Gangsta rap and German ascendancy

STRAIGHT OUTTA RHINELAND-PALATINATE
German Hip Hop Gets Real as Rapper Shot in Berlin
Skeptics always suspected that big-mouthed German rappers, keen to imitate their edgy American role models, were talking the talk without walking the walk. But now the German version of gangsta rap is starting to look a whole lot realer after a rapper is shot in Berlin.

German rappers are fond of bragging about how hard life is in the ghetto, but until now many have suspected they were exaggerating things a tad. After all, just how tough can life be in Germany, with its (relatively) generous social welfare net? Even Berlin's Neukölln district, which Germany's answers to Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre like to portray as the country's equivalent of South Central, is popular with students and artists attracted by its cheap rents and bohemian edge.

But after a rapper was shot on a Neukölln street earlier this week, many are wondering if German gansta rap is finally living up to its name. The rapper Massiv, whose real name is Wasiem Taha, was shot three times by a masked man on Monday evening as he stood by his car talking on his cell phone. He was hospitalized and reportedly lost a lot of blood, but chose to leave the hospital later in the night. "He was very lucky," said a spokesman for the rapper.

Although the motive behind the attack and the identity of the assailant are still unclear, there is speculation that the attack could be related to rivalry with other gangsta rappers or gangs. Massiv is reported to have attached himself to a large Arab gang in Berlin, in order to boost his credibility and for protection, when he moved to the city -- the center of Germany's hip hop scene -- to launch his career two years ago.

There is also speculation that the attack could have been provoked by anger over Massiv's posturing as an authentic gangster from Berlin when he is in fact a newcomer to the city. His background is actually somewhat less edgy: The 25-year-old son of Palestinian refugees grew up in the provincial south-western German city of Pirmasens, population 42,000, in the wine-making state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Another theory has it that the attack could have been staged to attract attention to Massiv's new album, which comes out in two weeks' time -- a claim the rapper's spokesman has strenuously denied.

Whatever the true cause of the attack, it marks a worrying escalation in violence in the gangsta rap scene, coming as the latest in a series of attacks on prominent rappers. Berlin rapper Fler was attacked by three masked men wielding kniveslast November as he was leaving the MTV studios in Berlin, just a few days before fellow Berlin artist Bushido -- who is notorious for his violent and sexist lyrics -- was attacked on stage in Hanover.

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But despite the new wave of keeeping-it-real violence, German rappers still need to work on their street image if they want to impress their cousins on the other side of the Atlantic -- sometimes they're just too, well, German. In one song, "When the Moon Crashes into My Ghetto," Massiv complains: "I've had to beg for my unemployment benefits ... here in the ghetto, no one is satisfied with his €300 a month after deductions."

Now the 'singer-songwriter' can pen some inspiring 'lyrics' bemoaning his hospital co-payment.


Read it all at der Spiegel