“Make the rap soft and tender again” is the motto of the rapper Finna in her song “Zartcore” from the debut album of the same name from 2022. The so-called announcement always belongs to hip-hop pieces, regardless of the subgenre – whether with representatives the Ganstaraps, the Apache 207 labeled as authentic (“Apache stays the same”), Nina Chuba’s Pipi-Longstocking-esque high-flyer songs (“Highspeed, nobody stops me”). But Finna’s line is striking: if it’s mostly about being perceived as particularly tough, cool and hard-nosed, the claim to tenderness is unique.
Finna, whose real name is Jana Pettke, is currently one of the most exciting voices in German-speaking hip-hop and is about to rap her way out of the niche into the limelight with a solid flow on well-built beats. One of the best-known representatives of queer-feminist rap, to which Finna belongs, was Nora Hantzsch aka Sookee until 2020. She retired from the business to make music for children without pressure as Sukini. One of her motivations was criticism of the capitalist music industry. Finna also criticizes the system, “Love the shit, but don’t play along” and “I think competition is shit, I’m more than what I can do,” says “Zartcore”. The rapper is also part of the hip-hop collective F*Male Treasure.
The criticism of the system, the questioning of role models and learned behavior is not new in Finna’s work and is often indicated in her song titles. Years ago, she released the song “Cool is me too cold”, followed three years ago by “Overscheiß” as a pastiche of “Oversize”.
Finna, who describes herself as “fat” and reports in interviews how often strangers insult her because of her appearance, does not bring to perfection in her songs both the self-confident rebellion against ideals of beauty and the self-doubt that results from it designed to fit the system, expressed. To be heard in the piece “VDAZV” (Loss the fear of losing), more pop than rap, in which Finna’s singing qualities are particularly evident. She will present this and her debut album on Friday evening at the Milla Club.
Finna, Friday, May 5th, 8 p.m., Milla Club, Holzstraße 28, more information www.milla-club.de