BERLIN — In Germany's hugely popular hip-hop music scene, one of the biggest albums of the past year was from two trash-talking rappers who rhymed about their prowess in bed and in the weight room and about violently dominating their opponents.
The album has racked up sales, but has also attracted a different sort of attention. In one song, the pair boast about how their bodies are "more defined than Auschwitz prisoners." In another, they vow to "make another Holocaust, show up with a Molotov."
Widespread condemnation turned into an uproar in the last week since the rappers, Farid Bang and Kollegah, won the Echo award for best hip-hop album at Germany's equivalent of the Grammys on April 12.
The lead singer of the country's pre-eminent punk rock band objected to the award from the same stage that night. "In principle I consider provocation is a good thing," Campino, the lead singer of
Die Toten Hosen, said. "But we need to differentiate between art as a stylistic device, or a form of provocation that only serves to destroy and ostracize others." Other winners have said they are returning their prizes.
