The two women want to remain anonymous, as do those affected who have contacted them. It is said that several hundred women reported to them about harassment, sexual assault and rape in the context of German rap. That was in the summer of 2021 after the activists launched an appeal on Instagram. In the end, they had a list of more than 70 accused artists, but they didn’t make it public. “The names of the perpetrators,” says one of the two women in the video call Suddeutscher Zeitung and NDR, “we would like to stick everywhere.” This is not possible for legal reasons, even though they check the reports of those affected, have detailed discussions with them and also show evidence such as screenshots of messages or photos of injuries.
In the end, they say, it wasn’t about the individual suspected perpetrators. It’s not about a pillory. It’s about revealing the sexist structures in German rap.
They succeeded. Two years ago, the drastic descriptions of “#Deutschrapmetoo” were discussed intensively – but even more so on social media. The initial spark at the time was rape allegations against a rapper, who denied them and obtained an injunction. His label at the time, Universal Music, decided to “let the collaboration with the artist in question rest until the allegations have been clarified”.
Then the industry went back to day-to-day business relatively soon.
In the midst of the rape allegations, Universal released another rapper’s song “Komm Mit”. A line of text in it: “Your ex-girlfriend is upset / I almost fuck her to death, she is in a coma”. After another shit storm, Universal apologized “sincerely” for the publication, distancing itself “from this content”. The track “should not have been released today or at any other time. (…) Our discourse on unacceptable content has failed here.” Only about three months later “Block” by rapper Olexesh was released with the following content: “I’m dirty and brutal / I’ve already rehearsed the sex well / I’m not a block / but persuade her with two alcopops”. Nobody distanced themselves from him anymore.
“The threat became very acute very quickly,” say the activists today
But at least the allegations and reports remained: about the well-known German rapper, who took a fan to the hotel after the book signing and raped him there. About the artist who gave a minor an autograph on her breasts against her will. About the successful rapper who threatened a woman in his apartment with a knife and then abused her. The activists published numerous such cases on Instagram about two years ago. Those affected and the alleged perpetrators remained anonymous. In some cases, the two women say, several people have reported allegations about the same artists. The activists then had contact with all those affected before they published the allegations anonymously on their Instagram channel.
The two women themselves experienced sexualized violence in the context of German rap, they say. “If those affected just sit alone in their apartments and talk to their friends, then nothing can happen. That has to go public,” say the two activists. It is extremely important for those affected to recognize that these attacks are not their fault, but that it is due to structures that would encourage sexualised violence.
In doing so, they also attracted the hatred of many fans and rappers, they report, who saw it as a pillory, even if none of them were named. Already in the first days after publication, they were wished that they would be raped. Instagram users created their own accounts to reveal the identity and addresses of the activists. “The threat became very acute very quickly,” the two say today. There were also rappers who put their fans on the activists. “It was like a little army of toxic masculinity.”
The publications of Suddeutscher Zeitung and NDR as well as other media about the band Rammstein and their front singer Till Lindemann have now motivated the activists to expand their project. Since last week, as “Musicmetoogermany”, they have been collecting experience reports not only for German rap, but for the entire German music scene.
In conversations with NDR and SZ, more than a dozen women reported how they had been specifically approached by several people from Lindemann’s environment, often via Instagram or at the concerts themselves, in order to come to after-show parties specially organized for Lindemann and there to have sex with him. This is what happened in different cities across Europe, always with a very similar process.
Two women also reported to SZ and NDR about alleged sexual acts that they would not have consented to. To date, Rammstein has not responded to specific questions about the allegations. Through a law firm, Lindemann had the allegations raised “by various women” in particular in social networks that they had been drugged with knockout drops or alcohol at Rammstein concerts to enable the singer to perform sexual acts on them to be able to be rejected as “invariably untrue”. Legal action will be taken immediately against individuals. The public prosecutor’s office in Berlin is now investigating Lindemann.
“We saw it as our duty to intervene,” say the two founders, because the Lindemann case is not an isolated case. As before, they want to publish the allegations anonymously on a new website and their Instagram channel after an examination. Behind it is now a network of the music industry, consisting of activists, artists and interest groups, including the agency “Safe the Dance”, the “Music S women*” and “Music TH women*”. In the future, there will also be educational offers and information on discrimination and corresponding contact points. The activists also want to make other experiences with, for example, racist discrimination or transphobia visible.
The creators of “Musicmetoogermany” report that they have repeatedly been told about problematic situations at after-parties, including with many German rap artists. For example, before entering the backstage area, young women had to sign contracts that sworn them to secrecy.
Violence, especially against women, still works as a marketing tool
“When you’re 16 years old and come into a backstage area, it makes sense for you at first. You think: Yes, of course, that’s a megastar and he needs his privacy,” says one of the “Musicmetoo” activists. The power gap between artists and their fans is enormous: “The person first gets a leap of faith per se because you, as a fan, have been dealing with the person for a long time.” Those who are invited backstage often feel chosen. This hierarchy between fan and artist can be exploited unilaterally. “This is by no means a situation that entails any kind of equality.”
Art also has a certain influence, say the activists. “Certain texts and attitudes create an atmosphere.” In fact, in some genres, violence, especially against women, is still interpreted as evidence of a kind of authenticity. The pimp, the gangsta, the dealer – these are roles that still promise success in rap in 2023. Violence, including rape and abuse, even in real life, works as a marketing tool.
However, the activists emphasize that this does not mean that artists who sing about violence and misogyny are more dangerous than others. They know from the letters from those allegedly affected by sexualized violence in German rap that even artists with a softer, more positive image could apparently have already become perpetrators.
You therefore see the entire team as responsible for live events. At festivals and concerts, many people work for the artists, from management to stage builders. That’s a lot of people who could see potential border crossings. “Protection of offenders is a huge issue,” say the founders of “Musicmetoogermany”https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/.”What can definitely be said is that these attacks can only happen because very, very many people look the other way consciously look the other way, again and again.”
They also know from their own experiences how important it is to listen to those affected. “There must now be people who say: It’s not an isolated case, it hasn’t been an isolated case 1,000 times.” They had toyed with the idea of expanding their activism to other genres of music for some time. Due to the reporting and the media attention of the past few weeks, the time has now come for her.