Survival Songs in the Concrete Zoo Germany. “Zoo Deutschland by Raubtier Kollektiv”
2 min read
Hamburg, all Animal Kingdom German rapriese Rising star Raubtier Kollektiv reads the street into a metaphorical Zoo Deutschland. It is a nine track concept album, not a storytelling the idea is not an urban survival but an urban jungle, a zoo of predators and prey, struggling over space, and respect and life.
“Zoo Deutschland” combines brutally simple expressionism with metaphoric ur-images, and achieves a compelling unity of theme, in the examination of power, betrayal, loyalty, and institutional oppression. Heavy beats are layered with symbolic images on each track, scars are transformed into tiger stripes and enemies are represented as hyenas circling around. This intensity is replicated through the production which is percussive, pounding and desperate whilst Raubtier Kollektiv alternates between whispered menace and roaring authority through her vocal performance.
Krokodil Tranen: The pulse of the critique of the album. It criticizes hypocrisy of the rap culture and selling of suffering. Uncut and to the point, it puts a whole trend to acid-sharp questioning. “Adler Perspektive” A heart wrenching change of atmosphere. Hoversing over a banging racket, this song arises to deal with the solitude of ambition. It seizes the irony of succeeding to the top, and realizing it is always silent rather than being a celebration. “Zoo Wärter” The haunting denouement of Zoo Wärter restores the metaphor of the zoo to meanings of systemic domination. It obliges the listener to ask uneasy questions of who dictates the rules and who profits when the battle is performed.
Final Thoughts
Within just under 20 minutes, Zoo Deutschland manages to do what many records never manage to do: the creation of a coherent theme, at once guttural and thought-provoking. Raubtier Kollektiv is the rawest street poetry but the music is then enveloped in layered metaphor and forms a sound zoo representing the city truth of Germany. It is a debut that does not settle comfortably into itself but it digs in its heels in reality and it is because of this that one cannot help but resonate with it. Verdict: an extremely harsh, uncompromising debut that makes Raubtier Kollektiv one of the most intriguing new comings to the German hip-hop game.
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