Finally good hip hop from Germany again

review

I still clearly remember an experience about 25 years ago. By chance I tapped into the film “Fallen Angels” by Wong Kar-Wai. Jesus Maria – it was like an awakening: the camera work, the shots, the direction, the actors, the story… everything was new, everything was different, everything was strange.

And yet I seemed to understand.

Within minutes I knew this film would set new standards for me.

Unfortunately, Wong Kar-Wai’s bar proved extremely high. So high that it remained unmatched for years.

German hip hop also gave me a similar hello-wake event in 2000 – in front of the same television. “King of Rap” by Kool Savas was responsible. I couldn’t close my mouth for three minutes: everything was new, everything was different, everything was strange. And yet I seemed to understand.

Like politicians today, German rap chattered past the “man of the street” audience. “King of Rap” was the turning point. From now on there was harsh cursing, insults and fighting. This meant that even larger stadiums were filled. German ghetto rap hit a nerve.

Just not mine. For me, the Wong Kar Wei story repeated itself.

Savas had set the bar too high. What came afterwards was, in my eyes, mainly manure. And I had to realize that as I got older, I wasn’t any more open to Bushido, Gzus, arrest warrants and the like. Deutschrap and I are taking a break from our relationship.

Until a few days ago.

The old television is no longer there. Today I discover new music through other channels. The open-mouth moments have remained rare – but recently I had one again.

He didn’t leave for three minutes. The clips on Insta only last a few seconds. But I absorbed what I heard about “Get Da Fuck Up” by MP Freshly and Die P like a dried-out sponge.

Everything different, everything new, everything foreign?

It’s not that simple after all.

The only thing new about Die P is the album. That’s called “Bring Da P Vol. 2” and was released at the end of November.

The beats, on the other hand, are old – old school. The one from “Get Da Fuck Up,” for example, comes from the 1999 US hit “Simon Says.” And that is the thrust of the eight songs on “Bring Da P Vol. 2”: hard, fast, head-nodding sound. One allusion to the good old hip-hop days follows the next, with more pressure, conviction and flow than I have ever heard from Germany. The P has found a long-forgotten extra gear in the worn-out German rap gear – and the afterburner to go with it. This isn’t just a level better. These are worlds.

Die P doesn’t reinvent hip hop thematically either. I am the opposite. Here, too, she goes back to the roots: “I came to save hip hop,” is how her message can be summarized. And I agree with her. She has me hooked – despite the mono-topic. But the scene’s usual adulation of stories about money, luxury and drugs hasn’t gotten any fresher in recent years. What is fresh, however, is to defend this mandatory program.

And what about “Everything is strange – and yet I seem to understand it”?

I can score points with strangers. I am almost 47 years old, the father of two school-age children, live in Oerlikon and every Saturday I ride my cargo bike to the supermarket to do my weekend shopping. My world couldn’t be further away from the “real” hip hop of Die P.

Patricia Pembele, that’s Die P’s real name, is ten years younger than me, born in Munich, grew up in Bonn. She fought her way through the local scene and released her first LP in 2017. I don’t know what it’s like to grow up as an Afro-German woman.

And yet she raps from my heart. I also carry within me your anger at the artificial, at the appearance that has long since beaten existence to death. The lack of authenticity and the quickly dismissive way it is treated also annoys me. Maybe in other areas – but the groundhog greets you every day: in the so-called social media, in politics, in society.

Yes, a lot of things about Die P are foreign to me. And that’s a good thing and part of the appeal.

But I also know that I understand her perfectly.

“Bring Da P Vol. 2” by Die P is available on Spotify (and I assume also in specialist retailers). Die P currently has 91,420 listeners per month. That’s almost 50 times less than Bonez MC.

You can rent “Fallen Angels” by Wong Kar-Wai for a few francs on Google or Amazon. At Mubi the film is available at a flat rate.

^{I know, an “album review” from a quick 50-year-old Swiss father is probably not the best thing for a rapper’s street credibility – and probably not good for her career either. I would like to apologize for that. Not for the rest.}

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