{"id":8899,"date":"2026-04-30T11:40:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T11:40:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/8899\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T11:40:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T11:40:17","slug":"de-ug-meet-the-rappers-making-germany-cool-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/8899\/","title":{"rendered":"DE Ug: Meet the rappers making Germany cool again"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just over a year ago, UK Ug star YT<\/a> hopped on a track with Hamburg-raised rappers Yungpalo and C4rl, and announced: \u201cI got brothers out in Hamburg, baddies out in Berlin.\u201d The image might come as a surprise: Germany isn\u2019t the typical image that rappers invoke when stunting in their lyrics, and, indeed, YT\u2019s own auto-tuned verses had previously focussed on the more familiar settings of Dubai and Paris. But the track, titled \u201cBallin\u2019\u201d, marked a turning point. After years of feeling like they\u2019d lagged behind rap scenes in the US, UK, Paris and even Stockholm, a new generation of German artists have started infiltrating the underground forums and fan pages usually reserved for English-speaking artists. Their mission: to make Germany cool again.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s already paying off. \u201cLet me put u on sum german rap\u201d reads one recent post<\/a> on the \/r\/ug_music forum that usually centres on American talents like Osamason and Slayr \u2013 this time celebrating the apocalyptic trap sound of German rapper Lelosa. Elsewhere, just a few weeks ago, underground music platform Troave<\/a>\u00a0heralded the German underground as \u201cthe next scene to cross over internationally\u201d in a post spotlighting perhaps the DE Ug\u2019s biggest name at the moment, Zackavelli. The response to both posts can be summed up in one Reddit comment in particular: \u201cTs is so harrrrd wtf,\u201d expressing equal parts surprise and admiration.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not all Berghain and Bavarian beer and I\u2019m glad our music can show that,\u201d says 28-year-old rapper-producer C4rl, who released his debut album Okay today (April 30). \u201cFor the first time in a long time, we can actually add something to the global music underground; we don\u2019t need to hide behind the other European scenes anymore.\u201d It\u2019s a sentiment that is echoed by every German artist I speak to, a sense that their country has failed to produce a cohesive musical movement since the techno heyday of the late 20th century.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s natural, then, that this movement centres on Gen Z Germans \u2013 a generation that came of age admiring 2010s-era SoundCloud rap anthems from XXXTentacion and Drain Gang, and felt a sore lack of representation at home. \u201cI actually started making music because I wanted to create something that Germans could be proud of,\u201d says C4rl, who has been producing rap beats since before his teens. \u201cThere\u2019s so much music out there, and we\u2019ve heard and seen enough of it to come up with our own shit by now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

These same generational shifts have been transforming rap all over the world in recent years, from Billionhappy\u2019s Nu China rap scene <\/a>to Zaylevelten\u2019s<\/a> fusion of afrobeats and rage in Nigeria. The influence of the UK and US is writ large across the German underground right now: Playboi Carti-style distortion reverberates through Zackavelli and Yungpalo\u2019s trap cuts, and the UK Ug\u2019s jerk-rap percussion plods through Joje\u2019s \u201cwismarer\u201d or the aforementioned \u201cBallin\u201d by Yungpalo, C4rl and YT.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But this new crop of DE Ug artists are also rapidly developing their own selling points. Nostalgia for German pop-gone-by echoes through the eurodance-descended synths of recent C4rl single \u201cJump\u201d, while Yungpalo\u2019s collab with Hamburg producer Speckmann, \u201cHell of a Night\u201d, leans into the latter\u2019s background in indie-electronic music. Yungpalo is also particularly significant for fostering his own Bassmuzik collective, articulating a visual identity for the German scene with their eclectic taste in electronic beats, artwork and clothing.<\/p>\n

A maturation point for the German underground as a whole is set to arrive in July of this year with Bassmuzik\u2019s first ever festival<\/a>, booking both Bassmuzik staples and international acts like YT in the scene\u2019s unofficial hometown of Hamburg. It\u2019s a manifestation of the DE Ug\u2019s dual purposes, providing both a movement for young Germans to rally behind and a relatable cultural product they can share with the world. \u201cIt\u2019s for everybody,\u201d Yungpalo sums up. \u201cIf you\u2019re lit, it\u2019s for you.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

Below, we spotlight five corners of Germany\u2019s emerging underground rap scene, from Bassmuzik figurehead Yungpalo, to the scene\u2019s latest breakthrough talent, Ceren.<\/p>\n

Yungpalo has been pivotal in articulating the DE Ug\u2019s border-hopping identity. \u201cI wasn\u2019t really inspired by German rappers in the way I rap,\u201d he tells Dazed. \u201cAs a Black kid in a European country, I was more interested in US and French rappers because I could better identify myself with them. Of course, as a teenager, I was into German rap, but I knew from the beginning that if I made music, I had to do it differently.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Palo has a number of more traditional rap bangers under his belt \u2013 viral 2020 trap cut \u201cTOKYO DRIFT\u201d being a clear example \u2013 it is his willingness to experiment with more alternative rap and electronic production that has become a defining feature of the German underground today. It\u2019s an open-mindedness that prompted indie-electronic producer Speckmann to describe Yungpalo as one of his favourite artists today, and also gave rise to an impressive diversity on his 2025 album SEXTAPE, from thumping house track \u201cBayern\u201d to the electro synths of \u201cLean & Sprite\u201d, the timewarping UK jerk of \u201cBallin\u201d and beyond.<\/p>\n

Perhaps most importantly for Yungpalo, however, the scene he has helped to foster also remedies the lack of representation he felt as a child in Hamburg: \u201cFor the first time, Black artists are leading a wave in Germany.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Listen to C4rl\u2019s \u201cSagen Wie Ich\u201d and you\u2019ll hear a familiar sound: the softly-spoken \u201cOkay\u201d sample popularised by EsDeeKid producer Wraith9 last year. Rather than reflecting an imitation of UK Ug sonics, however, C4rl\u2019s use of the soundbyte tells an even deeper story, revealing a shared departure point for both him and Wraith9. \u201cI\u2019d been using the tag for years before I heard Wraith9,\u201d C4rl explains, who named his new album Okay. \u201cI can\u2019t even remember where I first heard it, either someone gave it to me or I sampled it from somewhere. I was shocked when I heard [Wraith9] use it, I guess it just means we have similar influences.\u201d<\/p>\n

For C4rl, these influences comprise the aforementioned SoundCloud rap golden age, as well as what he describes as \u201cold European indie electronic stuff\u201d. The resulting sound sits somewhere between underground rap, synth-laden dance eurodance, and mainstream pop catchiness. Perhaps the best entrypoint to C4rl\u2019s universe is lead Okay single \u201cVogue\u201d (the video for which also coincidentally being filmed in London), which strikes the exact blend of pop melancholy and anthemic rap chorus that has defined some of the UK Ug\u2019s most beloved hits.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of the biggest names in the scene in terms of streaming, Berliner Zackavelli\u2019s recent EP, Masi 2, released earlier this month, finds an unlikely harmony between US-style Ug rap distortion and wistful lo-fi melodies. Even through the exploded 808s of cuts like \u201calle augen auf masi\u201d and \u201cwunden\u201d an unmistakable sense of melancholy pierces through, speaking to the decidedly Gen Z rap collision of trap pioneers like Future and Carti, and the more emotional subject matter of late emo-rap stars Lil Peep, Juice Wrld and XXXTentacion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But, much like his contemporaries, Zackavelli also draws on the history of German music, sampling pop punk in the chorus to standout single \u201claufen wir zusammen\u201d, as well as drawing on experimental electronic production in 2025 releases \u201chdm\u201d and \u201csupermasi\u201d. It\u2019s the sort of genre-diverse, anachronistic listening habits that are defining Gen Z the world over, reimagined from a German perspective.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Representing the more abstract, electronic, and, overall, German corner of this underground scene is producer Speckman, who, like C4rl and Yungpalo, hails from Hamburg. Despite working with Yungpalo on the indie-electronic leaning \u201cHell of a Night\u201d, he claims that producing rap music \u201conly clicked\u201d for him quite recently.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no idea how to make a classic trap beat, but I enjoy the freedom of collaborating with rappers and I\u2019m grateful for anyone who\u2019s willing to come along for the ride,\u201d he tells Dazed. \u201cI come from IDM & house and, for my own artist project \u2018Speckman\u2019, I would describe my sound as indie-electronic pop music.\u201d It is exactly these eclectic influences that make Speckman, and the DE Ug scene as a whole, stand out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Also fresh off a project release this month is perhaps the German underground\u2019s fastest-rising star, Ceren. She was first catapulted to virality with her feature on veteran German rapper Pashanim\u2019s lofi, electro-tinged track \u201cShabab(e)s im VIP\u201d last year, which is now touching 100 million streams on Spotify, but it is her latest single, \u201cFashion Killa\u201d, that codifies her own sound.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ceren sports a sugary, reverb-drenched blend of upbeat melodic trap, Underscores-esque electronic pop, and, occasionally, melodies that offer a glimpse into her Turkish heritage. Her visuals, meanwhile, wallow in the sort of 2010s nostalgia that is rapidly becoming the global Gen Z\u2019s aesthetic of choice \u2013 think selfies taken on a Nintendo DS, 480p videos and early Instagram filters.<\/p>\n

Check out our full guide to German underground rap in the playlist above.<\/p>\n