Swiss hip hop
Encyclopedia
Crews
The most known, active dancers and crews were:- Fantastic Rockers from ZurichZürichZurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
: Power, Fast5, Prince Crime, Chase, Sky - Battle Rockers (formerly known as "Back Street Crew") from Zurich: Charly, Duster, Csizee, Spinkie, Steve
- City Rockers (’83–’84) from Bern: Zed & Ice (later joined Jazzy Rockers), Silvano, Mike, J.K., Scholl, Tweety
- Jam Power (ca. ’82–’83) from GenevaGenevaGeneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
: Pascal, Punchy, Fred, Jose, Emilio (aka Joe B & DJ Mil of rap crew "Duty Free") - Supreme Rockers from LausanneLausanneLausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
: Speedy & Carlos (rap group "Sens Unik"), Oswaldo, Nino, JP - Jazzy Rockers from Biel/BienneBiel/BienneBiel/Bienne is a city in the district of the Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.It is located on the language boundary and is throughout bilingual. Biel is the German name for the town, Bienne its French counterpart. The town is often referred to in both...
: Seyo, Eduzy, Kid Rock, Rubber Band, Dee, Chico Rock, Zed, (around ’86 Carlos aka Risk Leader of the African Posse, Shy One, Lee joined)
(Of course there were also others who played a significant role along with those above.)
These crews were the Swiss hip hop founders and brought the hip hop culture fundamentals (Peace, love & unity state of mind, graffiti, breakdance, DJing, MCs) and clothing styles straight from the roots and basic founders in New York City (Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa & The Zulu Nation, Fab 5 Freddy, Grandmaster Flash, The Rock Steady Crew, The New York City Breakers and many other U.S. hip hop masters…). They led the hip hop culture in Switzerland until the end of the 1980s and even after.
Although some of them returned to anonymity since then or died young, the most of these "old schoolers" are still around, watching what's going on. Some of them are still taking part of actual hip hop events and others are even still active (like Seyo in Painting Art, others are dealing with music industry in different music styles) and living this culture yet mostly in their heart with a nostalgic state of mind.
Rap
Early Swiss German rappers started rapping in English, but after the bilingual track "Murder by Dialect" by P-27 featuring Black TigerBlack Tiger (rapper)
Black Tiger, born Urs Baur, is the first rapper to rap in a Swiss German dialect, namely Basel German. Those now legendary rhymes appeared on the track "Murder by Dialect" , by P-27 featuring Black Tiger. According to author Pascale Hofmeier, this decision to rap in a local dialect, or "Mundart",...
, rappers switched to their native Swiss German dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
s. Rappers from the French-speaking part (where the traditional dialects died out in most parts) and from the Italian-speaking part (where most people mix dialects and Standard Italian freely) rap in the standard languages.
The issue of language choice has become a major influence in the Swiss hip hop scene: As author Pascale Hofmeier notes, the creation of "Mundartrap" (dialect rap) has enabled Switzerland to develop a unique scene that, due to the lingual choice, is immediately identifiable as a distinctly Swiss product. The importance of language in Swiss hip hop can also create tension, however: Although the members of the Italian speaking group Stoffunita live in Switzerland and consider it their home, their choice of language combined with their lack of Swiss citizenship earmark them as "Secondo
Secondo
Secondo is a term of Italian origin used in the German speaking areas of Switzerland to denote the first-generation offspring of immigrants....
", a term used to indicate people of foreign descent born in Switzerland. Given Switzerland's particularly strong opinions on who is "Swiss" and who is "other", it is easy to see that groups such as Stoffunita make use of the fact that hip hop "is still considered a voice for the oppressed" as hip hop scholar and author Jeff Chang
Jeff Chang (journalist)
Jeff Chang is an American journalist and music critic on hip hop music and culture. His 2005 book, Can't Stop Won't Stop, which chronicles the early hip hop scene, won an American Book Award in 2005...
notes.
The European Music Office's report on Music in Europe claimed that Switzerland's hip hop scene is "particularly innovative and advanced", featuring Unik Records (the first European indie rap label).
See also
- List of Swiss hip hop musicians
Yung John SODMG who is in the process of signing with rapper Souljaboy