27 January 2011
In a SPIEGEL interview, German rapper Massiv – Berlin’s answer to 50 Cent – talks about his new album and the controversial views on immigration by bestselling author Thilo Sarrazin that have angered many in Germany and made an international splash as well. “He has managed to build a wall,” the rapper says.
Berlin rapper Massiv, formerly known as Pit Bull, was born Wasiem Taha to Palestinian immigrant parents in the German town of Pirmasens in the Rhineland region near the French border. Fifteen years ago, the now 28-year-old moved with his family to Berlin to launch his career. Massiv’s “Blut gegen Blut” (Blood for Blood) album, released in 2006, firmly established him as a powerful force on the German rap scene.
On his latest album, he also takes on Thilo Sarrazin, the author of the controversial German bestseller, “Germany Does Itself In.” Sarrazin claims, among other things, that immigrant communities have had a negative effect on the German economy and that their presence threatens the future fabric of German society as a whole. The book has inflamed debate about immigration, and been condemned as counterproductive to building any kind of harmony and integration.
