There is a new old debate in German rap, even if it is now being belittled with a grand gesture.

She was triggered by an influencer who accused the rapper Samra three weeks ago of raping her.

Samra denied that. Everything else should be judged by a court.

Shortly thereafter, another rapper posted a video showing the young Bushido seemingly harassing a very young woman.

It must have all been years ago and, if justiciable, it must be statute-barred.

Bushido apologized.

Elena Witzeck

Editor in the features section.

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    Such allegations are not new and not uncommon in the hip-hop scene, as elsewhere. This time, however, the reactions suggest that the discussion about sexual violence could keep the scene busy for more than a few weeks. It seems like some women set out to get to the heart of the problem. Since then, experience has been gained on Instagram. Often it sounds like this, as in the most recent publications: rappers and fans meet, rappers want more or become intrusive, fans resist or don't dare. Many of the anonymous reports end with naming a sentiment: shabbiness.

    Women who are active in the scene have also spoken out.

    You criticize a network of artists, music labels, agencies and management that creates the breeding ground for such attacks.

    Other critics have once more bent over the songs of individual rappers and bring misogynist, violence-glorifying lyrics and lyrics soaked with pathological self-infliction in connection with the allegations.

    Urgent authenticity

    It is of course nonsense to read rap lyrics like evidence of past and upcoming crimes. If we believed that all German rappers who rush through the city with creaking in their songs and practicing vigilante justice with coke really do so, we would be condemned to an everyday life in fear of death. The fact that a song that contains the sentence “I fuck her almost dead, she is in a vegetative state” does not have to appear right now, or maybe never, should be recognized by most representatives of the scene as well as the rest of the Germans.

    There are incessant complaints about the inadequate separation of artist and work, of all things in rap, which is so urgently dependent on its authenticity.

    It is hypocritical to point the finger at the scene from other, i.e. more educational, cultural areas.

    One wonders whether the debates of the past few years have not yielded any information.

    As if a filmmaker accused of misogyny or sexual violence by women could roll off public criticism.

    Quite apart from the fact that the debates of the past years have taught us not to point the finger at other areas of culture.

    Get out of the Lambo

    If you write about the allegations or want to speak to representatives of the scene, there is currently some headwind. It's no wonder: no milieu is further from cultural journalism than the new German hip-hop, and hardly anything is invoked so boldly, with expertly presented analyzes of rap techniques and street cred - it is almost as if the writers themselves wanted to Piece of this hardness. It is of little interest that there are hip-hop artists between these poles, authentic and street-wise, who do not get out of the Lambo and count millions, especially those who have been in the business longer and have daughters. This is as ignorant as the criticism of those who know neither the songs nor the protagonists and who now declare that sexism was born in rap.

    Of course, it is also due to the social structure. But that's not enough as an argument. Is that why German hip-hop should be excluded from the discourse? The structure also includes an area in which male musicians believe, thanks to the support of those who benefit from them, that they are allowed to do anything.

    Everyone is free to listen to the rap that suits them best. When the allegations against Samra are cleared up and it turns out that the allegations were false, he will continue rapping. There are enough supporters of the thesis that women have a tendency to gossip when their pride is injured. For everyone else, it should be worthwhile to fight for structural change. Perhaps in this way there will be even more new ideas for fictional characters who no longer draw their power from the humiliation of women. With successful rappers like Shirin David you can also battle at eye level. Hip-hop cannot hide in its niche. And his fans know that.