Farid Bang

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Farid Bang
Bang in 2012
Background information
Birth name	Farid Hamed El Abdellaoui
Born	(1986-06-04) 4 June 1986 (age 35)
Origin	Melilla, Spain
Genres	German hip hop
Occupation(s)	Rapper
Labels	Banger Musik
Associated acts	Kollegah, Eko Fresh

Farid Hamed El Abdellaoui^[1] (Arabic: فريد العبدلاوي‎, born 4 June 1986),^[2] known professionally as Farid Bang, is a German rapper of Moroccan-Spanish descent. He is currently the owner of the label Banger Musik.

Early life[]

Farid Bang was born in Melilla, Spain, and grew up in Málaga. At the age of eight, he moved to Düsseldorf, Germany with his mother and sister. His mother grew up in Germany and is of Moroccan descent, while his father is from Melilla, Spain. Bang has mentioned in songs that he is of Berber origin, while other times he has identified as Arab. Inspired by his friend Tekken, Bang started rapping at the age of 19 and, with the help of his friend Summer Cem, soon met Eko Fresh, who had already achieved a certain level of fame in Germany. He signed with Fresh's label German Dream and was featured in three songs in his 2005 mixtape Fick immer noch deine Story ("Fuck your story still"), which was Eko's diss against his former mentor and friend, German-based rapper Kool Savas. At this time, Bang was still using the pseudonym Farid Urlaub (parodying German singer Farin Urlaub).

Career[]

2009–2010: Jung, brutal, gutaussehend and Asphalt Massaka 2[]

In March 2009, Bang was featured in the song "Westdeutschlands Kings" ("West Germany's kings"), released on Chronik 2, a collaboration album by the Düsseldorf-based hip hop label Selfmade Records. The song also features Kollegah and Favorite, and was released online for free before the album's release.^[3]

In July 2009, he collaborated with Kollegah and Selfmade Records to release Jung, brutal, gutaussehend ("young, brutal, handsome"). The album reached #30 in the german charts. Its only single, "Mitternacht" ("midnight"), features a music video shot in Belgrade, Serbia. Two tracks of the album, "Wir ficken die Szene" ("we fuck the game") and "Ghettosuperstars" were released prior to the album's release on 19 May 2009 and in June 2009, respectively.^[4] In addition, a snippet of the album was released.^[5]

On 12 March 2010, Bang released his second studio album entitled Asphalt Massaka 2, which ranked #56 in the German album charts. The song "Wer will Beef" ("who wants beef") as well as an album snippet were released for free on 5 February 2010 on Bang's official homepage. The first single, "Teufelskreis" ("vicious circle"), released on 11 February 2010, includes a download code for the track "König der Nacht" ("king of the night"). Videos of both tracks were released on 11 January 2010 and 9 February 2010, respectively. "Teufelskreis" was not able to enter the charts. The music video for "Es ist soweit" ("it's time") was released on 25 February 2010. It features appearances of Bang's mentor Eko Fresh and German footballer Kevin Kurányi. On 10 March, the video for the song "Gangsta Musik" was released, featuring Bass Sultan Hengzt. The release party took place on 12 March 2010 in the club Noir in Düsseldorf, where the guest artists from the album were present.^[6]

2011–2012: Banger leben kürzer and Der letzte Tag deines Lebens[]

On 18 February 2011, Bang released his third studio album, Banger leben kürzer, which peaked at number 11 in the German albums chart, number 25 in Switzerland and number 32 in Austria.^[7] These ratings were the highest Bang and his label German Dream had ever achieved. Before the album's release, he had released a ten-part videoblog on YouTube, which promoted his upcoming album. As of December 2014, the album has sold over 10,000 copies.^[8]

2013–present: Killa, Asphalt Massaka 3 and Blut[]

In 2013, Bang released the lead single from Killa titled "Bitte Spitte Toi Lab". It was his first and as of 2016 his only solo single to reach the German and Austrian Top 40. The album, released on 14 February 2014, reached number 1 in Germany and Austria. His following album, Asphalt Massaka 3, was released on 27 March 2015 and debuted at number 1 in Germany and Switzerland, as well as number 3 in Austria. His seventh akimbo album, Blut, was released on 27 May 2016.

In 2018, Kollegah and Farid Bang were criticized for alleged antisemitic lyrics on their album Jung, brutal, gutaussehend 3, which won the Echo Award for the highest-selling album of 2017.^[9]

Anti-Semitism accusation[]

During the Echo Music Award ceremony in 2018, Campino sharply attacked him and Kollegah in his acceptance speech. The focus was primarily on the following line from Bang's song 0815 on the album 'Jung, brutal, gutaussehend': "And because of me they are armed at the gig / My body more defined than by Auschwitz inmates". The word "defined" is used here with its meaning in bodybuilding and means the ratio of muscle mass to body fat. The line of text thus compares the speaker's body, which is low in fat due to training, with the bodies of starved inmates of the extermination camp.

The Echo advisory board, however, referred to artistic freedom and decided against recommending the exclusion of the two rappers. Their record company also initially backed the two rappers, though it then announced shortly afterwards that it would stop working with them for some time. In protest at the award, Jewish pianist Igor Levit returned the Echo he had received in 2014, stating, "Giving anti-Semitic slogans such a platform and awards is intolerable." The ensuing controversy over the award led to the abolition of the Echo in April 2018. The Echo has been awarded for the first time in Germany.

Beyond Germany, the controversy had consequences for planned concerts by Bang. A first joint performance with Kollegah in Switzerland in early May 2018 was cancelled. The reason was said to be the anti-Semitic lyrics of the "scandalous rapper".

At the beginning of May 2018, the public prosecutor's office in Düsseldorf announced that it was investigating Bang and Kollegah for the criminal offence of incitement of the people. Previously, two criminal charges had been filed against the musician.

On 7 June 2018, Farid Bang visited the Auschwitz I concentration camp (Stammlager) together with Kollegah. The musicians laid flowers there in honour of those murdered in occupied Poland during the Nazi era.

The album Jung, Brutal, Gutaussehend 3 has been indexed by the Federal Review Board for Media Harmful to Young People since 28 September 2018.

Conflict with Alice Weidel[]

In the summer of 2018, a conflict arose with AfD politician Alice Weidel. In the course of the Echo discussion, Alice Weidel criticised Farid Bang for his lyrics via Twitter. She said Farid was "nothing more than an asocial Moroccan", a reference to his song "Asocial Moroccan". The AfD politician also threatened Farid with deportation and the revocation of his German citizenship. In response, the latter called Weidel a "Nazi bitch" in a song whose nose bone he was breaking, whereupon Weidel sued the rapper. In the end, Farid had to sign a cease-and-desist declaration demanded by her. Nevertheless, Farid Bang later "dissed" the AfD in several songs.

Style criticism[]

Music critic Zoran Gojic of the Münchner Merkur finds it astonishing that Bang's business model of insulting fellow musicians and profiting from the ensuing conflicts works. Even against the background of gangsta rap, which is not to be taken entirely seriously, his lyrics are "dismayingly stupid". In addition, there is a "deplorable lack of understanding of language". Apart from endless variations of misogynist fantasies or open contempt for humanity, there is no "originality or even wit", but this claim is disputed, as his works are open to various interpretations.

Accusations of misogyny[]

Farid Bang has been accused by various media of misogynistic statements in his rap lyrics on several occasions, as well as, in one case, of mocking victims of domestic violence.

Farid says about his songs that he does not make misogynistic music and that the harsh lyrics are merely a form of entertainment and humour. He also says he grew up in a household of only women (with his mother, sister, aunt and grandmother), has very great respect for women and condemns violence against them.

Discography[]

Studio albums

• Asphalt Massaka (2008)
• Asphalt Massaka 2 (2010)
• Banger leben kürzer (2011)
• Der letzte Tag deines Lebens (2012)
• Killa (2014)
• Asphalt Massaka 3 (2015)
• Blut (2016)
• Jung, brutal, gutaussehend 3 (2017) feat. Kollegah
• Genkidama (2020)
• Asozialer Marokkaner (2021)

References[]

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