TTR Allstars have the comfort of stubbornness

Anyone who says hip-hop in Austria should also say Linz. The provincial capital of Upper Austria was (and still is) the local center for this style of music: dialect rap spread from Linz in waves to Germany in the early 1990s. The Tonträger Records label, which was founded 25 years ago by members of the Texta band, championed this triumphant procession. One of the founding members is Philip Kroll, aka Flip, who, in addition to day-to-day label operations, also produces beats for in-and-out rappers, tours with Texta, and has been part of the TTR Allstars for years.

This is a Linz hip hop group consisting of mid crew, Da Staumetich, Cayo, Hinterland and Tequesta. “That makes eight presenters and two DJs,” Flip says in an interview. If you want to juggle several musicians and, accordingly, ideas and appointment calendars, you need strong nerves and a talent for organization. Flip seems to have it both as he once again succeeds in bringing everyone together.

13 songs are included in the new and third joint album, entitled “In unsam Haus”. And as always, “Stoistodtkinder” handles it in a relaxed, sophisticated, and socially critical way. They constitute an important alternative to the hobby bands that the German rap genre often offers. “The script component has always been important to us. There has to be a certain level of quality and content, so we’re going to take it very seriously. We’re pretty tough about it. We’re immune to hip-hop and fast-moving trends. Maybe that stubbornness, that anti-pop attitude is Also something that defines the Lenz hip-hop scene. Don’t go too far here with that exaggerated pop pose, with those chubby jeans,” Flip says.

In “In unsam Haus” we say goodbye to Texta veteran, TTR Allstar and good friend Harald “Huckey” Renner. A separate song was dedicated to the musician, who died in 2018, on the new record with the song “Huckey”. It’s not the only thoughtful number in the beloved “Linza” accent. home brand. Meanwhile, a special feature: “The Austrian accent has not completely disappeared in hip-hop territory, but has already been massively smashed by German cultural imperialism. The stars of the German rap scene, to which most young people orient themselves, do not sing in the dialect. But what is increasingly being used are other languages, the languages ​​in which many artists with a culture of emigration have grown up. It mainly concerns Turkish and Arabic words. And then, of course, a very large number of Anglicans were built. Just take the songs of young local rappers like KeKe or Eli Preiss as an example. The dialect is no longer a problem at all. The dialect rap boom of the late 2000s came to an end,” says Flip.“

on tour

The music for the lyrics comes primarily from producers Concept, Flip, Kayo, and Alex the Flipper, but new names like Boba J and Johnny Cashless are also represented with the tracks. The beat for “Lumidee” was sent from Detroit across the Atlantic to Linz: it comes from Black Milk, who’s already worked with greats like Cypress Hill.

So is everything great? almost. Unfortunately, one looks in vain at the women on the album. Why? “There are many reasons for this. On the one hand, this is a problem that has grown over time: we have repeatedly recorded singles with women and also worked with female anchors, but the essence of all stars is male. ” .

The TTR Allstars are currently on tour. Today Saturday, they are guests at Arena Vienna. Support is provided by Mo Cess & DJ Chrisfader. On March 17th we will go to the greenhouse in Innsbruck. On March 24, TTR Allstars will be guests at the Freiraum in St Pölten. On April 1st you will be in Röda in Steyr. Vöcklabruck is on the schedule for May 17 (OKH Offenes Kulturhaus).