“Görlitzer Park”: More serious tones on new KIZ album
While their last album “Rap über Hass” (2021) with disturbing and brutal lyrics was more reminiscent of the group’s beginnings, “Görlitzer Park” now seems darker and more sobering – sometimes with melancholic and sometimes with danceable electronic beats. Photo
© Checkyourhead/dpa
The Berlin rappers stand for breaking taboos, ironic lines, social criticism and political engagement. Their new record is now more serious. Fans of the group have two reasons to be happy.
For the fans, it was a kind of summer advent calendar: Even before the actual release of “Görlitzer Park” (June 21), the German band KIZ has released a song from their new album every day since the beginning of June. The Berlin rappers Maxim, Nico and Tarek always posted a short video on social media (“so that you already know the lyrics”).
The rap trio (“Hurrah the world is coming to an end”, “Rap about hate”) stands for breaking taboos, provocation, ironic lines, lots of social criticism and political engagement. On their new album “Görlitzer Park” they strike a more serious and less ironic tone in 15 songs in addition to the KIZ-typical stylistic devices. A fan sums it up in an Instagram comment: “How many socially critical topics do you want to address in your album? KIZ: YES”.
Song as a symbol of failed social policy
It’s about (youth) violence, racism, peace and failed social policy. The latter becomes clear in the lead song of the album, which KIZ released in September. The notorious Görlitzer Park in Berlin-Kreuzberg is one of the capital’s crime hotspots because of drug trafficking. There is currently discussion about putting up a fence around the green area and closing the park at night.
In their single, the rappers condense the contrasts between drug hotspot and children’s playground into a Kreuzberg attitude to life, but also state: “Even people from the other side of town say: ‘Oh, wow, it’s just a park.'” In the song “Sensibel” Tarek also uses harsh lines to criticize racism and the way discrimination is dealt with in Germany: “Was the knife attacker called Mohammed or Peter? The victims don’t matter, you want the perpetrators’ first names.”
“Album to the album” announced for Friday
While their last album “Rap über Hass” (2021) with disturbing and brutal lyrics was more reminiscent of the group’s beginnings, “Görlitzer Park” now seems darker and more sobering – sometimes with melancholic and sometimes with danceable electronic beats.
Even though many fans may have already heard the album through the aforementioned countdown before the release, KIZ has also announced an “album for the album” entitled “KIZ and the attack on the U8” for the same day. The band had already released such an accompanying album for its predecessor “Rap über Hass”. The band’s only festival concerts this year will be as headliners at Hurricane and Southside. The festivals will take place from June 21 to 23.