The hip-hop newcomer raps without kitsch or cringe about heartbreak and growing up
It’s one of those things with feelings in hip-hop: when mainstream German rappers of a certain level of fame start rapping not just about their instincts, but also about love, it quickly gets cringe. Maybe they should go to school with newcomer Skuff Barbie, who manages to rap in German about love and relationships without falling into the kitsch trap. She succeeds in doing this by looking relentlessly at interpersonal relationships – especially at her own missteps, as in the cruel “WISS”, which tells of her own need to cheat, or in the sad duet “Wo du warst” with colleague Wunso.
Skuff Barbie, from Munster with family roots in Equatorial Guinea, manages to capture contemporary living conditions very precisely (yes, Insta-Stories are in the lyrics) and yet to paint images that remain universal. But it’s not just about heartbreak, no, Skuff, as she’s also known, can also charmingly fulfill rap clichés as she celebrates her crew, introduces herself as the next big thing or bangs like “J. Lo” booties to shake.