Every man who makes hip hop and rap wants to become rich and famous. To own a big house with an even bigger garden, a fancy car, and many well-built, sexy-dressed, submissive women. Also, a lot of gold jewelry and a wicked aura. So, not really evil, just somewhat normal evil. Not really involving fights and killing, but more like tattoos, mean looks, and a striking presence. Really everyone?
That monetary wealth is not everything, but rather a sign of selfishness and a craving for recognition, is rarely seen in this genre. All the more beautiful, yes refreshing, it is to listen to DISARSTAR from Hamburg, St. Pauli.
On March 12, 2021, the new album titled “German October” will be released. One might wonder why not “German Autumn.” Was that too much for the big major label Warner Music that DISARSTAR is signed to? Or did the Hamburger want to leave this intentionally open? Here we are already deep in politics.
DISARSTAR expresses himself clearly politically, radically, as the following lines prove:
...the world is not a little shitty. I am not a little radical.
And some FDP members in their summer houses with their “You are the architect of your own happiness” can fuck off, because they have never been in my street.
They have never seen anything of this life here and sit in some talk shows and parliaments and babble about justice.
What do you know about our lives?
However, he is someone you shouldn't primarily categorize completely into the political corner. Categorizing at all is a tricky thing with the man from the Hanseatic city on the Elbe. He is not primarily political. It is rather the circumstances that have made him political. He knows these circumstances. St. Pauli is his area. Right there, so much comes together, as hardly anywhere else in this country. Prostitution, social misery, money, punks, junkies, and tourists. Living there and being gawked at. Dark corners, poverty, bright corners, beautiful neon lights, and (too) much facade. The band SLIME, also from Hamburg, has penned a nice line about this:
Just keep the Kiez dirty,
so the tourists think,
everything is still the same.
The world is sick.
One eats a steak,
the other nothing.
They step on us,
with their tricks.
These are the words of DISARSTAR.
They sit in the talk show and talk about problems,
but they have never seen the misery in this area.
He is not concerned with the boring, repetitive standard texts sung by many. DISARSTAR is about more.
On the album, the Hamburger shows with very pleasant, often quieter yet more intense lyrics, how the world stands. He focuses on the area, the city he knows. This makes him, his lyrics, and his entire music very authentic. Dangerously honest. He does not put on a show, because reality is not a show. Reality is real and shocking.
Do we really have to look at the villas of the rich and super-rich in one of the richest countries in the world as part of a tourist tour? Gawking at wealth.
Just as miserable as gawking at poverty. Then going to the hotel and being glad that you are doing well. Voyeurism as a travel destination. Those who do this deserve contempt.
In addition to the socially critical, social, and political lyrics, there are also some songs that deal with solidarity and breaking out of one’s own life. These tracks also have a very personal touch.
The twelve songs on “German October” hit close to home. The songs are painfully real.
You believe DISARSTAR in what he sings in his pieces. The lyrics are too real. The images he paints with his lines are too genuine to be fake.
It’s almost as if he describes his life, his surroundings (our surroundings) with all the strength available to him, because he truly knows them.
The song “Neighborhood” tells this much better than I can.
DISARSTAR is someone who has released a convincing album with delicate technique, excellent lyrics, and catchy melodies.
Each of the twelve pieces is a powerful hit.
