Hip-hop with a regional focus has been on RapK’s (Rapkreation) agenda from the very beginning. Instead of media hype or quick cash, lyricists Victor and Tariq – in collaboration with producer Gusy – want to celebrate rap music that combines recognisability with the three big E’s: Energy, Experience, and Emotion. No gimmicks, no commercial schemes, no cheap pomp. Instead, with tracks such as ‘ARAL’ and ‘Petit Frère’, RapK cast a wide net into the scene and pull the lyrical aesthetics of the banlieues of Marseille ashore, letting UK bass and cloud rap wriggle in it, marinating purified trap beats with bitter contemporary realities of the 2020s in which the narratives of the past simply no longer work. The zeitgeist is blowing from a different direction these days. A disillusioned generation is now at the helm for whom the lust for life means more than chasing short-lived hypes like invisible gusts of wind. Albums of the calibre of ‘Odyssee’ (2022) and ‘Champions’ (2023) provide the impetus that makes RapK the singular crew in the current events of the German-language hip-hop vessel. A live legend – already.