Six cities, ten artists, a car and a good deal of rap: In a series of guest interviews on Porsche Newsroom, Niko Hüls, boss of the German hip-hop magazine Backspin, reports on his road trip across Germany. More impressions can be found on Instagram and Twitter using the hashtag #porschexbackspin as well as on the BACKSPIN TV YouTube channel.
Hip-hop is now bigger than ever in Germany. Artists such as Cro, Casper, Beginner or Samy Deluxe are thrilling the masses and filling entire stadiums with their concerts. Graffiti has long been a creative part of urban culture in cities, and almost all Saturday evening TV shows on German television have featured break dance at one time or another.
But how and where did it all begin? What motivates people to dedicate their lives to hip hop? In order to answer these questions I set off on a hip-hop journey and took a road trip back to the roots. Meet People who are hip-hop and have made their contribution to culture. Five days, six cities, ten guests and 2,300 kilometers later I’m telling my story on Porsche Newsroom and on Backspin TV, divided up into seven individual chapters and a long video documentary (“Back to Tape” to be released in February 2018).
From the middle classes: Roger from Blumentopf
Rapper Roger is a member of the band Blumentopf, who were formed in Freising in 1992. Starting out in the Glockenbachwerkstatt, the “boys from the terrace house” were a big influence upon the cultural youth movement with their lyrics and music from the middle classes. Story-telling paired with punny texts was the most formative style element of the band led by Roger Manglus.
“When we started out we didn’t really do it for others but for ourselves”, Roger told me during our visit to the Muffathalle, which is something like a second living room for the rap scene in the Bavarian capital. And today? “There’s no other life for me. I worked for a while after school, but Blumentopf has been the biggest part of my life.”
They played their last ever concert on October 22, 2016 in Munich, ending an incredible musical career. The end of an era for many hip-hop fans.
Germany’s best freestyler: Main Concept’s David P.
Limiting my Munich trip to just Blumentopf would have been a little too little. So after the Glockenbachwerkstatt and the Muffathalle, I headed the Panamera across town to the Färberei, a creative hangout at the interface of art, graffiti and rap. This is the home of 58Beats, the label of Main Concept’s David P. and his buddy Glam – very influential personalities of the German Rap-Scene.
.@nikobackspin is on its way to present the roots of German hip hop culture. Stay tuned for more! #porschexbackspin #workdrivebalance @allesbackspin pic.twitter.com/SVZZdoQXni
— Porsche Newsroom (@PorscheNewsroom) 14. November 2017
With their 1994 album “Coole Scheisse” they were already showing people how to get hip-hop albums into record stores in Germany – 23 years ago! Main Concept are important instigators of what we know as hip-hop today. US Rap-Stars such as Missin’ Linx, Al Tariq, Problemz and Get Open, and numerous German crews such as Beginner and Blumentopf are among the many that have graced the hallowed studio halls of these Munich musos. The same applies to Hip Hop People from all over the world: painters and sprayers from Jamaica and New York were at the Färberei shortly before our visit. This variety, not only of cultures but also in the four disciplines of hip-hop, is palpable every single second in 58Beats’ studio.
The next Hip-Hop Tour report will appear shortly before Christmas on Porsche Newsroom, and will feature Toni-L of Advanced Chemistry.
#WorkDriveBalance & road trip playlist
No matter whether you’re stuck in a jam or you’ve got the road to yourself, music is vital for a good work-drive balance – just like the right kind of car, because enjoyment behind the wheel can turn a stressful work trip into a positive experience. The Panamera is both a comfortable limousine and a sports car – the perfect vehicle for the Porsche Hip-Hop Tour. In order to give you the right work-drive balance, Niko Hüls has put together a Playlist, upon which you will find “Rosi” and “Safari” by Blumentopf, as well as “Kingstyles” and “Idealisten und Idealogen” by Main Concept, all out of Munich.
Save the date
While upon his road trip, Niko Hüls met many interesting characters, had in-depth discussions and gathered a great deal of information about the history of German hip-hop. You will be able to see the results in a video documentary co-produced by Porsche and Backspin TV: “Back to Tape” will be released in Spring 2018.
The author
Niko Hüls a.k.a. Niko BACKSPIN has been a fan of hip-hop since the early nineties. It was around the turn of the millennium that he made his passion into his job: Journalist, moderator and boss of BACKSPIN, Niko busies himself with urban youth culture and is always on the lookout for good stories and interesting people. Hip-hop as an art form and approach to life is Niko’s philosophy.
Consumption data
Panamera Turbo: Fuel consumption combined 9.4 – 9.3 l/100 km; CO2 emissions 214 – 212 g/km
