The hit rap star watches the rats eating their way through his old quarter.
Earlier, in one of his first hits, Volkan Yaman loaded a “Bitch like Barbie” onto the back of the eponymous “Roller”. Today, as Apache 207 has risen to become the star in the sky of German popular music, he asks his beloved not to get into the cabriolet because he already knows that he will unfortunately have to break her heart.
Showing vulnerability in the rap game is nothing new, but the evolution is refreshing nonetheless. Just because it’s not sexist. Saying “son of a bitch” to his love interest’s competitor hunk has to be in there, though. Because on his fourth album GARTENSTADT, named after his hood in Ludwigshafen, Niederfeld-Gartenstadt, you might get Apache from the record, but not the record from Apache. The garden city is not the Märkische district, which Sido once commemorated in “Mein Block”, but a former working-class district facing major social problems. He says himself: “And sometimes the rats eat their way through walls / They were born here, but they don’t want to end here / Mom, the white dust is just the plaster from the ceiling / What do you know about my block?”
Melodic, rough, cheesy, soft beats and a dark, strong voice on top, here and there a few Eighties-esque synthesizers like in “Breaking Your Heart” never hurt anyone, even less a long-established radio pop riff like in “If that stays that way “, all garnished with a feature with Udo Lindenberg. To be honest, it’s a bit all over the place, and not entirely original either, but downright ideal for a long car or scooter ride in the summer evening.
Feder Musik/Four Music/Sony (Release: 9.6.)