Top 10 Painfully Honest Descriptions of Great German Rappers
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Kollegah: a former milksob and wannabe pimp trying to sound thug because he now has muscles and a beard
Felix Antoine Blume, better known by his stage name Kollegah, is a German rapper of Canadian descent born on August 3, 1984. He is widely credited with helping popularize multisyllabic rhyming and doubletime rapping in German hip hop.... read more
Kollegah is one of Germany's most acclaimed rappers, known for multisyllabic rhyming, doubletime skills, and the most clever wordplay on earth. He often portrays the stage persona of a pimp.
Now, he looks pretty cool and credible, but in the 2000s, that was not the case. He looked like a little white rich boy who desperately wanted to be thug (check the cover artwork for "Boss der Bosse"). Luckily, his rapping was so great that nobody paid attention to his looks, and he was instantly praised and taken seriously.
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SpongeBozz: a dude in a Spongebob suit
Dmitrij Aleksandrovic Chpakov, better known by his stage names SpongeBOZZ and Sun Diego, is a German rapper of Ukrainian-Jewish origin born on March 17, 1989, in Chernivtsi (then part of the Ukrainian SSR). He was raised in Osnabrück, Germany.... read more
The man behind SpongeBozz is Sun Diego, a rapper who didn't have a good reputation and was not considered good. While his rapping itself was complemented, he was panned for his sung choruses, use of autotune, and feminine attitude, and was often made fun of.
After the negative reception, he created a secret identity: SpongeBozz (wearing a modified Spongebob suit). He improved very much, took part in the popular battle rap tournament JuliensBlogBattle, won the competition, and became one of Germany's most famous rappers of the 2010s and the archenemy of Kollegah, still as SpongeBozz. In 2017, he revealed himself to be Sun Diego.
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Bushido: a middle-aged man who wants to still be as fresh and cool as he was ten years ago
Anis Mohammed Yousef Ferchichi, better known by his stage name Bushido, is a German rapper and music producer of Tunisian descent, born on September 28, 1978, in Bonn. He's usually associated with Berlin, where he lives.
Bushido is one of the most commercially successful German hip hop artists... read more
Bushido brought German rap on the mainstream map in the early 2000s. A young man with a migration background, he rapped tales about the dark life in the ghetto. That was what many people wanted to hear back then. Before him, German rap was mainly pop rap and not remotely as successful.
While modern German rap owes everything to Bushido, he is also a product of his time. This guy is a multi-millionaire rapping about the hood, but with more polished production, better German skills, and fewer surprises. He is still extremely relevant, but he has to face that there are other rappers like Kollegah with much better lyrical skills and more originality.
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Shindy: a guy who sounds as if he was asleep without the beats
Michael Schindler, better known by his stage name Shindy, is a German rapper and music producer of Greek descent, born on November 7, 1988, in Bietigheim-Bissingen.
He established himself in the German hip hop scene as a featured artist on Kay One's and Bushido's albums and was at some points... read more
Shindy's laid-back style is a nice and refreshing alternative to the dark thug rap that makes up the majority of Germany's rap scene. Obviously, many people thought so, as he is famous and since his debut, each of his albums has topped the charts. I am a fan myself.
But seriously, he would never win any rap competition because if he wasn't backed by cool, fun beats setting the laid-back mood, his unusually slow flow and delivery would sound pretty drowsy.
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Entetainment: a dude with a duck mask
An extremely atmospheric horrorcore rapper who won the online battle rap tournament JuliensBlogBattle. Also, he wears a duck mask.
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Hollywood Hank: a juggalo who has luck than Germany likes ICP and lacked a similar artist rapping in German
A German horrorcore rapper with clown makeup, Hollywood Hank has a style similar to Twiztid. ICP's reception in Germany couldn't be much better, and Hollywood Hank obviously has a similar taste.
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Kool Savas: a guy who owns the majority of his more recent praise to nostalgia
Savaş Yurderi, better known by his stage name Kool Savas, is a German rapper of Turkish descent, born on February 10, 1975.
Beginning his rap career in the late 1990s, his commercial success and nationwide recognition increased with the release of his debut album Der beste Tag meines Lebens in... read more
Before Bushido made German hip hop mainstream with his gangsta rap, Kool Savas's mix of underground and pop rap was much praised, and he was considered one of the greatest rappers internationally by German critics. Laut.de even said he is better than 2Pac and Jay-Z in one review.
His flow, attitude, and feel were new, and German hip hop was still young and inexperienced when he came along with something so professional, fun, and rap-ish. He was highly influential and paved the way for rap artists since then.
But almost two decades have passed since then, and German rap has brought us more exciting and lyrically complex rappers. Rappers with immense wordplay, insane doubletime flows, multisyllabic rhymes, and more charisma.
Kool Savas can't keep up with that if you look at it honestly. But nostalgia will always get him praise for all of his albums, and many still consider him the "King of Rap." I guess they love that he is still old school and sounds just like he did back then.
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Sido: a guy desperately wanting to be both an outrageous rapper and a conscious intelligent pop star
Paul Hartmut Würdig, better known by his stage name Sido, is a German rapper born on November 30, 1980, in former East Berlin.
In the early 21st century, Sido was one of the first German hardcore rappers. Alongside Bushido, he is frequently cited as an artist who helped bring German hip hop into... read more
Sido is the other guy next to Bushido who made German rap mainstream. Like Eminem's alter ego Slim Shady, he was outrageous, crass, crude, and the nightmare of every parent, but still humorous.
Then, as he got more and more famous, he broke out of this role more often, put down his trademark skull mask, and began rapping about more serious topics - and was successful. He completely abandoned his old style, collaborated with pop artists, and his music became soft, charming, and intelligent.
By 2016, he figured that he might have lost a lot of his former fans in the hip-hop crowd who once called him revolutionary. So he put on his mask and was crass again, but also continued to rap intelligently, probably not wanting to lose either fanbase.
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Marteria / Marsimoto: a guy who gets more praise for songs about drugs rapped with chipmunk vocals than for his regular conscious indie rap
Marten Laciny, born on December 4, 1982, is a German rapper who performs under the stage names Marteria and Marsimoto. Each alias represents a different musical style and lyrical approach.
As Marteria, Laciny's music is often described as indie rap, alternative rap, or conscious rap. It follows... read more
As Marteria, his main project, he is an indie and conscious rapper, soft and poppy, who gets mainstream attention with his lyricism and laid-back attitude. He has had hit singles every radio listener knows.
As Marsimoto, his side project, he pitches his voice chipmunk style, raps surreally and wildly, has weird and experimental electronic beats, and openly consumes cannabis (probably while recording). While Marteria has solid reviews, Marsimoto is considered a mastermind by critics.
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Cro: probably a furry in closet
A very popular pop rapper and singer, Cro is more pop than hip hop but still raps enough to be called a rapper. He happens to wear a panda mask. My mother asked me if he was a furry, but I doubt he is.