“Expropriate Springer, expel FDPler, fascists into the camp, for better times”. Disarstar is obviously not lacking in radical statements. As on his previous album DEUTSCHER OKTOBER, the rapper from Hamburg strives for a clear and unfiltered language on his new work ROLEX FOR ALL, which he uses to address social grievances, to name the consequences of neoliberal politics and to capitalism as a system attack. In the video interview, we spoke to Disarstar about a defensive architecture action, his approach to songs, art’s contribution to political discourse, and a melancholic side of the rapper that comes out in the second half of the album.
Watch the full video interview here:
Disarstar organizes protest action on the topic of “enemy architecture”
With a protest campaign on social media, he drew attention to city-political strategies for evicting the homeless. Defensive architecture is a special design of public space that aims to keep the homeless out of city centers. For the campaign, Disarstar was filmed dismantling metal poles from a public wall (to prevent homeless people from sleeping there) with a flex machine. The campaign, titled “Not Even the Least”, received a lot of attention on social media and was shared by many prominent people. In the interview, Disarstar gave us some background information about the campaign.
“I’m not a do-gooder. I didn’t save the world with this action either. It was a symbolic act with which I wanted to create awareness. Also in view of the current economic situation. The number of homeless people is expected to increase in the coming years. And now winter is coming. With the video, I wanted to sensitize people and make it clear that we are talking about people who want to be treated as such.”
For the protest action “Not even the least”, Disarstar used the Flex-Machine:
Disarstar shows his soulful side
On songs like “Palace Walls”, “Supergirl” or “Ode to Sadness” he shows that the Hamburg rapper is not always set on riots, but can also pack emotions into songs. In the latter, Disarstar deals with the liberating effect of crying. At a young age, the musician repeatedly had to deal with blows of fate: leaving the parental home early, alcohol and drug problems and a suspended sentence for dangerous bodily harm. All of this was a while ago, but even today there is always a reason for Disarstar, who is constantly dealing with global political events, to indulge in grief so as not to “freak out”.
“The grief I talk about in the song ‘Ode to Sadness’ is not destructive. This is more likely to happen with severe depression. Melancholy is more of a beautiful thing. I’ve had many moments in my life where it was absurdly nice to be sad. Sadness is a very intense feeling that brings you very close to yourself. This feeling has always been a driving force for me. But you also have to be able to use it like that.”
“Supergirl” is among Disarstar’s soulful and poppy songs:
The album ROLEX FOR ALL by Disarstar was released on October 14, 2022. here listen to the stream: