Album “No Fear” by Danger Dan: Even more Weimar Republic

The fact that a song with an anti-fascist message can trigger a media debate in Germany lasting several days sounds a bit like the Weimar Republic. But that's exactly how it was: a few weeks ago, the song "Keine Angst" by Danger Dan was actually supposed to have its stage premiere during an episode of the television show "Die Anstalt". After an allegedly authoritarian intervention by the ZDF director, the Streisand effect occurred: the attempt to remove the song from the program only made it more famous.

The artist recently said in an interview that he found “around eleven opinion articles” that “sometimes contradicted each other” about the song in the taz alone. This is not entirely inexplicable: the piece, which, among other things, contains some tips for solid resistance against right-wing radicals, touches on self-defense issues that are sensitive not only for leftists.

Danger Dan had once again hit a nerve: his solo album debut from 2021, “That's all covered by artistic freedom” - the first work apart from his rap trio Antilopen Gang - also addressed fascism and anti-fascism, it became a chart hit and was also celebrated in the features section.

Danger Dan: “Don’t be afraid.” (Sardine Oil Industry/Warner Music)

Tour start on October 23, 2026 in Wiesbaden/Schlachthof

Last week, Danger Dan's second album, "Keine Angst", was released - and at first glance it seems as if it would continue the success: "Most of my friends" is a bittersweet start with staccato chords and lyrics that open up the tension between the private and the political. You can find out here that the artist walked the Way of St. James and didn't find himself along the way; just like “Don’t Know What Love Really Is” is about love for one’s country. So far, so 2021.

The following song, “If Nazis were treated like women,” creates a tragic-comic idea of ​​a world in which right-wing extremists would be ridiculed, despised and harassed in the way that is part of everyday life for many women. In this way, many of the songs on the album pursue an idea for its own sake, sometimes luring you into poetic traps when listening to them, which are then resolved humorously - and are therefore in the good German songwriting tradition ("In the Red Rose", "The Insurance Agent Live High").

However, the slightly wobbly mood is interrupted again and again: “That it is so beautiful here” describes the artist's progressive eye disease and how he deals with the prognosis that he might one day go blind. Another introspective even became a headline: “Rapper Danger Dan talks about his coming out,” reported dpa, referring to the song “Why it didn’t work out.” Only those who have neither listened nor watched the man before can be shocked by this. In “Tesafilm” (2021), Danger Dan sings about kissing boys – and in the video clip from “Verliebt” (2015) by the Antilopen Gang, he smooches with Monchi.

Almost ten years ago, this was a shock at most for very conservative minds. But much more happens in "Why it didn't work out": Danger Dan describes a relationship with a man that he only understands in retrospect as romantic - and in this realization he simultaneously reflects on his image of men and the latent homophobia of his former self: "Where I come from, 'homo' was an insult [...] With rappers that was our scene code at the time, but I was never actually particularly straight."

Danger Dan succeeds in such autobiographical-political pieces without moralism or seriousness, but musically “Keine Angst” remains more of a poetry album set to music than a pop album. The artist creates funny, amiable and politically combative moments, especially lyrically. His musical dilettantism, which he himself likes to emphasize, doesn't detract from this: the fact that the piano and string arrangements often remain simple and his vocal range has limits makes for a relief, especially in the thematically difficult songs.

The contemporary historical framework of “Keine Angst” does not invite you to breathe a sigh of relief, as the seven-minute title song reminds you once again shortly before the end - and thus creates probably the greatest contrast to its predecessor. At this point, at the latest, the realization dawns: neither “No Fear” nor the excitement it creates is a thing of the past. Only a world in which such music can provoke is left of yesterday.