Courtesy Beats.
As February 14th draws closer, the topic of love is at the heart of our thoughts and the most recent episode of HYPED Sessions with Beats is no different. Hosted by Aria Nejati, the Head of Hip-Hop for Apple Music brings together a selection of German Hip-Hop’s most exciting figures to chair a discussion that hones in on the genre’s relationship with love.
Kool Savas, Layla Boe and Patrick Albert Mason talk about the topic of love exploring the nuanced forms it adopts. They examine the social mechanisms associated with dating post-lockdown, question the degree of emotional openness in the German Hip-Hop scene, and discuss the influence role models have in perpetuating gender stereotypes. We’ve selected quotes from each of the episode’s guests to give you a taster of the wide-ranging discussion which can be found below.
Aria Nejati
Image courtesy arianejati [Instagram]. Photo: Memo Filiz.
Head of Hip-Hop at Apple Music Germany, Aria Nejati explains that the problems that hip-hop is yet to tackle, are ones that society at large is still yet to. “In hip hop culture we always like to say that we are simply a mirror of society. Everything that’s taking place inside the bubble is also happening in reality. We are not an island that does things or glorifies things that doesn’t exist in the real world. In the same way, one of the biggest problems in society is homophobia and it’s also a problem that is widespread in scope. In our scene, homosexuality has historically been seen as a weakness. Some rappers have used it as a target”.
Layla Boe
Image courtesy laylaboe [Instagram].
Berlin-based singer and rapper, Layla Boe hones in on the two-fold benefit of being more emotionally expressive about love. “Showing vulnerability and showing your feelings or generally showing yourself to the world is strength in my eyes. Not a weakness. I find a man attractive who can honestly talk about his emotions […] and I want to bring that into my lyrics. So that young women, when they listen to my music, understand that Sex should be good for them and beautiful. And that they should have fun with it and enjoy it.”
Patrick Albert Mason
Image courtesy iampatrickmason [Instagram]. Photo: Tarek Mawad.
Kool Savas
Image courtesy koolsavas [Instagram]. Photo: ONDRO
German rapper, Kool Savas divulges about the emotional barrier he encountered creating tracks that expressed details and emotions relating to love. “Love, I thought, did not necessarily have to be in my music. Not because I censored myself. But because somehow, I never really felt the need to have this big emotional revelation”.
Catch the full episode of HYPED Sessions with Beats by Dre below. Aria Nejati also hosts HYPED Radio with new episodes releasing every Wednesday via Apple Music.