On October 6, the event “Sampling Culture: Empowering Youth through Transatlantic Hip-Hop Exchanges” took place at the Goethe-Institut in Los Angeles. That evening there were various workshops dealing with youth exchange. The rapper Max Herre and his son were also there and are now making headlines. The SWR reported that both had been flown in from Berlin for the evening “at taxpayer expense”.
The chairman of the economic committee in the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg Prof. Erik Schweikert (FDP) said:“At that moment, many of us looked at each other in astonishment. If the artist was only flown in for this program item, that would be massively exaggerated.” In response to a request from the BILD newspaper, the State Ministry said that Max Herre also took part in a workshop.
Why Max Herre?
Max Herre was invited as a guest because the event at the Goethe-Institut was planned in cooperation with Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens). Herre’s career began in Stuttgart, the capital of Baden-Württemberg. The artist was also born there. Before he became active as a solo musician, he was a singer and rapper in the German rap group Freundskreis (“Anna”, “Mit Dir”).
What was Kretschmann doing in America?
Winfried Kretschmann was on a tour of the US with the aim of continuing his education in the areas of healthcare, mobility and transatlantic dialogue. From October 2nd to October 7th, Kretschmann visited various stations in the cities of Pittsburgh, Sacramento and Los Angeles – according to BILD with a delegation of 100 people.