Germanys biggest music awards marred by anti-Semitic rap song
News & Trends •
germanys biggest music awards have become mired in controversy over a rap song which refers to the concentration camp auschwitz1 rappers kollegah and farid bang remained in contention for the echo awards on thursday evening in two categories despite hefty criticism of their lyrics and accusations of anti-semitism1 the criticism focuses on a line in one of their songs that translates as my muscles are more defined than an auschwitz inmates in the german original mein koerper definierter als von auschwitzinsassen1 the international auschwitz committee has described the rappers participation in the awards as a slap in the face for concentration camp survivors and shameful for germany1 bang has apologized for hurting anyones feelings and stressed that he and kollegah distanced themselves from any and all form of anti-semitism and hate against minorities1 organizers of the prize ceremony see an absolute borderline case at play1 the controversy comes after a band called frei.wild was stricken from the list of echo prize nominees amid allegations that it stood close to germanys right-wing scene1 the 27th echo awards take place in berlin and are shown live on german tv with such stars as kylie minogue rita ora and helene fischer scheduled to perform this year1 the prizes cover 22 categories with nominations based on sales figures in germany1 a lifetime achievement award will be handed to graphic artist and musician klaus voormann. a friend of the beatles he designed among others the british pop groups famous album cover for revolver.dpanan1