Integration through music

Interview with Rapper Sookee

When and why did you decide to rap? My first contact with hip-hop was graffiti on my sister’s bag. A classmate had drawn a piece on her pencil case and it fascinated me so much that I started doing graffiti, too. This was also when I got my name: “Sukie” is a character in the movie “The Witches of Eastwick.” I liked it because of its variability – which is important when doing graffiti – and eventually changed the spelling to “Sookee.” Over time I found that the visuality of graffiti was insufficient for me and that I wanted to convey messages more directly. I always loved to write, and hip-hop gave me the opportunity to merge lyrics and beats creatively

Where does integration work? I meet people with a migratory biography through the projects I work on and also quite often through hip- hop, but mostly I experience integration as an observer. I play a part in different youth-projects where I work as an educational freelancer or youth culture mentor. We deal with political issues and offer creative workshops for teenagers. I am often confronted with topics like sexism, racism and homophobia – and even though integration is not formally on the agenda, it is present through these topics all the time.

How can hip-hop help young people find an identity beyond their nationality ? I imagine it is really difficult to merge two cultural spheres, and I think it is a great challenge to solve this question of identity. The big advantage of hip-hop is that it can function as a protective zone in which people are not put under pressure to classify themselves culturally. Without pushing the problems away, it creates moments in which only the collective cultural interest counts and topics afflicted with integration issues become secondary.

Hoe does hip-hop work? Hip-hop works linguistically – it can overcome categories like gender, culture and nationality. The four elements of hip-hop – graffiti, rap, djing and breakdance– are international. If people stand together and dee-jay or rap, for example, it does not matter where they come from.

Interview with Sookee Nowadays hi-hop is known for ist violent lyrics, especially Berlin rap. Can hip-hop be counterproductive to integration?

Sookee on hip-hop I do not think that hip-hop defines itself through discrimination. When people are creative and write lyrics, that’s worthwhile – even when the lyrics are based on things that are frowned on. If someone, for example, writes lyrics that glorify violence, of course it would not be right – but if his or her lyrics make me react and discuss the issues with him or her then it is something we can both benefit from. It is always a fine line but if you deal with the problem proactively you can change a lot for the better.

Can you draw any parallels to integrating into a new culture? I think it is difficult to draw parallels between different categories – like music and migrant integration – but in general, the only means against discrimination is to talk stereotypes that promote discrimination out of existence – be they sexist or racist. I avoid, for example pleading on my femininity in my lyrics and songs because if I did, I would be supporting these harmful stereotypes myself. That does not mean that we should ignore existing stereotypes, but we have to overcome them to form new symbioses.

Sookee on integration Integration is an active process, but very often Germans demand that others integrate without offering the necessary tolerance. In Germany there is this huge debate about “defining culture” or Leitkultur. It is a most hierarchic thought – one culture is dominant, the others have to adapt. The same is true of the phrase “parallel society” that is used so frequently nowadays. I am not very good at math, but good enough to know that parallel means not having any points of contact, and this is definitely not true.

Sookee on integration Integration actually starts in everyday life and everybody is able to contribute. I, for one, lived in a lot of neighborhoods with people from Turkey, so I started to learn Turkish. So, I think it is important that both sides contribute. Up to today the whole integration debate is very one-sided in Germany. It is a question of possibilities, a question of willingness and a big task for future politics.