauma.^[8]

Recollections of violence in the ‘90s frequently included more recent additions to this list of terror, especially the murders committed by the NSU (‘National Socialist Underground’) between 2000 and 2007, the assassination of politician Walter Lübcke in 2019, the attack on a synagogue in Halle in the same year, and the murder of nine people in a café in Hanau in 2020.

Fig. 1 Closed for Dogs. Photograph by the author, (14 years old at the time), 1991.

One of many graffiti in my hometown; ‘Closed for dogs’ is turned into ‘Closed for Turks.’

Fig. 2. SPD. Photograph by the author, 1991. Antisemitic and Nazi language were ubiquitous in the graffiti. Somebody wrote ‘Jews’ over this event poster of the Social Democrats.

In the ‘90s, racist violence was not confined to the cities which hit the news. Behind the collectively memorialized names and events, there was an interminable list of attempted and smaller attacks. In my own hometown, neo-Nazi graffiti and swastikas were ubiquitous. Small groups of skinheads made themselves visible in public spaces. In regional elections in the state of Hessia on March 7, 1993, the right-wing Republikaner received over 10% of the votes. When you spotted fans of the Eintracht Frankfurt football club after a game, you’d get away from them. At the time, the neo-Nazi contingent among these fans gave the club a certain notoriety. Germany did not feel like a particularly safe space to many of us. How much hostility and ugliness were hidden behind closed doors, stirring at night, waiting to creep out at the right moment? How much hatred does it take to light a match?

Die Grundstimmung war rassistisch.

The general atmosphere was racist.

-- Deniz Ohde, author, in an interview^[9]

While the reality of violent racism may have been news to many ethnic Germans in the ‘90s, to those who belonged to the targeted communities, this was just an especially sad chapter in a familiar story.^[10] Ethnic minorities responded in a variety of ways to this surge of violence and the threat of more. Some ‘returned’ to their countries of origin and fulfilled the myth of the ‘guest worker’ agreements of the 1960s and 1970s, when a labor shortage in West Germany led to the immigration of workers from around the Mediterranean. These workers played a critical role in the economic boom in West Germany and have since become part of the grand narrative of Germany’s recovery after the war. What was meant to be temporary was only recognized as permanent when the children of these immigrants showed no sign of ‘returning’ to their parents’ native countries. Their status as equal citizens, however, was thrown into question in the violence of the ‘90s, in particular when the police failed to offer them equal protection. While some responded with fear, others responded with anger. Some responded with political activism and music.^[11]

The violence of the early ‘90s lend greater urgency to musical projects which had been underway since the late ‘80s, specifically bands who used political lyrics to mobilize those who had experienced racism and create greater awareness of the problem among ethnic Germans to whom the attacks had come as a surprise. Ironically, it may have been the very resurgence of national identity in the aftermath of reunification that created a greater market for rap music with German lyrics.^[12] German-language rap used to campaign for civil rights and promote civic values among the disenfranchised has been described as ‘politically correct’ rap or classified alongside English-language parallels as ‘political’ or ‘conscious rap’.^[13] The Heidelberg-based Advanced Chemistry belong to the pioneers in this area.

In the spring of 2023, UNESCO recognized the contribution of Advanced Chemistry and Heidelberg to German-language rap as intangible cultural heritage. This acknowledgement coincided with the donation of material to the newly established Hip Hop archive in the city.^[14] An early donation to the HipHop archive had already been made in November, 2019 by the Heidelberg-based Torch, a rapper of German and Haitian ancestry and member of Advanced Chemistry. Another member of the group, Toni-L, of Italian ancestry, made his donation in the following year.

Other representatives of conscious German-language rap are the musician Boulevard Bou, like Advanced Chemistry from Heidelberg, and the band Fresh Familee from the Dusseldorf region. The latter are also the subject of what has been called Germany’s first ‘HipHop film,’ Fresh Familee Comin’ from Ratinga (1991).^[15] Freundeskreis was established just a little further to the southeast of Heidelberg, in Stuttgart. The band gained popularity starting in the late ‘90s.

In what follows, I will present briefly three songs to illustrate the political profile of these bands and important themes of German-language conscious rap of the mid-‘90s that responded to racism: “Operation Artikel 3” (Advanced Chemistry), “Geh zur Polizei” (Boulevard Bou), and “Sexy Kanake” (Fresh Familee).^[16] Released in 1994 and 1995, the songs represent a range of encounters with racism, from key civil rights issues, discrimination, and violence to paradoxes of positive racism, exoticism, and casual racism. Whether angry or humorous, the singers promote humanism, equality and civic engagement.

(1) Alle Menschen sind vor dem Gesetz gleich.

(2) Männer und Frauen sind gleichberechtigt.

(3) Niemand darf wegen seines Geschlechtes, seiner Abstammung, seiner Rasse, seiner Sprache, seiner Heimat und Herkunft, seines Glaubens, seiner religiösen oder politischen Anschauungen benachteiligt oder bevorzugt werden.

(1) All persons shall be equal before the law.

(2) Men and women shall have equal rights.

(3) No person shall be favored or disfavored because of sex, parentage, race, language, homeland and origin, faith or religious or political opinions.

Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany

(before November 1994 amendment)^[17]

In the opening lyrics of “Operation Artikel 3,” Advanced Chemistry quote the German constitution prohibiting discrimination.^[18] The invocation sets the tone for the song as the musicians identify a number of ways in which the ideal of non-discrimination clashes with realities. Some of these discriminatory realities are constitutional or legal themselves. Citizenship law is restrictive and taxpaying non-citizens are not allowed to vote. In the larger context of political dissent in German-language rap, it is significant that Advanced Chemistry display a notion of the political which centers the state and its institutions and make a case for civic participation. From the point of view of today, the focus on the Constitution has the ring of an almost conservative or political middle of the road -- despite the fact that in the chorus of the song the political project of the ‘operation’ is defined as ‘opposition.’ This is not opposition against the state, but against its enemies. A prominent notion in debates about German identity is ‘Verfassungspatriotismus.’ The phrase evokes a patriotism based on political principles encoded in the constitution rather than a patriotism based on ‘blood and soil,’ i.e., an ethno-nationalist version of German identity. The concept operates with assumptions about a strong commitment of citizens to the state, which includes law-abiding behavior and a more diffuse sense of ideological or cultural loyalty. Reading Klosterman’s book I was especially struck by the contrast between Advanced Chemistry’s appeal to the German Constitution and a statement by Ice-T, who is quoted in a discussion about anti-police rap lyrics: “‘I think that people who are backers of the First Amendment and anti-censorship have to realize that when you jump on the First Amendment, what you’re doing is trying to use the system’s tool, the Constitution, to defend you. We need to just get away from that.’”^[19]

Another focus in “Operation Artikel 3” is society and the police as a state organ very much present in society. The song lists all the ways in which ethnic minorities run into discrimination in their daily lives such as employment, housing, and education. In the second part of the song, Advanced Chemistry advocate for a diverse coalition of ethnic groups to defend and implement principles of non-discrimination. While other rappers in Germany with foreign roots, notably Turks, promoted their own, alternative forms of ethnic and cultural pride, these representatives of conscious rap were after a diverse coalition.^[20] In “Operation Artikel 3,” they cite real-life examples of solidarity among non-ethnic Germans attacked by neo-Nazis, but emphasize that anybody independent of their own identity and experience can be part of this political project. The optimism of the songs thus extends from the desire to be part of the German republic as a political community to an idealized vision of solidarity especially among minorities.

Und hast du auf der Straße einen der Deinen erkannt

Schenk ihm ein Lächeln und gib ihm im reinen die Hand

Denn morgen stehst du vielleicht mit dem Rücken an der Wand

Dann hilft dir bestimmt kein Passant

If you recognize one of your own on the street

Put a smile on your face and shake his hand with honesty

For tomorrow, your back may be against the wall

And no passer-by is going to help^[21]

Boulevard Bou, who contributed a Turkish-language rap section to “Operation Artikel 3,” displayed a similarly optimistic or idealistic attitude to the state in his “Geh zur Polizei” (‘Join the police’, 1995), although his juxtaposition of ideal and reality is not as clear as in “Operation Artikel 3.”^[22] As the title suggests, his song is focused on the police, and Boulevard Bou’s criticism is drastic, extensive, and substantive. It also includes anti-police slurs -- ‘bulls,’ the German equivalent to ‘pigs.’ The rapper portrays the police as infiltrated or even dominated by ethno-nationalists with inflated self-esteem, who discriminate systematically against non-ethnic Germans. “Geh zur Polizei” overlaps with “Operation Artikel 3” in its emphasis on self-reliance and solidarity of ethnic minorities. But Boulevard Bou’s criticism is presented with greater political force. There is only so much you can reasonably expect from a random civilian if neo-Nazis are after you. But you should be able to expect the police to protect you. The same phrase of the police as by-standers resonates throughout conscious German-language rap of the ‘90s, as well as throughout political debates. The collective trauma Ataman describes in her recollection critically entailed abandonment by the state, a fundamental breach of the social contract. Remarkably, “Geh zur Polizei” provides a strategy for resolution.^[23] Boulevard Bou encourages his ‘brothers and sisters’ to join the police. He flips the trope of the police as ‘pigs’ and enemy of minorities to the police as what it was meant to be, an egalitarian force of a democratic state, redeemed by minorities.

Polizei ist weder mein Helfer, noch ist sie mein Freund

Sie kontrolliert, doch wer kontrolliert die

Polizei in dieser Demokratie

In der nur die geschützt werden, die

In das Bild der Deutschen passen in ihrer Hierarchie!

Polizist, erkenne wer du bist!

Du bist weder Politiker, noch bist du ein Jurist!

Du bist nur ein Beamter in unserem Staat

Genau so wie ein Lehrer oder sonst ein Bürokrat!

Erfülle deine Pflicht, doch nicht als Bösewicht

The police are neither my helper nor my friend.

With oversight over everybody, who oversees them,

The police in this democracy

Where only those are protected who

Fit into their idea of a German, into their hierarchy.

Policeman, recognize who you are,

Neither a politician nor a jurist.

You are only a functionary in our state

Just like a teacher or any other bureaucrat.

Do your duty, but not as a bad guy.^[24]

Both “Operation Artikel 3” and “Geh zur Polizei” overlap to a great extent with political discourse, and with what one would have heard from political activists and parties on the left.

“Sexy Kanake” was a whole different story. The song also came out at around the same time, in 1994 and the music alone set a different tone, fun and uplifting. Kanake is a racial slur often coterminous with Turkish immigrants. It has been widely appropriated by the such designated as a sign of defiance and pride.^[25] Fresh Familee’s “Sexy Kanake” is a humorous engagement with exoticizing and eroticizing representations, particularly of men with darker skin tones. It presents a main male voice who describes himself confidently as ‘sexy Kanake,’ but challenges those who address him as such at the same time. The song combines the voice of this speaker with ‘quotations,’ presumably from an ethnic German woman who tries to explain her attraction to these men. In the course of the song, the speaker reveals his interpretation of anti-immigrant stereotypes and biases: They are all reflections of the anxiety of German men who cannot compete with the sexiness of the Kanaken. Although the singer’s confidence moves between the ironic, grotesque, and bombastic, the song still offers a confident case for dignity. The lyrics end on a more serious note, in which the male addressee does not accept the Kanake’s case and the Kanake responds:

Du sagst noch immer zu mir^[26] Spinner,

hast Probleme mit Kanaken,

dann frag ich dich wo klemmt’s, ich sage dir,

im Duden steht Kanake heißt Mensch.

If you are still calling me crazy,

if have a problem with Kanaken

I’ll ask you what’s your problem, I’m telling you,

the dictionary says Kanake means human. ^[27]

Listening to this song almost thirty years later, I’m finding it both oddly outdated and prescient. The Kanake’s sexual confidence is not presented as an entirely serious statement. It is equally goofy and cringeworthy, to the extent that as a potentially problematic expression of masculinity, I’m not finding it especially troubling. And yet. Among all those racist graffiti in my hometown were also a lot of stickers that showed either Nazi-era or Nazi-style drawings of white women in the arms of darker-skinned men. The stickers decried the ‘Rassenschande’ these women committed, or ‘racial shame’ they brought upon the German race. As a mixed-race person, I found these stickers especially revolting. It was not just the country where I claimed citizenship that in the minds of the neo-Nazis was a problem. My entire existence was wrong. Did Fresh Familee really have to pick up these hateful tropes?^[28] I do remember that at the time I loved the song with its joyful embrace of the slur and concluding emphasis on a common humanity.

Here's where I find the song prescient. Racism is a complex phenomenon. Exclusion can happen in a variety of ways. Some of them concern survival in the most literal sense. Others concern your ability to fully function as a member of civil society. But there is also that much harder to grasp, squishier question of what it means to be German, the arena where casual racism flourishes, but where the stakes also do not seem as high, where ideally the productive dialogue can take place that one would never have with a neo-Nazi. Given how the debate about racism as a multi-facetted problem has evolved, the two very emphatically political songs now sit more naturally alongside “Sexy Kanake.” In fact, all three songs are included in the compilation Hand in Hand, published in 1995 by an initiative of various German media organizations and the Council of Europe. Unusually broad in its selection, the CD also included songs by the popular Die Fantastischen Vier and Fettes Brot, commonly regarded as non-political, as well as by punk rock bands such as Slime located much further to the left.

For the purpose of the briefest of all possible surveys, two further trends need mentioning here. One is Afro-German musicians who have long been prominent in German-language rap as well as other musical genres. An especially prominent initiative with a political bend is Brothers Keepers. Founded in 2000 by mostly Afro-German musicians, Brothers Keepers responded to the murder of Alberto Adriano by skinheads in the same year. Their “Adriano (Letzte Warnung)” (‘Final Warning’) became popular in the summer of 2001.^[29] In line with the general history of rap music, most German-language rappers are male. But the soundtrack changed in the second half of the ‘90s when female German-language rappers, sometimes closer to pop, advanced female perspectives, often using sexually explicit lyrics. The rappers presented themselves as more honest about emotional pain and anger, and often sounded more aggressive than typical popular music. While these musicians tended to foreground their gender identity, they also very often belonged to ethnic minorities. Aziza A., who has been rapping in both Turkish and German since the late ‘90s, sometimes chose lyrics which fall into the conscious rap category. Tic Tac Toe, a band of three Black musicians founded in 1995, addressed issues of sexuality and relationships in their songs. Sometimes derided for their explicit lyrics and personal controversies at the time, they are now considered pioneers. The same might be said of Sabrina Setlur, known as Schwester S (Sister S), who was born to Indian parents in Frankfurt, another important center for German-language rap. In her first and commercially successful album S Ist Soweit (1995) (‘S is prepared,’ a pun on ‘The time has come’), Setlur covered a wide range of emotions in lyrics which balanced anger and vulnerability.^[30]

The predominant trend in German-language rap, however, was the rise of gangsta or battle rap as represented by mostly male rappers. As already mentioned, many of the musicians belonged to ethnic minorities. Conforming to US models, rappers emphasize their social marginality and their experience of a hard life on the streets with exposure to drugs, violence, and prison. As Kaya and other authors discuss, although the insistence on authenticity may to some extent be performative, it shaped the battles discursively. A big gap seems to divide Boulevard Bou’s curiously optimistic “Geh zur Polizei” and Sido’s 2011 release “Hol doch die Polizei” (‘Go, get the police’), the latter shaped by ‘ghetto’ tropes.^[31] Likewise, Advanced Chemistry’s “Operation Artikel 3,” concerned as it is with the German Constitution and legal paragraphs, almost has a whiff of ‘Studentenrap.’ Ridiculed by ‘authentic’ battle rappers, this is meant to be the music of rappers who have gone to university. By way of contrast, battle rappers belonging to ethnic minorities presented themselves proudly and defiantly as ‘Kanaken.’ As we have seen though, embracing the slur was not limited to gangsta rappers. The borders between the genres are occasionally rather porous.

Könnt ihr mich hör‘n?

Ich könnt schwör'n, ihr könnt mich hör’n

Das ganze hier, hat mit Gangsta Rumgemache nix zu tun

Es is‘ nur so, ihr macht dumm rum

Also machen wir euch um

Can you hear me?

I swear you can hear me.

This here has nothing to do with gangsta posing

It’s just that, you act funny

So we’ll put you down^[32]

German-language gangsta rap, with its focus on lived experiences, has an authenticity problem that conscious rap with its promotion of political principles does not necessarily have. I have in mind what Klosterman describes in his chapter titled, “The Edge, as Viewed from the Middle,” where he covers a selective reception of cultural and political expressions of Black experiences by “boring suburbanites” in 1992, particularly in the aftermath of the LA riots: “Realities once ignored were rapidly transformed into narrative tropes, and this mass recognition of inequality would generate a parallel period of frustration and confusion. The frustration came from the marginalized, aghast that problems intrinsic to their lived experience would be turned into entertainment within the same moment they were acknowledged to exist.”^[33] Translated into a more recent German context, this was only one part of the disconnect between representation and reception.

Heut hat‘s die Masse gecheckt

Man war als Rapper Klassendepp

Heut hört die ganze Klasse Rap!

Now, everybody gets it

As a rapper, you used to be the idiot in the classroom

But now, the whole class listens to rap! ^[34]

However, the friction between the resounding commercial success of rap and the marginal lifestyle of the ghetto celebrated by rappers is not merely the result of a gap between the lived realities of ethnic majorities and minorities. As a uniquely authentic voice of ethnically marginalized communities in general, the battle rappers are equally unpersuasive, for their aggressive masculinity as much as for the fact that in major German cities the percentage of inhabitants with roots outside of the country currently ranges from around 40% to 60%. The resulting tension between a de facto majority-minority situation and the aesthetic reduction of political criticism to the ghetto experience is all the more obvious given that the imaginary ghetto of German-language gangsta rappers was an altogether more extreme urban experience of marginalized Black Americans in the Bronx of the 1970s.

Some rappers used other ways of evoking the political extreme. Bushido notoriously toyed with the belligerent masculinity of militant Islamists in his song “11. September” (2006), where he presented himself as a hijacker and ‘Taliban.’^[35] The song was meant to be a provocation -- Bushido is not an Islamist activist. Already in poor taste at the time the song was published, the lyrics seem even worse today after the Islamic State, with its numerous foreign fighters having inflicted so much harm on populations in the Middle East, Muslim or otherwise. What may have seemed callous at the time seems sinister now, an expression of the attraction of Islamist violence to marginalized western European Muslims. Under great pressure to defend their religion to those who argued that ‘Islam hates us,’ should Muslims now also have to explain Bushido?

The disconnect between stereotypes and tropes and diverse lived realities is a problem not only of music, but film and television as well, where violence in form of terrorism, crime, or femicides looms large.^[36] Shows such as 4 Blocks (2017-2019) are very successful adaptations of the American gangsta or mafia film.^[37] The show takes place in an organized crime milieu in Berlin dominated by people of Middle Eastern origin, and features conflicts and relationships in both family and ‘crime family.’ But the show does little to challenge stereotypes. The power of the aesthetic precedent thus unfolds continuously in the cultural imagination and the political discourse. Gangsta rap provides one of several sequestered narratives that distract from more multi-facetted discussions about multi-culturalism, diversity, and equality.

***

In Klosterman’s account, the disconnect between lived experiences is related to a disconnect between political agendas, or rather a desire to translate political dissent into social change: “When white people engaged with new language through a hip-hop album, it was seen as enlightening and mind-expanding. But the moment that engagement encroached upon regular day-to-day life, the response turned negative.”^[38] And here is where I can find some nostalgia for the ‘90s, not for the problems we encountered, but for the responses, to take the political seriously, the constructive, if idealistic optimism regarding the state and society as a common political project for everybody, the demand for accountability and solidarity. “Geh zur Polizei,” with its generalizations and slurs, occasionally veered into the anti-police rhetoric of gangsta rap. That explains why the song was not especially well received when Boulevard Bou visited the police academy of Göppingen near Stuttgart after his song had been released.^[39] Several officers thought that he had criticized them unfairly and the presence of officers with Turkish roots in the group rendered Boulevard Bou’s campaign obsolete. Some agreed with his criticism, explaining they had joined the force to improve the situation. Watching the video today, the rapper’s talk of ‘pigs’ looked to me like a ridiculous pose. But not for long. Thirty years later, Germany has an even longer history of police by-standers and even participants in the violence of the extreme right. Boulevard Bou’s anger seems all the more justified given that too many of these issues seem unresolved and too many demands for transparency go unaddressed. The conscious rappers discussed here embedded their vision for a different kind of day-to-day life and for political change in their songs. Even ‘Sexy Kanake’ cannot be easily reduced to mere entertainment.

Einigkeit, Recht und Freiheit

Alles, was wir wollten hier in diesem Land

In Frieden miteinander leben

Uns die Hände geben, Blumen anstatt Waffen

Menschen bezahlen mit dem Leben aufgrund ihrer Herkunft

Ich kann es nicht fassen

Im Jahre 2020 ist Rechtsextremismus noch immer 'ne Plage

Unity, Justice and Freedom

That’s all we wanted in this country

To live together in peace

Extend our hands to each other, flowers instead of guns

People pay with their lives because of where they come from

I just cannot believe it

In 2020, right-wing extremism is still a menace^[40]

That the music of the ‘90s still speaks to us today, and in response to similar challenges, has become obvious in musical responses to the Hanau attacks in 2020. The group of musicians led by Azzi Memo who released “Bist Du Wach?” (‘Are you awake?’) in the aftermath of the attack, even alluded to earlier musical responses when contributing singer Rola declared “Es gab schon lang eine letzte Warnung” (‘A final warning has been issued a long time ago’). This was an allusion to Brothers Keepers’ “Adriano (Letzte Warnung).” Just as the events of the ‘90s brought musicians of very different styles together in “Hand in Hand,” “Bist du wach?” illustrates that battle rappers sometimes join political causes more commonly associated with conscious rap. Remarkably too, just as Advanced Chemistry put their faith in the German constitution, Azzi Memo and his fellow rappers evoked the German national anthem in the very first line of “Bist du wach?” The music of the ‘90s also still speaks to the generation of musicians who were only born in that decade.

Bibliography

1. 4 Blocks. TV series. Three Seasons, TNT Serie, 2017-2019.
2. Advanced Chemistry. Fremd im eigenen Land. MZEE Records, 1992.
3. Advanced Chemistry. “Operation Artikel 3.” Intercord Record Service, 1994.
4. Akasoy, Anna. “Citizenship, Ethnicity, and Religion. Muslim Immigrants in German Cinematic Arts.” In New Approaches to Islam in Film, edited by Kristian Petersen, 196-209. London: Routledge, 2021.
5. Akasoy, Anna. Closed for Dogs. 1991. Photograph.
6. Akasoy, Anna. SPD. 1991. Photograph.
7. Azzi Memo. Bist Du Wach? Warner Music Group, 2020.
8. Ataman, Ferda.“Dieses Land gehört auch uns,” Die Zeit, May 28, 2023. https://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/2023-05/30-jahre-solingen-brandanschlag-jahrestag-rassismus-rechtsextremismus
9. Blutzbrüdaz -- Die Mukke zum Film. (Various Artists). Universal Music, 2011.
10. Boulevard Bou. “Geh zur Polizei.” 360º Records, 1995.
11. “Boulevard Bou in der Polizeischule: Geh zur Polizei!” CB150L. Youtube video, 5:31. August 26, 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPHzp1ynPKM
12. Bower, Kathrin. “Minority Identity as German Identity in Conscious Rap and Gangsta Rap: Pushing the Margins, Redefining the Center.” German Studies Review 34 (2011): 377-98.
13. Brothers Keepters. Lightkultur. Downbeat Records, 2001.
14. Bushido, “11. September,” Self-release, 2006.
15. Elflein, Dietmar. “From Krauts with Attitudes to Turks with Attitudes: Some Aspects of Hip-Hop History in Germany.” Popular Music 17 (1998): 255-65.
16. Die Fantastischen Vier. 4 Gewinnt. Columbia, 1992.
17. Fresh Familee Comin’ from Ratinga. Directed by Detlev Neufert. (1991)
18. Fresh Familee. Alles Frisch. PNT_FX, 2020.
19. “Gesetze im Internet.” Federal Ministory of Justice. Accessed April 11, 2014. https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_gg/englisch_gg.html
20. Göktürk, Deniz. “Interrupting Unity: The Berlin Wall’s Second Life on Screen -- A Transnational Perspective.” In Debating German Cultural Identity since 1989. Edited by Anne Fuchs, Kathleen James-Chakraborty, and Linda Shortt, 82-99. Rochester: Camden House, 2011.
21. Götze, Grete. “Vom Licht im Schatten eines Industrieparks,” Hessenschau. April 23, 2023. https://www.hessenschau.de/kultur/lesefest-frankfurt-liest-ein-buch-vom-licht-im-schatten-des-industrieparks-hoechst-v1,deniz-ohde-interview-100.html#:~:text=Deniz%20Ohde:%20Ich%20wollte%20literarisch%20fassbar%20machen,%20wie%20es%20ist
22. Hand in Hand. (Various Artists). Dragnet Records, 1995.
23. Kaya, Verda. HipHop zwischen Istanbul und Berlin: Eine (deutsch-)türkische Jugendkultur im lokalen und transnationalen Beziehungsgeflecht. Bielefeld: transcript Verlag, 2015.
24. Klosterman, Chuck. The Nineties: A Book. New York: Penguin Press, 2022.
25. Margara, Andreas. “„Sag mir, welcher Pfad zur Geschichte führt“ -- Historisierung und Archivierung von Hip-Hop in Deutschland am Beispiel des Heidelberger Hip-Hop Archivs.” In HipHop im 21. Jahrhundert. Medialität, Tradierung, Gesellschaftskritik und Bildungsaspekte einer (Jugend-)Kultur, 129-47. Edited by Thomas Wilke and Michael Rappe, Wiesbaden: Springer, 2022.
26. Massive Töne. MT3. EastWest, 2001.
27. Pauer, Nina and Lars Weisbrod. “Die sogenannte Gegenwart / ‘The Nineties.’” Die Zeit. Podcast. March 7, 2022. https://www.zeit.de/kultur/2022-03/the-nineties-chuck-klosterman-nostalgie-neunziger-feuilleton-podcast
28. Schwester S. Pass auf. MCA Records, 1994.
29. Schwester S. S Ist Soweit. MCA Records, 1995.
30. Ulrich, Sarah, and Sarah Schwahn, editors. Rechter Terror: Warum wir eine neue Sicherheitsdebatte brauchen. Berlin: Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, 2021.
31. Uschmann, Oliver, and Marcus S. Kleiner, “Rückenprobleme. Die Narrative der Straße und ihre Krise im deutschsprachigen Gangsta-Rap.” In HipHop im 21. Jahrhundert. Medialität, Tradierung, Gesellschaftskritik und Bildungsaspekte einer (Jugend-)Kultur, 25-57. Edited by Thomas Wilke and Michael Rappe. Wiesbaden: Springer, 2022.
32. Yildiz, Yasemin. “Critically ‚Kanak‘: A Reimagination of German Culture.” In Globalization and the Future of German, 319-40. Edited by Andreas Gardt and Bernd Hüppauf. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2004.
33. Yurdakul, Gökçe. “Jews and Turks in Germany: Immigrant Integration, Political Representation, and Minority Rights.” In Rethinking the Public Sphere through Transnationalizing Processes. Europe and Beyond, 251-68. Edited by Armando Salvatore, Oliver Schmidtke and Hans-Jörg Trenz (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013).

Notes

1. Nina Pauer and Lars Weisbrod,“Die sogenannte Gegenwart / ‘The Nineties.’” Die Zeit. Podcast. March 7, 2022. https://www.zeit.de/kultur/2022-03/the-nineties-chuck-klosterman-nostalgie-neunziger-feuilleton-podcast The title of the podcast means ‘The So-Called Present.’

   ↑

2. Chuck Klosterman, The Nineties: A Book (New York: Penguin Press, 2022).

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3. Die Fantastischen Vier, “Die da!?!,” Track 2 on 4 Gewinnt, Columbia, 1992.

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4. German terminology for ethnic differences and communities remains unstable and reflects social, political and cultural changes. While many German-speakers are uncomfortable with using the term ‘race’ which might be seen as validating a pernicious ideological construct, they will speak of ‘racism’ as an ideology which operates with this construct. As long as citizenship law remained restrictive and citizenship functioned as an important way of distinguishing ‘ethnic’ Germans from recent immigrants and their descendants, the contrast between ‘Germans’ and ‘foreigners’ was the prevalent discursive distinction, including in the ‘90s. More recently, distinctions are sometimes made between ‘white’ and ‘people of color’ or ‘BIPOC’, especially in politically progressive discourse, although this apparent adaptation of terms from a US context is also often seen as inadequate.

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5. Elflein also offers a critical discussion of the term ‘migrant hip-hop.’ See Dietmar Elflein, “From Krauts with Attitudes to Turks with Attitudes: Some Aspects of Hip-Hop History in Germany,” Popular Music 17 (1998): 255-65. While there seems to be agreement in academic literature around the category of rap represented by the Fantastischen Vier, there are different classifications of the other strands. Kathrin Bower discusses a distinction between ‘message rap’ and ‘Oriental rap.’ Kathrin Bower, “Minority Identity as German Identity in Conscious Rap and Gangsta Rap: Pushing the Margins, Redefining the Center,” German Studies Review 34 [2011]: 377-98. What stands in the way of a simple taxonomy is the fact that ethnic identities of musicians do not necessarily align with the political profiles of their music.

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6. Advanced Chemistry, “Fremd im eigenen Land,” MZEE Records, 1992. The song title is translated as ‘A Stranger in Your Own Home’) by the author, and all song lyrics are also translations of the author. ↑

7. On such perspectives see Deniz Göktürk, “Interrupting Unity: The Berlin Wall’s Second Life on Screen -- A Transnational Perspective,” in Debating German Cultural Identity since 1989, eds. Anne Fuchs, Kathleen James-Chakraborty and Linda Shortt (Rochester: Camden House, 2011), 82-99. For anxieties rooted in German history see Gökçe Yurdakul, “Jews and Turks in Germany: Immigrant Integration, Political Representation, and Minority Rights,” in Rethinking the Public Sphere through Transnationalizing Processes. Europe and Beyond, eds. Armando Salvatore, Oliver Schmidtke and Hans-Jörg Trenz (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), 251-68.

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8. Ferda Ataman, “Dieses Land gehört auch uns,” Die Zeit, May 28, 2023. https://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/2023-05/30-jahre-solingen-brandanschlag-jahrestag-rassismus-rechtsextremismus

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9. This is from an interview available online. Grete Götze, “Vom Licht im Schatten eines Industrieparks,” Hessenschau. April 23, 2023. https://www.hessenschau.de/kultur/lesefest-frankfurt-liest-ein-buch-vom-licht-im-schatten-des-industrieparks-hoechst-v1,deniz-ohde-interview-100.html#:~:text=Deniz%20Ohde:%20Ich%20wollte%20literarisch%20fassbar%20machen,%20wie%20es%20ist

   ↑

10. For data and further information, see, for example, Rechter Terror. Warum wir eine neue Sicherheitsdebatte brauchen, eds. Sarah Ulrich und Sarah Schwahn (Berlin: Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, 2021).

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11. For a selection of statements by musicians see “#60JahreMusik.” Accessed April 11, 2024. https://www.istanbulberlin.com/en-de/60jahremusik-bugun/.

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12. Elflein, 257.

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13. For more on ‘politically correct rap’ see Verda Kaya, HipHop zwischen Istanbul und Berlin: Eine (deutsch-)türkische Jugendkultur im lokalen und transnationalen Beziehungsgeflecht (Bielefeld: transcript Verlag, 2015), 87. See also Oliver Uschmann and Marcus S. Kleiner, “Rückenprobleme. Die Narrative der Straße und ihre Krise im deutschsprachigen Gangsta-Rap,” in HipHop im 21. Jahrhundert: Medialität, Tradierung, Gesellschaftskritik und Bildungsaspekte einer (Jugend-)Kultur, eds. Thomas Wilke and Michael Rappe (Wiesbaden: Springer, 2022), 25-57.

    ↑

14. Andreas Margara, “„Sag mir, welcher Pfad zur Geschichte führt“ – Historisierung und Archivierung von Hip-Hop in Deutschland am Beispiel des Heidelberger Hip-Hop Archivs,” in HipHop im 21. Jahrhundert, 129-47.

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15. Fresh Familee Comin’ from Ratinga, directed by Detlev Neufert (1991)

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16. Advanced Chemistry, “Operation Artikel 3,” Track 9 on Hand in Hand (Various Artists), Dragnet Records, 1995 [single originally released in 1994]; Boulevard Bou, “Geh zur Polizei,” Track 12 on Hand in Hand [single originally released in 1995]; and Fresh Familee, “Sexy Kanake,” Track 6 on Hand in Hand [single originally released in 1994].

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17. In November, 1994, paragraphs 2 and 3 were amended to add an obligation of the state to further gender equality (paragraph 2) and include prohibition of discrimination based on disability (paragraph 3). Translation according to “Gesetze im Internet.” Federal Ministory of Justice. Accessed April 11, 2014. https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_gg/englisch_gg.html.

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18. Advanced Chemistry, “Operation Artikel 3.”

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19. Klosterman, 83.

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20. See Kaya, HipHop zwischen Istanbul und Berlin.

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21. Advanced Chemistry, “Operation Artikel 3.”

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22. Boulevard Bou, “Geh zur Polizei.”

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23. Ferda Ataman, “Dieses Land gehört auch uns.”

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24. Boulevard Bou, “Geh zur Polizei.”

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25. For a literary and linguistic dimension of the ‘Kanake’ see Yasemin Yildiz, “Critically ‘Kanak’: A Reimagination of German Culture,” in Globalization and the Future of German, eds. Andreas Gardt and Bernd Hüppauf (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2004), 319-40. Originally, the word does mean ‘human,’ as Fresh Familee state at the end of the song.

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26. This lyric is according to the audio recording of the song. The text in the booklet of Hand in Hand offers ‘du sagst immer noch dummer Spinner‘ (‘you still say stupid crazy [person]’). Hand in Hand, (Various Artists), Dragnet Records, 1995.

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27. Fresh Familee, “Sexy Kanake.” Mercury, 1994.

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28. Bower is also doubtful regarding the embrace of stereotypes, 391.

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29. Brothers Keepters, “Adriano (Letzte Warnung),” Track 16 on Lightkultur, Downbeat Records, 2001. See Bower, 388-91.

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30. Schwester S, S Ist Soweit, MCA Records,1995.

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31. Sido, featuring B-Tight, “Hol doch die Polizei,” Track 1 on Blutzbrüdaz -- Die Mukke zum Film, Universal Music, 2011. See Kaya for opposition against police as unifying element. Kaya, 105.

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32. Schwester S, “Pass auf,” Track 4 on S Ist Soweit, MCA Records,1995.

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33. Klosterman, 86.

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34. Massive Töne, featuring Taïro, “Geld oder Liebe,” Track 14 on MT3, EastWest, 2001.

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35. Bushido, “11. September,” Self-release, 2006.

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36. For further details on these tropes see Anna Akasoy, “Citizenship, Ethnicity, and Religion. Muslim Immigrants in German Cinematic Arts,” in New Approaches to Islam in Film, ed. Kristian Petersen (London: Routledge, 2021), 196-209.

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37. 4 Blocks, TV series, Three Seasons, TNT Serie, 2017-2019.

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38. Klosterman, 87.

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39. A short account of the discussion is available at “Boulevard Bou in der Polizeischule: Geh zur Polizei!” CB150L. Youtube video, 5:31. August 26, 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPHzp1ynPKM

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40. Azzi Memo, “Bist Du Wach?,” Warner Music Group, 2020. ↑