The Old School of German Rap in Harare

The Mannenberg, Fife Ave, Harare

TUE 17 NOVEMBER 2009

9pm

 

[Picture attached: German rap trio 'Massive Tone']


On Tuesday 17 November The Mannenberg welcomes MASSIVE TONE – ‘the Old School of German Rap’, three artists who together are one of Germany’s oldest and most popular hiphop groups – another special treat for young music-lovers of the Zimbabwean capital.

Founded in Stuttgart in 1991, when its members were still in school, MASSIVE TONE  comprises Showi (Jean-Christoph Ritter), Ju (João dos Santos), and DJ 5ter Ton ("DJ Fifth Note", Alexander Scheffel).   They started out rapping in the city streets - first the texts of their idols and soon thereafter their own rap lyrics. They worked on professionalising their style and skills, performing in clubs, parties, and at local concerts.  While gaining experience and finding their own sound they always maintained a tongue-in-cheek approach to hiphop, and for the most part, steered clear of conflicts among underground elitist trends such as the hard-core school and gangsta rap.  

As explained by a local young hiphop artist who is eagerly waiting their visit, “Hiphop is a culture, and Rap is the voice, the lyrical element of that culture.   It’s kind of a rebellious culture, rebelling against conforming to past musical styles and expectations, and demanding freedom of _expression.”

MASSIVE TONE gained nationwide recognition with their 1994 debut album, Kopfnicker (Nodding Heads) which is still considered to be a classic in Germany, and in which their characteristic talent for puns and wordplay is very evident in hit singles such as Mein Job (quoting a popular German TV series) or Topmodel - a lampoon against the modelling industry’s castigation of the body, and later, socially critical songs like Deutschland, Deutschland.  In a later album their hymn to cool cars, Cruisen (Cruising), advanced to become the most successful German hiphop single in the year of its release, and in 2005 they released their album Zurück In Die Zukunft (Back to the Future), and have expanded their activities to include their own label ‘Kopfnicker Records’ and sound studio, and the 0711 booking agency in Germany.

A review from the website Amazon.com said, “With their lyrical extravaganza and some of the newest and crunkest beats to be heard from Germany yet, MCs Ju and Schowi flow tight as usual on the sound-collage supplied by their DJ 5ter Ton. Massive Töne include urgent social and political messages in their lyrics. For example, they rap about Neo-Nazism and other problems in Germany right now ("Deutschland, Deutschland").  Party Hip-Hop, however, has always played an important role in the band's songs, too. Tracks like Im Club (exclusively produced by New York's DJ P.F. Cuttin', an old-time friend of the band) or Mach mal lauter (which means: turn it up) keep you bouncin' on the dancefloor.”

This will be Massive Tone’s first visit to Zimbabwe, brought to Harare by the Zimbabwe-German Society and Goethe-Institut, as part of a wider tour in our continent, including Namibia , DRC (Bujumbura and Kigali), Kenya and Tanzania .   Pamberi Trust welcomes them to The Mannenberg, and welcomes the partnership with Zimbabwe-German Society / Goethe-Zentrum (ZGS/GZ) in Harare which will give the German and Zimbabwean artists the opportunity to meet, interact and workshop ahead of the performance on Tuesday 17 November.

Pamberi Trustis well known for providing performance platforms for free _expression through its many and diverse arts development programmes which feature at its two performance venues in Harare, The Book Cafe and The Mannenberg.  Currently two hiphop initiatives feature at The Mannenberg each month – ‘The Circle’ and ‘Mashoko, The Spoken Word Event’.  The Mannenberg hosted Danish hiphop artists Bikstok Rogsystem in July 2009, and is one of only a few venues in the city which features hiphop artists and events, a genre widely seen as a sub-culture.

The Zimbabwe-German Society / Goethe-Zentrum (ZGS/GZ), was established in 1983 and is a non profit-making, membership-driven organisation, which has been partnered with the Goethe-Institute since 1996.  Its aim is to foster mutual knowledge and understanding between the people of Zimbabwe and the people of Germany.

The ZGS / GZ programmes concentrate on the one hand on the provision of language tuition and information on Germany as a destination for students and working people, and on the other hand organising/participating in cultural events and programmes.

Principal among these are annual Outreach Projects such as their regional arts competition – ‚IntrAfrika’, film festivals, music events, lectures and discussions, workshops, regular film evenings and other activities held in conjunction with other cultural partners and organisations.

 

 
Contact:

Zimbabwe-German Society / Goethe-Zentrum

51 Lawson Avenue, Milton Park , Harare , Zimbabwe

TelFax.: +263 4 796836, Tel.: 04 704045 , Cell: +263 913 222 314

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