Abstract
AbstractThe article begins with a short history of German gangsta rap, followed by an overview of central theories and key concepts in hip-hop studies. It then focuses on a case study of a German gangsta rapper called Kollegah, who became one of Germany's most commercially successful artists of the past few years. The case study is divided into three parts: the first involves a deconstruction of both his artistic persona and his strategies of appropriating hip-hop cultures. This is followed by a closer look at two Kollegah productions, focusing on his rhyming and signifying skills. By adding a cursory qualitative media analysis of both Internet fan forums and print and television artefacts about Kollegah, very contradictory reactions can be depicted. The article is finally able to illustrate that this artist makes great use of a (typically German?) flavour of virtuosity and that he can draw from a very unique set of capital. Kollegah is viewed as representing a successful strategy of cultural appropriation and the use of different types of capital within the network of music business in its post-digital era.
Highlights
Just like global developments on mainstream markets, most of the traditional music businesses in Germany were strongly affected by digitalisation
– like his American idols – Kollegah has managed to start his owncompany, and enter value creation alongside the value chain of the music business, clearly focusing on his ‘self-made’ career and independent economic situation. This fits perfectly with the theoretical ideas of both acoustic capital and attention economy: he has learned how to play ‘the game’ himself or via peer-groups and social media, gained skills and expertise in artistic and economic areas, become renowned for this expertise and is, able to convert these into economic capital
The German gangsta rap artist Kollegah was selected for a case study both because of his recent commercial success and because of the different types of prizes he has recently won, for his music and for success on social media
Summary
Just like global developments on mainstream markets, most of the traditional music businesses in Germany were strongly affected by digitalisation. – like his American idols – Kollegah has managed to start his own (sub)company, and enter value creation alongside the value chain of the music business, clearly focusing on his ‘self-made’ career and independent economic situation This fits perfectly with the theoretical ideas of both acoustic capital and attention economy: he has learned how to play ‘the game’ himself or via peer-groups and social media, gained skills and expertise in artistic and economic areas, become renowned for this expertise and is, able to convert these into economic capital. Whenever fragments of the ghetto or pimp narrative (e.g. violence, prostitutes, drugs) are constructed in his lyrics, Kollegah usually uses the original American expression rather than translating it This may be an attempt to illustrate his own knowledge and expertise and, his acoustic capital. Kollegah once again integrates Anglicisms into his lyrics and makes references to current socio-political developments (the Anonymous movement) or Internet phenomena (Figure 6): Suburbane Ghetto-Belletristik, harte Schale, chauvinistischer Kern Sinkt mein Schiff mal im Meer, dann heißt es: ‘Koks und Kinder zuerst!’ Du wimmerst vor Schmerz, denn ich pulle die Beretta, Rest in Peace Und Junkies in der Stadt suchen auf Ecstasy Das goldene Ticket in meine Meth-Fabrik – Crack und Speed Für mich schuften Bitches sogar mit kurzem Minirock im Dezember Mit einem aufgesetzten Lächeln wie Anonymous-Member Wannabe-Gangster zahlen mir Schutzgeld per Western Union
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