Thoughts on German Hip-Hop Yo, Picasso! - Fatoni & Dexter
The following is based on a true story: Katja randomly selected this album for me to review.
Fatoni & Dexter - Yo, Picasso!
I am what you might call a casual fan of German hip-hop. While I often enjoy it, it's probably not the sub-genre with the most plays in my iTunes. As you might suspect, there is a pretty good amount of very aggro German rap. In a country of socialized medicine and negligible gun violence, German gangster rap usually amounts to a poor imitation of its American counterpart.
The best German hip-hop, in my opinion, is also made by some of the country's best satirists. As Germany is not exactly renowned for its humor, I really appreciate knowing there are some people out there who have a witty and/or sardonic view of things. And that's where these dudes come into play:
Not only are they apparently great bowlers, they also make funny rap music with fresh beats and slick production. Since translating is one of my interests, here are a couple of sample lyrics in original German and in my translations (and I didn't bother trying to rhyme them because that's like...effort, man).
From clever observations:
"Idealen sind wie Koks - ein bißchen bleibt immer am Geldschein kleben" --> "Ideals are like cocaine - a bit always gets stuck on dollar bills."
to unsolicited advice:
"Kids, wollt ihr mal richtig rebellieren? / Und was Verrücktes probier'n? Lasst euch nicht tätowier'n" --> "Kids, do you really want to rebel? / And try something crazy? Don't get a tattoo."
to somewhat absurdist statements:
"Das ist kein Tag, das ist ein Tag-ähnlicher Zustand." --> "This isn't a day; it's a day-like condition."
And it's all somehow even funnier in German, I swear.
TL;DR Das ist alles immer noch besser als Hodenkrebs!