As Hip-Hop culture continues to dominate the United States music industry as well as pop culture; it has also spread across the globe and taken up new homes in many foreign youth cultures.
As part of a growing spotlight on international Hip-Hop, StreetHop.com sat down with Germany's Aggro Berlin recording artist Fler; one of the most successful MC's outside of the US; with Aggro also being one of the most successful and popular labels.
StreetHop.com: So how did you land on Aggro Berlin?
Fler: Aggro Berlin was looking for new artists for their roster. A friend of mine hooked me up. Working really hard showed the Aggro execs that it was worth investing their money in me. I will soon release my 3rd album and I am very happy to be with Aggro Berlin.
In recent times, Aggro Berlin and yourself have been criticized for your "Street lyrics;" what are your views on this and how important is it to remain street?
The connection to the street is very important. It is the best inspiration.The streets is what rap is about. Though I got mature and older I still hang out with the crazy guys in the streets. We [graffiti] bomb trains and still do all that crazy street shit. Money hasn't changed me and I am still connected with the streets.
In an extension of this criticism, a lot of Aggro releases have been banned from Germany and "blacklisted" for not only having mature content explaining street culture, but for also being vocal against the German government. What is this censorship about?
German politics is full of shit. In Germany people are less motivated to do something against false politics. They don't organize and arrange to fight.
It is important for me to have a social message though the government says that I am bad for the youth, but I know that the kids listen to me and I want to open their eyes and wake them up.
Rappers are often misunderstood by the government and the public on purpose. But the truth is that rappers reveal socio-political problems within the society but unfortunately this is denied officially. They potray our music as "Proletenmusik," which means "music for rejects," and say that we are bad role models for the youth. That is why they are trying to hold us down by indexing our releases.
Index reasons
Objectionable content:
* Glorification of violence
* incitement of drug use
* discrimination against women
* explicit and sexual topics
There has been an ongoing dispute between German authorities
(Bundesprufstelle) and Aggro Berlin since 2004. The Bundesprufstelle always refers to single verses without considering the whole content of a track. Only a few words like "bitch" or"motherfucker" are enough to alert the authorities. Being "indexed" affects the release of an album. Legal action is often initiated shortly after the release of an album. This puts a lot of pressure on the labels because we have to sell as much CDs or records within a short time. Once the titels are on the index we are not allowed to promote them in public and distribute them anymore. If a title is indexed we put an alternative version on the market. The titles must be arranged musically again. Then they are sold as X-version.
What does the future hold for you and for Aggro Berlin in light of this situation?
We keep doing what we always did. We are still the number 1 label in Germany. I will release my 3rd album this year and my mixtape Airmax MUZIK is out.
You recently worked with US rapper Juelz Santana, how was that?
Juelz Santana was cool. He is very professional and he put a lot of efforts in the track. Juelz was cool and not arrogant. But I also know that it was business. We didn't become friends but it was a cool exeprience working with him.
Thanks a lot Fler, is there anything else you'd like to tell our readers?
Hey world, check out http://www.aggroberlin.de or http://www.myspace.com/aggroberlinartists, the baddest German hip hop label.
Source: http://www.streethop.com/fler-aggro-berlin.html
Never heard about him, but sounds interesting.
