Zeckenrap (named after the pejorative '' Zecke'') is a subgenre of

German hip-hop German hip hop (locally known as ''Deutschrap'', ''Deutsch'' meaning German) refers to hip hop music in the German language. Elements of American hip hop culture, such as graffiti art and breakdancing, diffused into Western Europe in the early ...

dealing with political

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relativ ...

themes such as antifascism,

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

and

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

content.

History

In the beginnings in the 1980's, like in American hip-hop the political character was the main focus in

, dealing with themes such as

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

and everyday problems. With the commercialization of German hip-hop music in the 1990's these political themes lyrically became more and more a background aspect. Even though, groups such

Advanced Chemistry Advanced Chemistry is a German hip hop group from Heidelberg in Baden-Württemberg, South Germany. Advanced Chemistry was founded in 1987 by Toni L, Linguist, Gee-One, DJ Mike MD (Mike Dippon) and MC Torch. Each member of the group holds Germa ...

or Anarchist Academy still wrote songs about political themes. In the 2000's, the network ''HipHop Partizan'' was responsible for the establish of rap music within the left scene in Germany. Beginning in 2012, the rap collective ''Tick-Tick Boom'' contributed in spreading of the term ''Zeckenrap''. Between 2012 and 2015, the collective regularly hosted a ''Zeckenrapgala''. The German hip-hop group Neonschwarz from

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

is said to be the inventor of the term ''Zeckenrap''. The group was also part of the ''Tick-Tick Boom'' collective and stated that they invented the word to "oppose something positive to the negative cliché in describing the left as '' Zecke''". Even though, some Zeckenrap artists were able to get some recognition, Zeckenrap is still considered a marginal phenomenon within the German rap music scene, playing a minor role.

Views by state authorities

In a study on behalf of the Forschungs- und Beratungsstelle Terrorismus/Extremismus, a part of the Bundeskriminalamt, the Zeckenrap as well as Rechtsrock and the militant-salafist Naschid music were investigated. The study concluded that some lyrics of Zeckenrap artists use a "emotionalizing, partly dehumanizing enemy image with an explicit call of violence", especially against right-wing extremists, the

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

and the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

. The Annual Report on the Protection of the Constitution of 2012 in Berlin, an incident was mentioned where a group of around 50 people attacked a police car in

Berlin-Kreuzberg Kreuzberg () is a district of Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte. During the Cold War era, it was one of the poorest areas of West Berlin, but since German reunification in 1990, it has ...

an tried to win over 150 attendees of a Zeckenrapgala.

Known artists

* Captain Gips * Disastar * Kobito * Kurzer Prozess * Johhny Mauser * Lena Stoehrfaktor * Neonschwarz * Phillie MC * Pöbel MC * Pyro One * Refpolk * Schlagzeiln * Sir Mantis * Sookee *

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

* Teuterekordz * Waving the Guns

References

{{reflist German hip-hop Hip-hop genres