Arrest warrant isn’t the same guy who posed with a rocket launcher in the “Shut up” video back in 2010. He was once the light of all Offenbach core assistants, he was a Tarantino art house gangster, street rap rambo and feuilleton darling – and last year he had a worrying effect. On the intro “Smell of Koks” it then begins after a surprising Paula Hartmann sings about self-destruction and grief, and it sounds different than before. Exhausted, even a little forced. His maybe last album MAINPARK BABY skilfully unravels the threads of his career, but shows him sluggish and strenuous on the mic.
There are strong moments, for example when he delivers a brutal FFM refrain next to Azad or when he rabbles on “Haft Enter Den Raum”, fresh and disgusting like in his best days. But there is a lot of self-quotation in the good, there are hardly any new accents. He looks strange next to younger colleagues. OG Keemo and Paula Hartmann sound like dream features on the drawing board, but despite strong contributions, they never appeared in the same studio. Someone explain how Hafti, at 36, makes a flirty club track alongside Nimo and Kalim, on which the latter assures a woman that he’s not a “simp”.
MAINPARK BABY turns out to be a farewell album
There is a balance between good and weird moments on MAINPARK BABY, and in between there is a lot of solid stuff that is reminiscent of career highlights but doesn’t set any new ones. Somehow it seems clear: the man has lost his hunger. He manages his legacy but adds little to it. The explanation for this is at the end. “Last Track” comes as a farewell letter to the rap scene, he’s had enough, now he wants time for his children.
MAINPARK BABY turns out to be a farewell album. Sure, rapper pensions shouldn’t be taken too seriously, but Hafti seems sincere; like a boxer star, many fights after the big titles. If this is his jump, it’s a jump with dignity.
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