Unusual gesture: Xavier Naidoo dedicates a belated birthday song to Arrest Warrant via Instagram in the midst of tour stress. The emotional moment between two polarizing artists.
Arrest warrant turned 40 on Tuesday, December 16th – Xavier Naidoo congratulated Aykut Anhan, his real name, on his big birthday a little late because he is currently busy with his comeback tour.
Better late than never
The 54-year-old congratulated his non-genre colleague via Instagram Story – he began it with the following words: “Aykut, I heard it’s your birthday.” He then began to sing a little serenade to the Offenbach native. The classic birthday songs were out of the question for the pop musician. He decided to dedicate a song from his former band, the Söhne Mannheims, to him and quickly sang the ballad: “And when a song leaves my lips, it is only so that you can receive love.” After the line, the artist – who became radicalized during the pandemic – put his hand to his heart and wished the German rapper: “All the best!” At the end of his short video message he added: “Hush the family and enjoy the time, Ciao, Ciao!”
The clip, which only lasts a few seconds, was probably recorded backstage at Cologne’s Lanxess Arena during his second appointment at the venue. Naidoo sits in a sparse, spacious room with gray carpet and black curtains. The late congratulations were probably due to the stress of the tour.
arrest warrant reposted the story on his Instagram account, linked his colleague and put the peace emoticon behind it.
The comeback year 2025
Xavier Naidoo and Aykut Anhan don’t have much in common musically. But the two artists have one thing in common: they polarize. Albeit for reasons that couldn’t be more different. 2025 marks the year of musical comeback for both.
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Questionable return of Xavier Naidoo
For Naidoo, the two concerts in Cologne – on December 16th and 17th, 2025 – marked the start of his comeback to the German-speaking music world. The “Bei meine Seele” tour brings the Mannheim native to stages in Germany and Austria with 14 additional concerts planned in January 2026. The artist’s return to the music scene is being watched with excitement, as the artist has attracted particular attention in the last six years due to negative headlines in which he was accused of racism and anti-Semitism.
To understand: Xavier Naidoo represented theses of the QAnon ideology, sympathized with Reich citizens, expressed conspiracy ideology and anti-Semitic sentiments – which even went as far as denying the Holocaust – and appeared with lateral thinkers. The singer currently has to answer in two cases before the Mannheim regional court because of posts with an anti-Semitic character that he spread via the messenger service Telegram.
Restart with documentary “Babo – The Arrest Warrant Story”
The German rapper arrest warrant has been heavily criticized for the content of his songs in the past – they glorify violence, are sexist and also use anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Another criticism of the artist’s texts is their trivialization of drug use.
With the documentary “Babo – The Arrest Warrant Story,” which was released in October, the artist announced a turnaround. The film provided honest and raw insights into the rapper’s life – which was marked by years of massive cocaine consumption. During an appearance in Osnabrück – which followed the release of the documentary – he announced to the audience that he was “clean”. The rapper announced a headlining tour and new music for 2026.