Monday, March 3, 2014

Turkish-German Hip Hop Music

Turkish-German Hip Hop

            German Hip Hop
·        - Began with German hip hop: American hip hop culture, especially graffiti and break-dancing, became a part of Western Europe in the early 1980s
·        - Did not gain popularity until early 1990s
o   Fie Fantastischen Vier and Rödelheim Hartreim Projekt
o   Influenced by films: visual of cultural elements + music

Turkish-German hip hop
·        
      
      The group Cartel was among the scene's first hits. Their Middle Eastern beats and socially critical lyrics struck a nerve with young migrants. Cartel's 1995 debut album drew much attention to the rap formation built around Hakan K. (l) and Erci E from Berlin. They ended up on music TV channels like MTV and VIVA, and the rock star Peter Maffay helped produce their album "Begegnungen" (Encounters).

          - Express frustration with society and disadvantages of Turkish descent
      -Embrace “thug life”
      -After fall of Berlin Wall sought a way to express their identity
·         First Turkish rap single, Bir Yabancının Hayati or The Life of the Stranger
o   Themes of identity and life as a foreigner
o   Lack of permanency and belonging
·         -Develop Turkish-German vernacular
o   Promoting Turkish identity over German
o   Kanak Sprak: “nigga speak”
§  Negative hip hop/African American clichés
§  Believe they are exactly like African Americans and trying to reinvent themselves
o   Rappers switch between Turkish and German languages
·         -Suggests Germany is failing to address need for young people who are trying to assert new identities in a recently multicultural country
·        -Different than German rap
o   Use US art form/culture to form a Turkish identity; not German or Turkish-German
o   Identify more closely with Black Americans
      -Neighborhood of Kreuzberg: high population of Turkish immigrants and hip hop culture
 
·       Berlin's Turkish hip-hop scene: A mic in the hand and rapping about xenophobia, discrimination and conservative Islamic traditions - by the early 1990s, young Germans with Turkish roots had discovered hip-hop. The clubs, cultural centers and tucked away courtyards of Berlin's multi-cultural district Kreuzberg became the epicenter of the scene.


The Kreuzberg rapper and actress Aziza A. proves that Berlin's hip-hop scene isn't just for the boys. She is among the pioneers of German-Turkish rap, putting out her debut album "Es ist Zeit" (It's Time) in 1997. Her bitingly ironic plays on words deal with the precarious circumstances faced by Turkish youth in Germany, and the songs chip away at common clichés about Turkish women.



-Rapper Eko Fresh
·         Released the first Turkish-German rap album in 2003 = big hit
o   König von Deutschland
·         -Typical story of growing up in Turkish and German cultures
·         -Uses both languages and demonstrates daily struggles of Turkish-Germans
·         Single: Der Gastarbeiter (Guest worker; immigrant)
                       o Youtube Link






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