summer hit! Ski Aggu and Apache 207 reanimate the ex-comrades Otto W. and Udo L.
Let’s see it positively: This year’s summer hit is not about prostitution (older people will remember “Layla”), nor about other Ballermann topoi. No freedom-loving party beast from the Junge Union has to defend the song against nasty moral quails, nobody has to boycott anything, and that’s quite a lot right now. As an exception, everyone is allowed to hug each other, old and young, fools and children, when they fry their brains for a few blissful minutes to “Friesenjung”.
Rapper Ski Aggu, a so-called TikTok phenomenon from Berlin-Wilmersdorf, who achieved some fame with a song called “Party Sahne”, has recorded a remix of Otto Waalkes’ 1993 Blödelstück together with electro producer Joost. It’s a double throwback, messing up a song that messed up another song, Sting’s “Englishman In New York.”
Smurf techno for people too young for drug jokes when Money Boy was in his golden years
For months, Ski Aggu encouraged his fans to persuade the comedian to release the song with the words “Please, Otto, please”. The rattle of anticipation could be an explanation for the insane success; what one has begged for, one also wants to buy. In addition, Ski Aggu, who appears with a mullet and – branding is everything – idiotic ski goggles, has given the “Friesenjung” a good run for his money. His rhyme with the song is a speeded-up version of the original, hardly any genre is more popular on social media right now.
The whole thing sounds like smurf techno for people too young for drug jokes when Money Boy was in his golden years. So very similar to the song, which is hot on the heels of the number one hit “Friesenjung” in the charts: Otto’s ex-comrade Udo Lindenberg teamed up with Apache 207 for “Komet”. Whether both co-productions are actually heart projects that reconcile generations or simply marketing stunts, we don’t really want to know. After all, this summer is about East Friesland and ski goggles. And not about “Layla” or “Olivia”.
This column first appeared in the Musikexpress issue 07/2023.