Rap is one of the most popular music trends these days. Initially, this genre was born among African Americans, and rap was especially popular among blacks. It was performed mainly on the streets, putting their thoughts and feelings into lines, and battles were also arranged - fights of the so-called rappers.
Gradually, rap spread throughout the world and fell in love with many connoisseurs of this genre. Nowadays they read everywhere: in the USA, in Russia and even in Asia. There are also talented performers in Germany: the best German rap artists will be discussed in this article.
Bushido - rapper from Berlin
German rap artist Bushido (another pseudonym - Sonny Black) teaches gangsta rap listeners and owns his own record label. Over the years of activity, Bushido has managed to sell about 1.8 million albums.
The rapper's real name is Anis Mohammed Yusuf Fercici, he was born on September 28, 1978 in the capital of Germany - Berlin. His mother was German and his father a Tunisian. The artist had a difficult life: first his father left the family, then his mother’s second husband. As a fourteen-year-old, the guy was selling cocaine with all his might, for which he was convicted and, on the proposal of a judge, was practicing a painter. Pursuing graffiti, Anis met his future partner (his name is Fler), who is also one of the best German rap artists. In 2010, an autobiographical film was shot about the life and work of Bushido.
Bushido has many legal issues. Its texts, in the opinion of society, are saturated with homophobia, racism, misogyny and badly affect the younger generation, setting not the best example. One of his albums in 2015 was banned for listening by persons under the age of 18, and some of the artist's videos were banned on many music channels.
Fleler
The list of German rap artists includes Patrick Lozenski (Patrick Dekker at birth), known under the pseudonym Fler. Patrick was born into a dysfunctional family on April 3, 1982 and grew up in West Berlin. At the age of fifteen, the rapper began treatment in a psychiatric hospital due to the fact that he often suffered from nervous breakdowns. After he got into an orphanage, he soon met Bushido, his future label partner.
Patrick wanted to do rap mainly because it was a tempting way to make money that the guy really needed. And in the end, he signed a contract with the most famous label in 2003. His song Aggroberlina rose to 59th place in the list of hits throughout Germany.
In general, the rapper’s work is heavy beats and songs that tell about luxurious life, cool cars and more. The performer was often accused of excessive violence in texts, homophobia and neo-Nazism. Fler also had problems with the law, and in 2013 he was convicted and sentenced to three years probation.
Kiz
KIZ is a team of German rap artists consisting of four guys: DJ Craft (who, unfortunately, left the group in 2018), Maxim, Nico and Tarek. Performers began their activity in 2000 and continue to this day. According to KIZ, they created a new genre of music - German rap with echoes of techno and punk. Their work consists mainly of rap battles, the provocative lines of which are saturated with black humor, sexism and deep irony.
Opinions on how the name of the group is deciphered (KIZ) are few. Among them there are such meanings as “war criminals in correctional institutions”, “modern cannibals”, “cripples in the nursery” and others.
Sido
Paul Hartmut Würdig or Sido is one of the best German rap artists. Paul formed his short nickname with the initial letters of the phrase Super-intelligentes Drogenopfer, which from German translates as "a very intelligent victim-addict."
Sido was born in Berlin on November 30, 1980 and grew up with his mother and younger sister. As a little boy, he crossed the border and ended up in a refugee camp, but soon returned to Berlin again. He was suspended from school for drug addiction. All his childhood, Paul spent in poor areas, which were mostly populated by immigrants.
He began his musical career in 1997. At first he acted in a mask, because he was afraid to show his true face, but soon removed it and used it only as a chip. At one of his concerts, the rapper was noticed by the future founders of one of the most famous labels in Germany and soon signed a contract with them.
The rapper is known for his aggressive, extremely obscene and provocative lyrics, like all other German rap artists on this list.