I sing in Turkish, but I rap in German

I was chatting with the owner of a shop and his Azerbaijani friend last night when a young guy came in wearing a black shirt with gold lettering that said “L.A. Cocaine Business” on the front and “Tony Montana Scarfarce” on the back (want one? I’ve seen them for sale all over the net).  He and the owner are friends or work together or something, and while I didn’t get the full scoop, I learned that he was 18 and had been born in Germany to Turkish parents.

I was talking mostly with the Azerbaijani guy, so I’m not sure how it happened, but the next thing I know the owner was asking the kid to rap for us.  He agreed to, but said that he only raps in German.  He could sing folk songs, love songs, pop songs, you name it, in Turkish, but when it came to rap, only German would do. 

Now, among the three of us, a Russia-born Turk, an Azerbaijani, and an Iowan with lapsed German skills, we weren’t too sure what we’d get out of the performance, but  we told him to go ahead anyway.

My memory is a little fuzzy here, but over the next 30 seconds I caught the words “die,” “we’re Turkish,” “bomb,” “dog,” “mother,” and a long string of words that I assume are cognates of English swear words, or so the accompanying hand gestures led me to believe.  The kid clearly had some talent, so I agreed with the Azerbaijani who smiled and said, “That was great, but I didn’t understand it.”

But on second thought, I’m pretty sure I did understand it, at least the gist of it.  There was no mistaking the anger and nationalism in that rap.  And while this guy might prefer the language of his parents for singing sappy love songs, when it comes to sharing his message about being a young Turk, he goes with German.  I have no idea who his audience is or whether he has one, but he’s chosen a medium, and a language, for all those who have ears.