Street rappers make their way into Swiss cities and agglomerations – whether in Zurich, Basel, Biel or western Switzerland. Omnipresent in her videos: fat cars, guns, thugs and a group of masked men in the background. The musicians rap mainly about and for their neighborhood or their city. “This is Biel-Bienne”, Birroo raps on “Herzlich Willkommen” (35,000 clicks). “Chum, I’ll show you mini gays between junkies and Strassäkids”, raps Sicario from District 4 on the song “Hochhuuskomplex” (52,000 clicks).
The duo Rapide and Alawi from Adliswil ZH are currently very successful with street traps that glorify violence. On the song “Champs-Élysées” (430,000 clicks) Alawi raps: “I was attacked with Kalaschs din bunker.” Drugs are often an issue too. “Vili thinks it’s guät uf Nasä”, says Rapide on the song “Blocksound” (380,000 hits).
The Zurich rapper “Uncle Ari” also pretends to be a criminal. On the song “Down” (107,000 hits) he describes himself as “Smooth Criminal”. The Basel rapper “S-Hot” mobilized the largest crowd for the song “Szene isch Basel” (128,000 clicks). Around a hundred black-clad and partly hooded boys scream the chorus.
“The more street crime there is, the more there is rap about it”
These artists inspire the mostly young listeners, and large fan communities are formed locally. “There’s a lot of local patriotism here,” says Swiss rap expert Pablo Vögtli from SRF Virus. «Gangster and street traps have always existed, including with us. But since 2015 I have noticed that an active street rap scene is forming in Switzerland. ” Since that time, juvenile delinquency has also risen in Switzerland.
This does not surprise Vögtli: “The more street crime there is, the more rap it is about.” He does not believe that it is the other way around, that the bad role models on the microphone encourage criminal behavior. «I rate this influence as minor. Ten-year-olds who watch action films don’t take to the streets and play Rambo, ”says Vögtli. Even if rap is closer to life than a Hollywood film. Because authenticity is considered a highly respected good in hip-hop circles. “But I don’t have the feeling that young people become criminals because of gangster rap. If so, then there are individual cases. “