Shogoon

On his debut album, ‘Märchen’ (2023), Fabian Boenig demonstrates a level of essential rap skills and musical free-spiritedness that is bound to unsettle some listeners. The rhyming artist from Minden has been preparing for this release for a long time. It was preceded by countless EPs and mixtapes as well as by collabs and instrumentals organised by Rappers.in. The DIY artist also painstakingly learnt the tricks of modern music production – even mixing and mastering – and put all his eggs in one basket, which he christened ‘Shogoon’. The ‘Skoolyard’ EP (2016) and the ‘Akt’ trilogy (2019) – on which he celebrates influences ranging from West Coast to G-Funk as well as the reflective beat poetry of Curse and the modestly relaxed swagger of MoTrip – were initially released under this name. The fact that ‘Märchen’ sounds so grown-up and fully skilled is less surprising given the path the artist has taken. But the ‘Hunger’ EP (2024) also makes it clear that Shogoon is far from full: Indeed, he continues to help himself to the buffet of German rap music with supreme ease, showing his teeth, dishing out, and digging in. A lyricist without pretentiousness but with indisputable timelessness.