Berlin rappers Chefket and Luvre47 are committed to charitable causes and talk more about them in the interview.
Luvre47 and Chefket – two important names in the Berlin rap scene. With profound lyrics, rhythmic beats and their nonchalant flow, the two artists get people bobbing and nodding their heads, whether on the street with headphones over their ears or at one of their concerts.
But behind the artists’ casual facade there is much more than you might initially think. In their chests, their hearts not only beat for their fans, relaxed rap lyrics and an exuberant atmosphere, it also beats for humanity. To be more precise: people who are not doing as well as others. People who are treated like air, put in drawers and whose existence is often downright ignored. We are talking about homeless people, an estimated 500,000 of whom are in Germany alone. Of these, around 47,300 live on the streets.
Berliners often claim that the city has dulled them when it comes to the issue; unfortunately, people who beg on the streets and in the trains or sleep wrapped up in house entrances are just as much a part of Berlin’s landscape as the Brandenburg Gate.
However, Chefket and Luvre47 break out of their dullness, start looking when others look away, and extend a helping hand where others withdraw their fingers.
A concert for a jacket
The artists, along with several other notable artists, demonstrated their humanitarian streak at a benefit concert on January 16, 2025 in the Holy Cross Church in Kreuzberg.
That evening, the cross of the church dome stood out in the dark night sky, while hundreds of people stood in line outside the church gates, hoping to attend the concert – with performances by not only Luvre47 and Chefket, but also Jassin, Apsilon and Mauli – to be able to attend. What was special about this gig wasn’t just that it took place in a magnificent red-brick Gothic church with high ceilings and picturesque round windows. What the event attracted attention in its promotion on Instagram was the route to the entry ticket. There were no cash boxes, donation boxes or a sign with a price at the checkout. No, in order to secure a stamp to get into the church nave for the concert, you had to donate a jacket. A welcome campaign for our society’s ongoing overconsumption and the resulting overflowing wardrobes. That’s why people gathered in the queue in front of the church with boxes, sacks and handfuls of winter clothes.
The campaign was launched after the camp Caritas Berlin lost a large part of her winter clothing in a devastating fire. The Dojo Cares Foundation took on the matter and immediately knew who needed to be brought to the event. “Lu is one of those people who just came to us – it was probably two years ago – and said ‘Hey guys, I’m here for the issue of homeless help, no matter what you have, I’ll help where I can’ and we got that then taken literally,” recalls Marija Stojanovic, who serves on the board of Dojo Cares, and speaks of rapper Luvre47, who also performed that evening.
“You can’t get past it without dealing with it.”
The Berlin musician has been taking the issue of homelessness to heart for a long time and also wrote the song “0800 800 1019” – this is the Germany-wide cold bus number that was created so that there is a uniform cold hotline everywhere in Germany. Luvre47’s goal: create awareness, draw lasting attention to the number.
“We artists or people in general who are in the public eye simply have a platform to draw attention to things. Hip hop is actually there to draw attention to grievances and report on things. In the rap scene, not just in the German rap scene, I personally have been missing this a lot in recent years,” said Luvre47, or Lu as he is known away from the spotlight, in an interview. And further: “I am Berliner. Homelessness is very real here, you can’t get past it without dealing with it. “Ever since I’ve had the opportunity to use my stage, it’s always been important to me to do exactly that.”
The Berlin native also has a personal connection to the topic. His gaze is focused on the ground as he talks about a friend he lost to homelessness and life on the streets. “In general, I think we have this tenor in Germany: ‘If you don’t want to be homeless, you don’t have to be’, but I think that’s a huge fallacy.” Luvre47 points out that there are many mechanisms in Germany , which aim at the right things, but there are often a number of obstacles in the way of homeless people. “It can be a hurdle that you don’t have a passport, but you need a registration address and the spiral begins. You can’t get one without the other,” the rapper states.
The “30 Meter Movement”
After Mauli and Apsilon had shaken up the church stage one after the other – with hoverboards, infectious rhythms and soulful lyrics – it was rapper Chefket’s turn. The Heidenheim native is celebrated by his fans above all for his lyrical talent and proves in many of his songs how harmonious a mix of Turkish and German lyrics can be. We also spoke to him extensively during the event. “I think it’s not about enlightening people, but rather about reminding people of things they’ve forgotten,” Chefket explained to us when asked why he often makes such clear statements in his music . And further: “You also remember things that you forget. If I put that into songs, I won’t forget it.”
According to his own statement, the extent of homelessness in Berlin overwhelmed the rapper when he moved to the metropolis some time ago. “When I first came to Berlin, I was blown away by how much poverty there is here,” he said. “It took me a long time to become numb. The encounters in winter are always particularly harsh.” The fact that the icy German winters are dangerous for the homeless and can even be fatal is underscored by the fact that a total of 23 people in Germany died from freezing to death in 2023. Especially in the cold months of the year, homeless people are dependent on the help of others.
Like many others, the rapper would like people to be more aware in some respects. He even spontaneously came up with a movement idea in the interview: “If I needed a name for it, it would be the ’30 Meter Movement’. Anyone can implement this directly. Observe what is happening within a 30 meter radius around you and then just think. What can I do? Or just not fucking up the people around you. These 30 meters are what we have under control, you can’t control the whole world’s pain. There’s something stoic about saying you focus on what you can control.”