Does the German hip-hop scene consist of a bunch of brutalized young men who, cheered on by their own misogynous lyrics, harass, exploit or even rape women in rows? You could get this impression by reading the newspaper or texts on Instagram in the past few days. What we know: Some time ago Nika Irani, who calls herself @playgirlnikaa on Instagram, came into contact with the 26-year-old rapper Samra, real name Hussein Akkouche, through this very platform. He has had a breathtaking music career since 2018 and is now one of the most successful solo artists in Germany. Both sides confirm a meeting in his studio. According to a detailed Instagram story of the young woman, the rapper locked her in a room and raped her.Akkouche responded to the allegations after almost 48 hours with a written statement in which he denied all allegations. In the meantime, both have announced that they want to take the matter to court.
Women from the hip-hop industry in particular find that a story like this can be read as an example. In the scene, it is customary for male musicians to enjoy the unrestricted backing of those actors who profit from them economically, and use this in turn to get mostly very young women (stories about minors circulating behind the scenes) to have sex with them to have. Usually, the double unequal power gap between a man who is also a well-known person and a woman who is also a fan is exploited. If this was not enough, some rappers allegedly resorted to physical or psychological violence in the past.
Bushido, who shortly before had celebrated the family with his wife Anna-Maria Ferchichi on RTL Explosiv, asked for forgiveness in an Instagram statement over the weekend because another rapper published a video in which one was apparently still young Bushido seems to want to persuade a young woman to have sex. The process, if at all justiciable, is very likely already time-barred.
The allegations against Samra became a huge topic on social networks after Shirin David, the rapper with the scene's largest Instagram account, spoke up on the matter. Shirin David is currently one of the most successful musicians in Germany. A little later, Visa Vie, who hosted the online medium “16 Bars” and was long the best-known female face in the hip-hop scene, wrote: “In the past 12 years I have heard of so many cases of sexual violence against women in the rap world, have noticed or experienced firsthand that it would take months to count all the experiences. ”Your statement can be considered exemplary for the stories that many women tell you who are either artists,Label employees or journalists work or have worked in the hip-hop scene.
Texts full of misogynistic messages
It can hardly be denied that the hip-hop world is characterized by sexism (and also by homophobia and substance abuse).
With their texts and videos, many artists convey a worldview full of misogynistic messages, from open sexism to the more subtle chauvinism of rappers like Cro.
A year ago, Der Spiegel magazine analyzed around 30,000 song texts, 18 percent of which were sexist vocabulary.
But is that a high value compared to the rest of society?
And does this culture, as many now suspect in view of the concrete allegations, create particularly fertile ground for sexual violence?