Finally, good hip-hop from Germany is here again

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I still vividly remember an experience about 25 years ago. By chance, I came across Wong Kar-Wai's movie “Fallen Angel”. Oh my God 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 foreign.

But I seem to understand.

Within minutes I knew this movie would set a new standard for me.

Unfortunately, the bar for Wong Kar-Wai is very high. So high that it remained unmatched for years.

In 2000, German hip-hop gave me a similar arousal in front of the same TV. Kool Savas' King of Rap is in charge. I couldn't close my mouth for three minutes: everything was new, everything was different, everything was strange. But I seem to understand.

Like today's politicians, German rap chattered to an audience of “street people.” “King of Rap” was a turning point. From then on there were harsh curses, insults and fights. That means bigger stadiums are packed. German ghetto rap struck a nerve.

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

Savas set the bar too high. It seems to me that what follows is mainly feces. I realized that as I got older, I wasn't more open to Bushido, Gzus, Warrants, etc. Deutschlap and I were on hold.

Until a few days ago.

The old TV is no more. Today I discover new music through other channels. Mouth-opening moments are still rare – but I had one again recently.

He didn't leave for three minutes. The clips on Insta only last a few seconds. But I absorbed MP Freshly and Die P's “Get Da Fuck Up” like a dry sponge.

Everything is different, everything is new, everything is foreign?

After all, things are not that simple.

The only new thing about Die P is this album. This is Bring Da P Vol. 2, released at the end of November.

The pacing, on the other hand, is old school. For example, the song in “Get Da Fuck Up” comes from the 1999 US hit “Simon Says”. That's what the eight songs on “Bring Da P Vol. 2” are about: hard, fast nodding. What follows is a hint of the good old hip-hop era, with more pressure, conviction and flow than I've heard from Germany. P found a long-forgotten extra gear in a worn-out German rap gear – and the afterburner to go with it. It's not just a better level. These are worlds.

Die P didn't reinvent hip-hop thematically, either. on the contrary. Here, too, she returns to her roots: “I'm here to save hip-hop,” which sums up her message. I agree with her. She fascinates me—despite the singular topic. But the scene's usual reverence for stories about money, luxury goods and drugs has not become anything new in recent years. What is new, however, is the rejection of this mandatory plan.

What about “It’s all weird – but I seem to understand it”?

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

Patricia Pembele, this is Die P's real name, ten years younger than me, born in Munich and raised in Bonn. She made her way locally and released her first record in 2017. I don’t know what it’s like to grow up as an Afro-German woman.

Yet she spoke from my heart. I also carry within me your rage against man-made things, against appearances that have long since defeated existence. The lack of authenticity, and the almost dismissive way of being treated, also annoyed me. Maybe in other fields – but the groundhog greets you every day: in so-called social media, in politics, in society.

Yes, a lot of things about Die P are new to me. That's a good thing and part of the appeal.

But I also know that I understand them completely.

Die P's “Bring Da P Vol. 2” is available on Spotify (and I assume at specialty retailers). Die P currently has 91,420 monthly listeners. That's almost 50 times less than Bonez MC.

You can rent Wong Kar-Wai's “Fallen Angels” from Google or Amazon for a few francs. At Mubi, the film is sold at a fixed price.

^{I know that an “album review” from an almost 50-year-old Swiss father might not be the best thing for a rapper's street cred, and it might not be good for her career either. I want to apologize for this. Not suitable for the rest.}