The Hip Hop Generation
Die Fantastischen Vier, Fettes Brot, Sido
In recent years, virtually no trend has influenced the music scene as dramatically as hip hop. With its origins in poor neighborhoods in the USA, and primarily as an expression of African-American culture, hip hop has given rise to an independent scene in Germany over the past 20 years. A pioneering and leading exponent of the style right up to the present is Die Fantastischen Vier (The Fantastic Four) from Stuttgart. Their German version of rap expresses what many young Germans are thinking and feeling. In Germany, hip hop was the first music trend to clearly articulate the attitudes, the anxieties, but also the everyday experiences of today's youth. Many newer bands have formed: Fettes Brot from Hamburg is among those that have been in business for more than 15 years. Their ironic texts, with a northern German orientation, continue to fire the enthusiasm of thousands of fans. Emerging just a few years ago, finally, was a new direction in German hip hop: so-called “Gansta Rap† was now found in Berlin, with Bushido and Sido as its main representatives. This music celebrates very different themes: machismo and masculinity, life in the ghetto, the question of who belongs to the group and who does not. Many texts have caught the attention of political and social protectors of youth, triggering hard discussions about whether such music should be categorized as sexist and misogynistic.
The film explores the question of who listens to which type of hip hop, and what this music tells us about youth culture in Germany. Why do young fans favor one type of hip hop over another, how do they live, and why has hip hop evolved in a new direction with “Gangsta Rap†? For 20 years, German hip hop has emblematized youth culture in Germany. Die Fantastischen Vier, Fettes Brot, and Sido are featured in this musical portrait as the most important German hip hop musicians.
Screenplay/Direction
Nicola Graef
Produced:
2010,
WDR, SWR, RBB, Bildungsfernsehen
60 min.
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