German hip hop
| Music of Germany | |
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| Music charts | Media Control |
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| Nationalistic and patriotic songs | |
| National anthem | Deutschlandlied |
German hip hop refers to hip-hop music produced in Germany. Elements of American hip-hop culture, such as graffiti art and breakdancing, diffused into Western Europe in the early 1980s.
Early underground artists included Cora E. and Advanced Chemistry. It was not until the early 1990s that German hip hop entered the mainstream as groups like Die Fantastischen Vier and the Rödelheim Hartreim Projekt gained popularity. German hip hop was heavily influenced by films, leading to a strong emphasis on visual and cultural elements such as graffiti and breakdancing beyond the music itself.
In addition to films, such as Wild Style and Beat Street, American soldiers stationed in Germany facilitated the introduction of hip-hop music and culture into German pop culture.
GLS United released the first German-language hip-hop song, "Rappers Deutsch" in 1980. While the group (consisting of three radio DJs) was formed explicitly for the one song, and the song was intended primarily as a parody, it was none-the-less the first German hip-hop group and first German-language hip-hop track.
These movies led the people of Germany to realize that hip-hop was much more than just rap music, but was very much a cultural movement in and of itself. Though at the time of the release of the movie, it did not have a great overall impact, once reunification began in 1990, the hip-hop scene began to flourish. As one German remembers on a visit to the US in 1986, things were much different. MTV did not exist in Europe at the time, and the scene was still very much underground. Moreover, there was a lack of European hip-hop clubs.
After this initial wave of popularity, hip-hop fans were few and far between. However, the fans that did remain would play a role in the resuscitation of the hip hop culture. "The hardcore hip-hop fans that remained after the breakdance craze faded from the media were central to the further development of hip hop in Germany-they supplied much of the personnel for the important rap groups that began to develop in the late 1980s and early '90s." "Graffiti and breakdancing came out big but it only lasted for one summer. But hip hop survived in the underground."
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Wikipedia