Kollegah likes to celebrate himself as a “punchline god” and repeatedly emphasizes that he writes his own lyrics. However, there have long been allegations that Kollegah is by no means responsible for all of his own texts, but instead resorted to the help of talented copywriters in online forums. The rapper Fler already discussed in his disstrack published in 2009 “scream for love“ against Kollegah these allegations.
It has long been a fact that individual lines that later made it into Kollegah’s songs were previously published in online forums. However, Kollegah claims that he himself was the originator of these lines and had posted them on the forums with several fake accounts in order to test their effect in a small circle. The YouTuber Alicia Joe did some research and found out that the accounts cannot be Kollegah. Rather, Kollegah would have resorted to the help of the forum members for his song lyrics.
Particularly explosive: Kollegah also drew on many lines from a particularly talented forum copywriter, who, among other things, gave himself the name “tunichtgut”. The mentally ill lyricist probably died in 2010. Nevertheless, Kollegah took over the lyricist’s lines after the death of “tunichtgut” without publicly admitting to it. Alicia Joe’s criticism, as she explicitly emphasizes, is not directed at the fact that Kollegah worked with ghostwriters, but at his handling of it. The self-proclaimed “boss” keeps claiming that he writes all his lyrics himself.
Kollegah comments on the allegations
Meanwhile, Kollegah has spoken to the rap magazine HipHop.de commented on the allegations. According to him, the lines in question were created in joint text sessions with copywriters active in online forums:
“And you just pushed copywriting sessions. That means: As you know it, someone asks: ‘Do you have a rhyme for XY?’ And then a text module is created dynamically. Because everyone throws in a little bit of ideas. And it often happened that I said: ‘I can’t use that. That’s too wack. And then one of the guys posted it in a forum and later I thought it was cool.”
According to Kollegah, however, very few of his lines were created in such sessions. According to him, his practice of adopting lines that were created in collaboration with other copywriters without identification would not have been ghostwriting: “That has nothing to do with ghostwriting and nothing to do with stealing ideas. Because these things came about together with me in sessions.” Kollegah therefore denies that he used lines in his texts that were created entirely without his cooperation. However, the research by YouTuber Alicia Joe raises doubts about this portrayal. Kollegah’s statement also contradicts his earlier statements that the profiles in the forums are his own fake accounts.
Also Sun Diego with a statement
Kollegah’s rap colleague Sun Diego also commented on the allegations against Kollegah in an Instagram story:
“Hey guys, I have to say one thing… Kollegah is by far the baddest lyricist in Germany, even better than myself. Anyone who has ever been in the studio with him knows that @Faridbangbang. It’s quite normal to exchange ideas here and there, whether live or via Whatsapp. With Apocalyptic, he and Ali As also helped me. However, I did the largest and most relevant part myself.
And even if the allegations are true, we’re talking about a few lines here. But the man felt like he made 20 albums and with a constant punchline density that no 10 ghostwriters could keep. Greetings to everyone and Kolle my brother, fuck it, let’s go.”