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Criminal realism in the German-speaking market
Having praised crime in Albanian, Albanian artists are now praising it internationally, in foreign languages too.
In Germany and Switzerland, various young people of Albanian origin are enjoying success in the music market with the genre of criminal realism.
Mozzik (Gramoz Aliu) and Azet (Granit Musa) stand out most in this respect.
In earlier articles about criminal realism, we examined how this musical genre standardises the criminal role model and changes perceptions of crime.
In this article, we will discuss how criminal realism presents Albanians to foreign audiences.
This genre is making gangs famous in Germany and Switzerland, increasing the respect they command in the criminal world and boosting recruitment, while also reinforcing prejudice against Albanians in these countries.
They say there is no second chance to make a first impression. Unfortunately, with Albanian gangs expanding across borders and being praised in songs, now in foreign languages too, the first impression Germans and Swiss people receive is that these are the Albanians: violent people, criminals and drug traffickers.
Mozzik’s songs and music videos
Let us begin with Mozzik, who has more than 20 hits and is enjoying enormous success in the German-speaking market, helped by a contract with the record company Sony/ATV Music.
In the Albanian market, apart from collaborations with various artists, he is also known for songs such as Dhezu [Light Up]; Koke shum’; Cocaina [Cocaine]; Tony Montana or Kuk’s in which he openly mentions drug use and trafficking.
In Switzerland and Germany, Mozzik is known for collaborations with his wife, Loredana Zefi, also a singer, and with Veysel. With hits such as Bonnie & Clyde, Romeo & Juliet and Ti Amo [I Love You], he generated more than 300 million views, reaching the top of the market.
In the song Ti Amo, Mozzik praises crime in a mixture of Albanian and German. He describes travelling around Europe with drug-dealing associates, endorses gang rules against informing, and addresses Chancellor Merkel as a foreigner who lacks documents but has considerable money.
In another song, Mozzik presents drug dealing as the way he paid for a phone (Pinocchio), while in A milly, with fellow Albanian Dardan (Dardan Mushkolaj), he speaks even more harshly about gang codes, demanding loyalty and threatening informers.
The music videos always feature expensive cars. In A milly there is a helicopter, two Lamborghinis, a Bentley, a Rolls Royse, a Mercedes Benz G-Class, 8 Rolex watches, furs and expensive Versace glasses.
Mozzik ties Albanian identity to drug dealing. He then describes how, through corruption, crime can get his friends out of prison:
The song describes imprisoned friends whose future depends on a prosecutor.
It portrays money sent to Kosovo as a way to secure their release.
Azet and the KMN group
Mozzik continues the same approach to criminal realism in songs such as Glock, or Stari i Mahallës [The Star of the Neighbourhood], but the artist who has enjoyed more success while singing mostly in German is Azet.
Raised in Dresden, Germany, Azet formed the KMN group, which includes other artists and currently has around 900 million views on its YouTube channel.
In 2015, he had trouble with the law because he was caught by the police as a user of narcotic substances.
Following this experience, his album Fast Life (a fast-paced life) is devoted to personal experiences as well as the broader criminal world, which continues in songs such as Koka, Gjynah [Sin], Milleu, 9 Milly, Vallah [I Swear to God], Patte fliesst [Money Flows], or Nummer 1 [Number One].
These songs convey the message of getting rich quickly through drug trafficking, and occasionally insult the police authorities. In the song Qa bone [What Did You Do?], Azet talks about getting out of prison, with praise, of course. Azet’s rhetoric presents an example of someone getting away from the authorities unscathed, suggesting that nothing bad happens to the criminal world.
This is developed further in the song Kriminell [Criminal], where being a criminal is glorified even more.
As always, the video features expensive cars and luxury. Mercedes-Benz AMG, G-Class, Moët & Chandon champagne, banknotes, gold necklaces and rings, cigars and women.
In Kriminell, the criminal aspects of Albanians in Germany are discussed. Azet opens with cocaine dealing and a threat of knife violence against those who fail to pay.
He goes on to mention that, in addition to knives, they carry guns, while urging them to persist in crime.
Noizy echoes these calls, saying he always has a Desert Eagle (a type of pistol) ready.
In the song Überlebt [Survived], and in S’kam koh’ [I Have No Time], Azet also talks about crime. He describes street survival, weapons, narcotics sold by the kilogram through the messaging app Telegram, and ambitions for a business worth millions of dollars.
Mozzik and Azet are two young men who are extremely successful in the music markets of Germany and Switzerland. Their turn towards criminal realism reinforces prejudice against Albanians among German-speaking audiences and beyond.
The music of criminal realism brings criminal groups even greater fame. Thanks to the praise in these songs, they advertise their success, inspiring more respect, more fear and more reasons to join them.
Previously published in Exit.al