Rapper Wa22ermann: disillusionment, anger and flow

So far, Berlin is constantly reinventing itself. Rising rents, growing homelessness, a lack of funding for education and culture: What holds a city together when the space for those who already have less of it is becoming smaller? What place do people with a migration background, people who are affected by poverty, have in this city?

Hardly any artist finds such an immediate sound for these questions as the Kreuzberg rapper Wa22ermann. Their music tells about the biographies of the people around them and their personal stories. The young artist is now releasing her debut album “Knax”.

Summan Tariq, born in Pakistan in 1999, came to Germany at the age of nine. Her family swapped the Pakistani villa for a one-room apartment in Kreuzberg. Her brother was treated in the Charité for a serious illness - an experience that she talks about at the start of the album on “Intro/Normal”.

Wa22ermann: “Knax” (Four Music/Sony); the tour starts on October 12th in Hamburg

While the sound of the first song like “Maybachufer” was made for booming party nights, the sound of their album now unlocks the apartment door after these excesses. Euphoria is gone, the lights turn on. What remains is disillusionment. On “Knax” Wa22ermann talks about therapy sessions, insomnia and trauma, about self-doubt, about pursuing an artistic career as a rapper.

She raps that she kept her artistic intentions private until shortly before her first tour. Their posters were already hanging on the subway billboards. The mental “Knax” feeds on these experiences; you can hear it in the music. Wa22ermann also achieves this with her firm voice, which makes it sound to those listening as if they were sitting right next to her during a therapy session.

However, the gloomy mood soon turns into anger, as we currently know from many Berliners. Anger is written into political statements. In the song “Stadtbild” together with Teuterekordz, Wa22ermann proved that she can address political debates directly. But her social criticism sounds more relevant if she has experienced or observed the stories herself.

In “Dreck” she raps about violent fathers and mothers who use drugs. Berlin's realities of life, Wa22ermann doesn't turn her surroundings into a romantic adventure playground. It shows a city full of contradictions: violence and cohesion, fear and pride, excessive demands and hope.

In "Mr. Krabs" it says: "My area smells of huge egos and ganja." Musically, the songs have become even more diverse compared to their EPs. Melodramatic Italian chanson samples appear in the song “Aussortiert” with Tom Hengst. Many beats come from producer Hägi, who has already worked with Nura, among others. His productions give “Knax” a driving flow.

Added to this are the features that keep opening up the album musically in different directions. “Distance 2” with Chilly Gonzales becomes a hyper-pop anthem, while “Chayas Love Trap” breaks genre clichés with Zarah Leander samples together with OG Lu. Anyone who listens to Wa22ermann can learn a lot. About the artist, but also about her hometown of Berlin, which in Wa22ermann becomes the setting for unconventional, usual stories.

Everyday life in Kreuzberg, migration, family fates, psychological stress and the question of how to maintain your place in this constantly changing city. “It could be that you don’t check because you’re not like us, losing your family because of music,” says Wa22ermann. Despite all the harshness, there is also humility and gratitude running through their sound. And the hope of success. In the outro, Wa22ermann meets an old friend who hugs her and says: “Luckily you’re still here.”

What actually makes Berlin special? Sounds like Wa22ermann, now and in the future.