The station describes him as “the rapper who thinks about social issues”.
On October 20th, NDR published a TV report about the rapper Disarstar and received a lot of criticism for it. The radical attitudes of the Hamburg musician are very controversial – but the station is surprisingly uncritical in its contribution.
“Expropriate jumpers, drive out FDP members, fascists in the camp for better times,” are the lyrics that start the short article in the “Hamburger Journal”. The song’s lyrics were chanted along by the rapper’s 6,000 fans who came to his concert in the Hamburg sports hall on October 20th. “Disarstar – that’s the rapper who thinks about social issues. He wants everyone in society to do well,” says the voiceover. What follows is a short version of his life: middle-class child who has been through hard times himself. His suspended sentence would have been an “awakening experience for his social heart”. Disarstar, whose real name is Gerrit Falius, sits in front of the camera and makes it clear: “It’s time for radicalism!”
The Hamburg rapper has particularly attracted attention in the past with his 2011 song “Free World”. With lines like “Death to the Zionists, freedom over money, when will you finally wake up, Western world?”, “Revenge for Gaza” and “It will soon be over, it will hit you like a plane flying into skyscrapers” he shocks and glorifies Terrorist attacks, such as the attack on September 11, 2001. Even if this song is not explicitly mentioned in the NDR report, it is questionable – in view of the recent events in Israel – to praise the rapper so uncritically.
Instead of mentioning this attitude, the station focuses on its “social commitment”, which is not just musical. “A year ago he campaigned against anti-homeless architecture,” explains the moderator. Disarstar removed metal brackets in public places so that homeless people could lie down there again.
While the rapper’s fans celebrate “socio-political issues,” the social media community reacts a lot more critically. An X user (formerly of Twitter) writes: “’Death to the Zionists’. Two weeks after the terrorist massacre in Israel. Not a critical word about it in the article. The NDR now has to explain itself.” Another says: “With the connotation of ‘Zionists’ with ‘money’, the anti-Semitism with the stereotype of the alleged financial power of Jews is no longer even concealed in any way. And the NDR spreads it benevolently.”
A spokeswoman for the station now justifies the article: “Like many other media outlets, NDR also reported on the rapper Disarstar’s concert and previously on his new album ROLEX FOR ALL. The NDR ‘Hamburg-Journal’ discussed in both the introduction and the film’s text that the artist has a criminal record and classified his texts as controversial.” The article would be much more about “exploring the fascination that is especially for young people people from this Hamburg rapper.” The NDR’s conclusion is: “The lyrics of the current album are provocative, but covered by artistic freedom.”
Nevertheless, the moderator of the short documentary sums up in a positive mood: “Disarstar – not fat-pants rap, but music with uncomfortable questions. Hamburg hip hop as a criticism of the system.” The whole article can be seen here.