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Diasporic Music in Transition: TurkishImmigrant Performers on the Stage of“Multikulti” BerlinSerhat Güney, Cem Pekman & Bülent KabaşPublished online: 13 Dec 2012.

To cite this article: Serhat Güney, Cem Pekman & Bülent Kabaş (2014) Diasporic Music in Transition:Turkish Immigrant Performers on the Stage of “Multikulti” Berlin, Popular Music and Society, 37:2,132-151, DOI: 10.1080/03007766.2012.736288

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Diasporic Music in Transition: TurkishImmigrant Performers on the Stage of“Multikulti” BerlinSerhat Guney, Cem Pekman & Bulent Kabas

This article examines the dynamics of music production by German-Turkish youth inBerlin. Taking into consideration the changes that globalism has wrought on theconditions and form of migration, the study investigates how interaction between cultures

is transforming the ways in which new generations of Turkish immigrants produce music.It identifies the emergence of Turkish youth within Berlin’s multicultural music scene,

especially in the 2000s, and documents the rise of electronic and rock music production inaddition to the more oft studied hip hop and homeland-oriented, traditional forms of

music. In comparison with the tone of the music of older immigrant generations, whichevoked a tenacious, diasporic spirit, the music of younger generations is more flexible,

open and integrated and accommodates rather than rejects differences.

The Changing Diaspora and the New Migrant

The idealization of homeland is a major factor in the collective imagination of diasporic

communities. Homeland idealism—a way of thinking which helps make the physicalseparation from home more bearable—“credits the homeland as being the most

powerful motivator of diasporic behavior” (Lee 59). The central importance of thehomeland also implies a kind of “magical belief” in the past that shepherds diasporic

communities through their current pathos by allowing them to reflect on the respectedcharacteristics of home, instead (Cohen 105). As a result, diasporic communities

become relatively more introverted with respect to social and cultural life becauseindividuals choose to perpetuate cultural codes appropriated from their homeland. In

turn, the purity myths and essentialist nationalism of the host country, which advancethe ideas of assimilation and integration of the diaspora, simultaneously create socio-economic and cultural challenges that heighten migrants’ awareness of their essential

identities. Early research on Turkish immigrants in Germany generally focused on thesephenomena. In the early years of Turkish migration, immigrants were demographically

homogeneous, remained invisible in the public sphere, and considered their stay in the

q 2012 Taylor & Francis

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host country temporary. Research on immigration focused on economics, on “culture

in particular,” and on the myth of return (Abadan; Castles and Kosack). When in the1970s Turkish immigrants began to become more active in the public space of their

host country, the code words of research shifted to “cultural conflict,” “culture shock,”“acculturation,” “in-betweenness,” and “identity crisis” (Abadan-Unat, “Identitiy”;

Kagıtcıbası). But the methodology remained unchanged. Researchers honed in on the

culture that Turkish immigrants brought with them from the homeland, largelyignoring social and cultural differences and interaction between the diaspora and the

mother country (Kaya, “German-Turkish” 2–3).But by the end of the 1980s, the discourse of ethnic culture began to wane in research

on the diaspora. Following from the concept of “syncretism” put forward by Gilroy,studies on migration began to acknowledge the mixed character of culture and reassess

migrant culture as a dynamic search for autonomy from essential identities. Today,given the changing, global conditions of immigration, new migrants and immigrant

generations are classified under the concepts of “transnationalism” and “transmi-

grants” (Schiller et al. ). According to Schiller et al., these new populations arecomposed of people whose networks, activities, and patterns of life encompass the

cultures of both host and home countries, and many post-1990 studies of the Turkishdiaspora in Germany adopt this view. In these studies, the conceptualization of ethnic

culture is replaced by the notion of “German-Turkish transnational space” (Abadan-Unat, Bitmeyen Goc; Faist), and the research field has broadened to include more facets

of the immigrant experience. Among them, youth culture is a popular one, especially

considering its cultural products such as a hybrid language, graffiti, dance, and music(Caglar; Cheesman; Soysal, “Projects”). These studies show that the diasporic identity

is in dialog with German society, a fact that becomes tangible in cultural production,which is characterized by a critical and sometimes resistant attitude towards the host

country (Yurdakul).Young members of the present-day Turkish diaspora in Berlin are even more

dynamic and have become yet more visible in the public sphere. They are searching forways to express themselves, and music is the medium of choice. The factors that

differentiate their circumstances from the more inward-focused, second-generation

immigrants gives them more room for maneuvering in cultural production fields likemusic. Notably, Berlin has become a global culture center following the fall of the wall.

Kaya, in his study of Turkish hip hop youth, argues that the cultural identity ofTurkish immigrant youth is being constructed by globalization, which facilitates

transnational connections that enable easy and meaningful interaction between thediaspora and the homeland (Berlin’deki). Indeed, many scholars point out that the

homogeneous identity of the diaspora is being supplanted by hybrid identities due to

emerging global conditions that have created new “travel trajectories” and “flow”between cultures (Clifford 304, 306). The social atmosphere in Berlin is ideal for

facilitating the types of encounter that follow from this traffic.The second factor is the removal of barriers between the host country and the

diaspora: the differences in language, education, and life-style that previously

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aggravated cultural, social, and economic tensions. Papastergiadis stresses the

relationship between globalization and migration, drawing attention to the complexstructures of contemporary metropolitan society, which subvert the traditional,

nation-state policies of assimilation and integration that create cultural conflict.According to him, some members of migrant communities “began to argue in favor ofnew models of representing the process of cultural interaction, and to demonstrate the

negative consequences of insisting upon the denial of the emergent forms of culturalidentity” (Papastergiadis 3). These new tendencies result in immigrant populations

that are less prejudiced and more open to the cultures of their host countries. Moreover,as Hall has pointed out, diasporic cultures never remain static, pure, or true to their

origin. They are invariably an amalgamation of home and host cultures, and thispresents an ideal atmosphere for cultural interaction.

Third, virtual technologies have paved the way for transnational communicationand relationships more than ever before, providing new generations with alternativemedia to create and distribute identity and culture. Of course, communication

technologies were important for forming and maintaining transnational identity in thepast, too. The transferring of cultural products via video and audiocassettes, satellite

television, and the broadcast media of the late twentieth century kept the homelandimage alive in the minds of immigrant communities (Appadurai). But according to

Appadurai, the “electronic billboard” of that period evolved into more meaningfulvirtual neighborhoods with the advancement of technology (195). The era in which the

homeland image was imposed by traditional media and subsequently passively receivedhas been transformed into a more “active, simultaneous process of maintenance and

negotiation between the poles of an original home and a newly acquired host culture”(Sinclair and Cunningham 15). Whereas homelands were once just a memory thatnurtured the myth of return, by participating in virtual communities, the mother

country can now be an intimate part of daily life (Hiller and Franz 735). As internetusage has spread among the diaspora, broad collective needs and expectations have

become more individual, complex, and layered. Computer-savvy migrant commu-nities are bypassing “traditional gatekeepers.” Their constituents tend to be “citizens of

the world” and are no longer constrained by a “space bound understanding of identity”and “solid community formulation” (Anderson; Eickelman and Anderson; Rızvanoglu

and Guney; Santianni; Tsaliki).

Trace: The Distorted Voice of Homeland and the Emerging Song of Diaspora

Since the beginning of the first waves of Gastarbeiter (guest worker)] immigration,

which lasted from the 1960s through the 1990s, Turkish immigrant music in Germanyhas mainly reinforced stereotypical diasporic reflexes: homesickness, homelandidealism, and ghettoization. As such, the music followed trends in Turkey. Initially, the

most popular music genre was Anatolian/Turkish folk music, and it was produced inthe evenings by immigrant workers at their dormitories or coffee houses. Music was in

the company of other cultural codes imported from the rural homeland (Hazar).

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By the end of the 1960s, the first original products began to come out of the Turkish

diaspora in Germany. These songs regarded immigration as a passing adventure ratherthan as a permanent phenomenon. Irony and protest permeate the lyrics of musicians

such as Metin Turkoz,1 who takes up the themes of the immigration journey, theworking conditions of the Turks in Germany, and cultural differences (Eryılmaz and

Jamin). As Gastarbeiter became settled and had time for leisure, music became an

entertainment market. Replicas of taverns in Turkey were established and providedthe first stage for semiprofessional and professional musicians. The market was

profitable for popular musicians from the homeland as well, and the reproduction ofhomeland-oriented music was a longstanding norm. In the 1970s, a new genre of

music called “arabesque”2 erupted onto the scene in Turkey and soon became themost popular genre among Turkish immigrants in Germany as well (Greve,

Almanya’da). Its popularity was challenged only slightly by politically driven music of

the 1980s, which was produced largely by asylum seekers who moved to Germanyafter the military coup in 1980. And though the two genres were dissimilar in almost

every respect, both were imported from the homeland and thus in line with the modusoperandi of music production for the diaspora.

The first notable change in the music culture of the diaspora accompanieddevelopments in the 1990s. Along with global changes in immigration patterns and

policies, the second generation of the diaspora was maturing, and cultural flow betweenthe diaspora and the mother country became bidirectional. Pop music from Turkey

influenced the second generation of immigrants, and the Turkish music market offeredcareer opportunities for some young musicians among the diaspora (Greve,

“Kreuzberg”). But the genre that really represented the 1990s was hip hop. An

authentic cultural form of the diaspora, hip hop significantly reversed the flow ofculture for the first time in the history of Turkish immigration to Germany. German-

Turkish rap groups sold hundreds of thousands of albums in Turkey and relatedthe unique experiences to a Turkish audience who had not really paid attention up

until then.In these years, the cultural identity adopted by the Turkish hiphop community in

Germany was expressed concretely in the lyrics and discourse of Turkish rap artists.Knowing that they had to live “on both sides of the river,” these young artists were

building up a “symbolic cultural bridge” between West and East (Kaya, Constructing

Diasporas). Parallel to this, hip hop became the standard bearer of a ghetto narrativethat emerged in tandem with the fall of the Berlin wall. Soysal divides the

transformation of the young generations of the diaspora that occurred together withthe rapid physical transformation of Berlin into three periods (“Rap” 68–70). The

“gang” phase represents a short but substantive outpouring of Turkish youth onto thecity streets (see McLaren). A language of violence predominated, motivated by a need

for protection against racist gangs. The second stage advanced in the early 1990s when

hip hop culture began translating the gang discourse into music, dance, and art.The final “world culture” period is characterized by the decline of the ghetto narrative

(and hence hip hop), only to be replaced by a narrative of the metropolis. By 1996,

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unified Berlin had become a center for global, cultural events and activities, and the

Kreuzberg quarter, once a ghetto comprised mostly of Turkish immigrants, wastransforming into a popular district thriving on cultural differences and alternative

lifestyles. Even in the more marginal areas of contemporary Kreuzberg, immigrantyouth are readily able to experience the cosmopolitan cultural life of Berlin. Theexpectations of new youth subcultures no longer correspond with the typology of

second-generation immigrants; that is to say, they are no longer caught in betweennationalistic definitions of culture (Soysal, “Diversity” 10–11).

Research and Methodology

By presenting an attitude of resistance and criticism towards the host society, music hasbeen a consistent and important component of diasporic identity throughout the

history of immigration. The role of contemporary German-Turkish youth in Berlin’smulticultural music scene, on the other hand, suggests a unique diasporic condition.

On the whole, research conducted since 1990 suggests that the cultural experiences ofthe new generation of German-Turks are different from those of the preceding “lost”

and “disoriented” generations (Caglar; Kaya, “Aesthetics”; Kaya and Kentel). Ourapproach is in line with these studies, and we aim to get out of the analytical rut intowhich the discourses of “cultural integration” and “cultural homogeneity” have trapped

research on immigrants. As such, we break free of the old conceptualization of a “one-way” integration process. We treat young members of the Turkish music community as

“producers” rather than as static “consumers” or “reproducers” of homeland culture.This shift in the conceptualization of immigrant experience allows us to see that, indeed,

a dynamic and transitional music culture has been growing among new generations ofTurkish young people. In the first decade of the twenty-first century, young Turks

emerged with varied musical tastes within Berlin’s multicultural music scene. Besidestraditional, homeland-oriented music and hip hop, electronic and rock music areincreasingly becoming popular among Turkish Berliners.

This study examines the dynamics of music production by German-Turkish youth inBerlin and investigates how interaction between cultures, the transformation of the city,

and the narrative of migration itself are altering the diasporic condition, and as a result,transforming the ways in which new generations of Turkish immigrants produce music.

Four cardinal music scenes are defined for comparative, qualitative analysis. The first isa broad ethnic music scene, which includes all homeland-oriented musical forms:

Turkish folk, arabesque, classical Turkish music, pop, and fantasy (a blend of pop andarabesque). The second is the rock scene, which may be characterized as a reproduction

of “Istanbul” rock. The third is the hip hop scene, a Berlin-based, immigrant musicgenre. And the final category, the electronic music scene, is known as the music thatalong with hip hop most evokes multikulti (multicultural) Berlin.

Apart from these mainstream music scenes, another category worth mentioning isthat of musicians who have migrated to Berlin for the purpose of study. The majority

are practitioners of western or classical music, and they perform all over the world as

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transnational, professional musicians. We do not consider this category to be a part of

the diaspora per se, but they are assessed in our analysis in their interaction with local,immigrant musicians and their participation within the aforementioned music

scenes. Our study is ethnographic: to converge on the cultural life and culturalproduction of German-Turkish youth, we became involved in the everyday life andexperience of the music community in Berlin. Through semistructured interviews and

participant observation, we followed a cross-section of thirty musicians from the fourmusic scenes. We also attended performances ranging from concerts, wedding

ceremonies, rehearsals, and gala events. The data collected from the field are used forcomparative qualitative analysis.

The Ethnic Music Scene

Ethnic music and the broad range of musical forms it encompasses, such as folk,

arabesque, fantasy, and pop, are the most popular genres among Turkish immigrantsin Berlin, both young and old. Aslı Erman, program director of the popular Berlin

radio station, Metropol FM, which broadcasts in Turkish, surmises that audiencetrends have not changed significantly from past to present. They vary only withrespect to what subgenre of ethnic music is taking the lead:

We’re talking about a dynamic and cosmopolitan community today. Music-wise,there are more choices than ever, so it’s hard to judge. Nevertheless, we know thatthe most popular genre is Turkish folk. Arabesque is also popular and oftenrequested, whether by first or fourth generation audiences. Pop sells, too, since fansof arabesque and folk listen to pop . . . it has continuity.

The ethnic music scene in general reflects the music market in Turkey, which has animpact on the musical tastes of young immigrant Turks by means of radio, television

and the Internet.Young musicians performing ethnic music in Berlin may be divided into two groups:

amateurs and semiprofessionals/professionals. Students or workers who become

interested in traditional folk music and its instruments (primarily the baglama)3

comprise the amateur group. They enroll in music courses, a phenomenon that has

increased dramatically over the last decade. Baglama teachers such as Nevzat Akpınarand Ozgur Ersoy see this trend as a departure from “being immigrant,” which had been

expressed through arabesque music for years. Akpınar argues that the fear of breakingout from Turkish culture, a typical reflex among the first-generation diaspora, has

turned into an attempt to understand and recognize it among younger generations. Forhim, homeland idealization—reflected in arabesque themes of longing, loneliness,

desolation, and in-betweenness—is increasingly being replaced by a sense of wonderand exploration. Ersoy thinks that the defense mechanism of former generationsagainst “becoming other” has subsided among young German-Turks, and he correlates

it with the multicultural atmosphere of Berlin, which embraces difference rather thanrejecting it. Nonetheless, Akpınar and Ersoy regret that only few of their students have

become baglama virtuosos, and that in time many adopt mainstream music.

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Semi-professional and professional musicians typically perform at weddings and in

folk bars. Various immigrant societies hoping to promote homeland culture and keep

it alive among immigrants provide another platform for performing in the form of

music- or dance-oriented festivals and events. Wedding and bar musicians often

perform to supplement income from regular jobs, such as bartender, cashier, taxi

driver, or technician. They generally come from working-class families and often have

no formal musical training. Their motivations are the pursuit of family traditions,

personal enthusiasm, and making extra money. Among younger generations,

recording an album seldom seems to be a goal, and the few who have such a dream

model themselves after expatriate musicians such as Rafet El Roman4 or Ismail YK.5

Pop musician Ozan, who is preparing an album for release in Turkey, thinks that the

German-Turkish musicians who achieved success in the Turkish music market in the

1990s provided an alternative dream to soccer: “Their success in Turkey was vital to

directing youngsters here toward music. Personally, as a pop musician, the Turkish

market is promising. Folk and arabesque dominate here.”

Amateur or semi-professional recordings and videos are important for these

musicians to be visible in the German market, which offers little else than wedding and

culturally themed concert events. These serve as advertising, especially on the Internet.Wedding and banquet halls provide an attractive working environment for

professional bands. They also function as concert halls, where local bands and audiences

of homeland-oriented music meet and socialize. While they dominate the Turkish

music and entertainment scene, wedding orchestras are by and large reproducing

popular genres of ethnic music. Indeed, their repertoire is comprised predominantly of

covers of recent and popular songs from the Turkish market, but the depth of their

repertoire is impressive. The reason is that their cosmopolitan audience is formed of

immigrants from various different regions of Turkey, so they must be able to perform a

variety of regional folk songs. In Berlin, these banquet halls are a profitable business for

their German-Turkish investors. Located largely in Turkish immigrant neighborhoods,

the approximately forty halls in the city resemble one another in appearance, and their

design mirrors that of banquet halls in small cities or metropolitan suburbs in Turkey.

Occasionally, the halls are host to musicians or bands from Turkey, which draw excited

crowds. While the audiences fulfill a longing for the homeland, local bands earn extra

income and prestige playing warm-up for the popular artists from the homeland.Because they pursue a genre that most closely relates to tried and true stereotypes of

the traditional immigrant experience, ethnic musicians seem to embody the classical

“in-betweenness” discourse. This type of analysis evokes the concepts of a forgotten

past, degeneration and the “we’re Turks in Germany, Germans in Turkey” cliche, but

these concepts do not realistically represent the situation of contemporary young

musicians. Though ethnic musicians are tied to the homeland in musical preference

and cultural inheritance, they do not identify with the myth of return. Group Ruzgar’s

vocalist, Engin, divulges that, while Turkey is nice for vacations, it has little significance

as a homeland:

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We work here, save money and go to Turkey for vacations. We work so that we canwalk on the sand, swim and shop. But in a few weeks time, I get bored. I miss beinghere, because we were born here . . . grew up here.

Baglama player Ceyhan expresses a similar sentiment: “Our homeland is beautiful, welike being there, but we can’t stay long. It’s a different lifestyle there. We’re used to

here.” Group Sırdaslar’s vocalist, Serkan, comments on the diminishing significance ofphysical distance: “There is no homesickness any longer. We can call our relatives in

Turkey . . . chat with friends. We have better channels . . . no more letters orrecorded cassettes.”

Increasing interaction between German and Turkish societies in the fields of musicand entertainment is another factor that contributes to the internalization of the hostcountry as home. Increasing numbers of marriages between Turks and Germans, for

instance, sets the stage for cultural encounters and cohesion. Experiences like Engin’sand Ceyhan’s are becoming more common: “We performed at a German-Turkish

wedding yesterday and enjoyed it a lot. They fancy our music. We danced together. Wewitnessed the fusion of two cultures.” Indeed, Fatih from Group Sahanlar indicates

that German people are becoming more interested in Turkish music via weddings. Atceremonies to which foreigners are invited, Fatih’s band also plays German and

English songs:

Yesterday, we were in Bremen, for instance. The Germans asked for our businesscard and asked if we have an album. We gave them our card and told them they canfollow us on YouTube. We noticed that they were trying to accompany the musiceven though they didn’t understand it. That was nice to see . . . so we added someforeign songs to our lineup as a gesture. We sing a verse in English in the middle of afolk dance, for instance, and that draws attention.

Such cultural encounters are not limited to wedding ceremonies and formal events.Indeed, they are spreading to other areas of daily life. An amateur composer, Ismail,recounted:

A few weeks ago we were in a park and there were lots of Germans there. When westarted to sing and play guitar, a German band that was playing trumpets anddrums, etc. nearby came and accompanied us. We sang the song “AkdenizAksamları” [“Mediterranean Nights”] together. I was thrilled; their style created adifferent ambiance for the Turkish music.

In addition to such happenstance encounters, another factor behind the interest in

traditional Turkish instruments and music in Berlin is the opportunity for collaborationand musical montage: the city’s artistic reputation creates a fertile setting for

multicultural art projects. In recent years, baglama instrumentalists have been thefrequent protagonists of such collaborations. Nevzat Akpınar, among them, emphasizeshis links to western music, arguing that his work spans from hip hop to classical: “I had a

Western musical education. I learned playing the piano. Western music and certaincomposers, in particular, are part and parcel of me. Chopin and Bach are as close as

Asık Veysel.”6

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Musical projects that fuse traditional Turkish and Western music are particularly

popular, and Turkish and German musicians and those of other nationalitiesfrequently team up for festival performances. Such musicians are often motivated by

the belief that they are undertaking a cultural mission: bridging cultures that havebeen alienated from one other throughout the history of Turkish immigration toGermany. In the words of the lead singer of Anatolian Jazz Band, Sibel Egilmez:

We’re happy to get a reaction from the audience, and especially, it gives us pleasureto play our songs for Germans. We see it here in Berlin . . . that cultures can meet.There are lots of opportunities to produce something here, no matter if you areTurkish or German.

The band’s baglama player, Ozgur Ersoy, goes further: “Our orchestra’s mission is to

popularize the music for both sides . . . to introduce Turkish folk music and Turkishmelodies to Germans . . . and to introduce Western music and jazz to Turks.”

In contemporary Berlin, the ethnic music scene reproduces the musical and culturalcodes of the homeland, on one hand, and exposes a current of change in the diaspora,

on the other. Comprised of popular music genres, it dominates immigrant society’sentertainment life. At the same time—particularly in the case of folk music—it has a

wider appeal owing to the originality of the sound and universality of the content. Thegenre appeases common musical tastes and is propagated in banquet halls, folk bars and

international festivals, but in the transnational context, the musicians are actuallyperforming a sophisticated, hybrid music.

The Rock Scene

Rock music has emerged among the genres of Turkish immigrant music only in the

last few years. The scene is made up of just ten or so groups that have not yetdistinguished themselves musically. Indeed, they typically play covers of Turkish rocksongs. Though the musicians are well aware of one another in the small community

of Turkish Berliners who have chosen rock music and its alternative lifestyle, no closeinteraction is observable among them. The small market and lack of available stages

have led to competition and quarrels, which have been obstacles to solidarity. Rockmusicians are generally from the middle class and well educated. They are trying to

position themselves in the musical field following a recent rise of interest in rockwithin Berlin’s music market, to which they credit the impact of the rock music

market in Turkey. They explain that the culture of new media and technology hasmade newer generations more aware of what is going on in the homeland than

former generations. A sensational rock movement in Turkey over the last decadeshas thus begun to echo in the diaspora as young people closely follow farawaymusical trends.

Another reason for the spread of rock among Turkish Berliners is its image as adefiant alternative to homeland-oriented musical genres. Aslan, the drummer of the

rock band Panzehir, notes that their sound is distinctly different from folk or

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arabesque and attracts a Turkish audience looking to escape from an environment

dominated by the ethnic music scene.Two interrelated problems for Turkish rock groups performing in Berlin are the

scarcity of venues and the immaturity of rock culture among immigrant audiences.The genre’s musicians can only engage with their audiences at festivals and at the city’ssingle Turkish rock bar. The newly emergent musical form has had difficulties creating

an independent culture in an established market with practices deeply rooted inethnic music. Panzehir’s vocalist, Gokay, reasons that the recent upswing in the rock

market does not yet imply a consistent audience for bands:

There was just that folk-bar thing in Berlin for years . . . where they played folkand arabesque. Rock offers an alternative, but only in the last two years. People likeit, but we can’t speak of a noteworthy following . . . five hundred people at most.So we don’t have the chance to give a concert every week.

Mokick’s guitarist, Timur, does not expect established attitudes toward music amongthe diaspora to change anytime soon: internalizing rock culture among young people

and institutionalizing rock as an immigrant musical form are difficult challenges.According to Panzehir’s bassist, Ozgur, rock is not a musical preference, but an

attitude or standpoint:

No matter how well you play, the question is who listens? For me, it’s a bunch ofpeople who don’t really care for rock. You see them at a rock concert . . . the nextday 90% of them go to a folk-bar. A person has to have a passion. You’re either arocker or a folk fan. Rock is getting popular here, but they’re listening to ithaphazardly. But rock is a philosophy. It’s a stance.

The heterogeneous nature of the audience and the apparent popularity of “rock” in

the market have created enigmatic situations for bands trying to operate in the field.Indeed, just such a conundrum led to the breakup of Berlin’s oldest Turkish rockband, Stoneheads. One of its former members, Yalım, complains of being caught

between audience taste, market demands, and the group’s own style and form:

Stoneheads performed for 17 years in Berlin. Our music was hard back then. TheTurks here would not listen to it, of course. We had no Turkish audience; we were onlyplaying for Germans. They somehow fancied us. In time, following the rock boom inTurkey, the craze reached here and we attracted a Turkish audience. Fine, but therewas still a problem: they didn’t like music that hard. We were hard and they preferredsomething softer. And so we had to compromise. So we tried to play melodic rock thistime around, but the band gradually lost its soul, and finally we had to break it up.

Bass guitarist and instructor, Mustafa Sarısın, expresses similar concerns. He surmisesthat rock will be diluted by established musical tastes rather than transform them:

A rock-bar opened here two years ago and called me up. It was a nice place and I washopeful. We sat and talked with the owner. I said I could play, but not folk-songs,folk-dances, or requests. He said “okay.” He promised. But everything changed, therules were violated one by one, and I quit. It’s hard to change. They make you one ofthemselves. It happens artlessly.

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The scarcity of a loyal audience, the lack of chances to give concerts (which average

only once in two months for the bands with whom we talked), and the obstacles to

issuing albums in a production field geared toward a different kind of music have

made it difficult for German-Turkish rock musicians to professionalize. Most of the

scene’s young musicians are amateurs, and a large proportion are university students

who also work as bar and restaurant managers, bartenders, hairdressers, or guitar

instructors. Few make a living from music alone. Talat, a drummer who plays with

various groups, asserts that one needs a flexible, entrepreneurial spirit to play rock

music in Berlin: he must inevitably forgo his rocker identity if he wants to make a

living from his instrument. Despite these musicians’ attempts to provide an

alternative to the traditional diasporic culture, it seems they cannot exist in the market

without integrating to some extent. Panzehir’s Aslan says,

One of us is a hairdresser, the other is a manager. For me, it’s different. I have to playfor everyone. I’m playing rock today, tomorrow you can see me backing a folksinger, the next day a pop singer. I have to do it.

Whether otherwise employed or not, the music is a lifestyle and means for young

Turkish rock musicians to prove and express themselves. They stand outside of the

established diasporic identity and, as such, do not experience serious integration

problems. Their rocker lifestyle is generally reflected in their daily life—from their

attire to their behavior and relations—and so they are often regarded as westerners

who have been assimilated into German society. In addition, they are integrated into

Berlin’s multicultural art scene and are well received at the city’s musical functions as

both performers and audience members.

It is not uncommon for a young Turkish bassist to jam with a Jamaican harmonica

virtuoso and a German guitarist, or for a Turkish rock band to take the stage at

international festivals. In terms of musical experiences and encounters, their rocker

and musician identities extend far deeper that their ethnic identities. They do not face

difficulties with friends, schools, businesses, or entertainment circles, but there is

sometimes confusion when it comes out that they are Turkish and speak Turkish.

Betul, the vocalist of Mokick, recalls:

I guess it was at a festival . . . an English woman came to us after the concert andasked what language our songs were. I said Turkish. She was amazed . . . mypronunciation was so different. She couldn’t locate it . . . couldn’t associate it withthe language of the Turks here. At first sight foreigners usually don’t think we areTurkish. They ask if we are Spanish, Greek or something else, but are astonished whenthey learn I’m Turkish. The interesting thing is, sometimes Turks don’t recognize thatI’m Turk. They look at me as if I am . . . how can I say . . . an extra-terrestrial.

Though Turkish rock musicians do not conform to community norms in their lifestyle,

the prejudices bred by these norms have in the past hampered these musicians’ self-

expression. Stoneheads’ vocalist reminisced:

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My father would break my guitar . . . preach to me to go to school . . . not to dealwith this nonsense. It was the same with our drummer’s father. He would hide hissticks to keep him away from the drums.

Obstacles like this are less likely for younger rockers. Indeed, in a new phase ofGerman-Turkish rock, the most popular band in the German music market, Panzehir,

has given concerts at the “Hard Rock Cafe,” the leading global trademark of rockculture. But there is a different threat: as the rock music scene evolves from an

introverted subculture into a more popular genre among the diaspora, it faces a threatof losing its essential recalcitrant spirit and morphing into yet another version of

ethnic music. Turkish rock musicians are a community caught “in-between” morethan any other, not in terms of diasporic identity, but in terms of music.

The Hip Hop Scene

Turkish hip hop music in Berlin may be the most original genre coming out of the

immigrant community. It is also the scene where the differences between the first andsecond generations are most distinct. The German integration policies of the 1990s

instigated the formation of a cultural identity around hip hop: young people whosuffered from integration problems or felt left out expressed their views via hip hopmusic.

The scene has roots in the immigrant gangs of the 1980s. Generational andinterfamily communication problems and conflicts afflicted many second-generation

Turkish young people, who were drawn to the streets as a consequence. There, theyfaced exclusion and were compelled to protect themselves from racist, neo-Nazi and

skinhead gangs. A former Turkish gang member who is now a boxing coach, MuciTosun, makes note of the defensive nature of the gang movement:

In almost every neighborhood there used to be a small gang. You had to build one;otherwise you wouldn’t be able to protect yourself when you were alone at theschool or on the street. Later, they were united under the name 36 Boys and becamepowerful after skinheads killed our friend Mete Eksi.7

By the 1990s, gang members began to explore hip hop culture. It enabled them toexpress an identity and raise their voices against the hatred, discrimination, and

prejudice they faced. It was a conduit for thinking and producing within the publicsphere. Almost all of the original 36 Boys’ members have since taken up artistic and

sporting vocations: their voice turned to rap, pen to graffiti, and gesture to breakdance.Until the middle of the 1990s, the Turkish music scene in Germany was consistently

shaped by projections about the musical trends in the homeland. But in 1995, for thefirst time, immigrants broke into the Turkish music market with original hip hopproductions. In the homeland, this music provoked nationalist fervor owing to its

ethnic character and strong lyrics; but its mission in its place of origin was to be acounterculture expressing protest. And, indeed, in this early period the hip hop

movement had sway in integration issues, compelling Germany to rethink its relations

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not only with the Turkish immigrant community, but with other immigrants as well.

In fact, once they realized the potential of hip hop to alleviate the adaptation problemsof immigrant youth, the German state improved integration policies and began

organizing workshops of famous hip hoppers at schools and youth centers. Thosebacking the Turkish hip hop culture, on the flip side, became leading actors withinyouth organizations. Music producer and former 36 Boys member Fevzi Tuncer

underscores the societal significance of hip hop:

There are many immigrant communities here: Afghan, Indian, Arab, Croatian,Greek . . . but Turks led in every way. Especially the second generation—born andraised here—and those who’ve come after . . . we’ve done what German politicscouldn’t. Immigrants owe it to our struggle that they now live in such a comfortableenvironment.

Rapper Volkan T. describes hip hop as not just immigrant music but a subculture aswell. He considers integration a broader issue that is not limited to immigrants:

If there’s an integration problem, why is it the problem of immigrants alone? We’vebeen living in this society for so long and for many generations. . . . I wonder whatis it I am expected to integrate with? Or I ask whether or not a German homelessperson or a punk is integrated? I don’t get it.

The role of hip hop culture has not been restricted to the one-sided integration

problems of youth in the diaspora, but serves as a means of interaction between cultures.Many words have even been transferred into German slang via Turkish hip hop: “lan,”

“valla,” “oha,” and others have become widely recognized and used by Germans. This iship hop’s unifying feature, according to Mustafa Tuncer, a producer for the music label

36 Beats, the name of which is derived from 36 Boys: “The Turkish youth speak amixture of Turkish and German. Oddly enough, German youth speak like them.

Turkish hip hop had a big influence. Just as blacks made their language acceptable inAmerica, we have done the same.” As a result of hip hop’s symbiotic countercultural anduniversal characteristics, Turkish followers have the opportunity to experience their

ethnicity, homeland, and religion as a cultural bricolage rather than as a category ofexclusion. Hip hop performer Aziza-A’s song “Bosphorus Bridge” reminds immigrant

youth that they live in a cultural climate in which the importance of borders is shrinking,center and periphery meet, East and West unite. The mix of cultures has also been a

determining factor in the transformations that have played out in the history of the hiphop music experience. The dynamic, adaptable nature of the music has allowed the

Turkish hip hop youth of today to position themselves differently from those of the gangera, who focused on cultural conflict.

The most significant difference is the receding discourse of violence, protest, andstruggle. The marginality of the movement is falling away as former gang membershave moved on to become respected producers, artistic managers, and coaches. In

addition to being role models for the new generation of hip hop musicians, theyactively sponsor new performers. There are fundamental changes in the outlook of the

movement, but they have not been accompanied by conflict between generations.

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Ozan, vocalist for the band 36 Boys—the name of which is also taken from the name

of the gang, of course—explains the dynamics of the change:

We inherited something . . . but the artistic side is what’s critical for us, not theviolence. Our elders support us in every respect. Fevzi is our producer; Muci is ourmanager. There are a few who still emulate the previous generation . . . playing atbeing gangsters . . . but that time has passed.

An influential figure in the community, musician DJ Ipek, remarks on the changing

times: “There is no need for a homophobic, racist, sexist, transphobic, antihuman

hip-hop any more. . . . What we need is a wise, social hip-hop that seeks democracy,

individual rights and human rights.”

The taming of hip hop is not limited to its content and attitude, and hip hop has

naturally not been exempt from the processes of commodification and globalization

that appropriate countercultures. In terms of the culture of consumption, Turkish hip

hop is being aggressively marketed, and 36 Boys has even given its name to a clothing

brand. The shop, which sells a variety of rap fashion products, is run by some of the

gang’s former members and functions as a meeting place for the Turkish hip hop

community.This transformation of the Berlin hip hop scene is also apparent in interaction with

more widely popular music genres and has paved the way for fusion musical

approaches. Indeed, hip hop has a ready-made amenability to synthesizing and

intermingling other musical forms and structures via sampling, which has pushed it to

the forefront of fusion styles. Indeed, Volkan T. observes a general trend toward fusion

among Turkish hip hoppers, and DJ Ipek, in referring to her own work, makes the intent

clear: “I made an album called Import/Export a la Turka: Turkish Sounds fromGermany.

The lyrics are in Turkish, Kurdish, English, and German. I tried to blend folk songs,

Kurdish music, electronic, rock and pop with hip hop.”Not only hip hoppers like DJ Ipek, but also musicians from other fields are

contributing to the trend. Present-day Turkish hip hop appears under many guises:

oriental hip hop, oriental rapnroll, alaturca mb, and rapbesk. Metropol FM’s director,

Aslı Erman, affirms that a new genre called Rnbesk—arabesque with German lyrics—is

gaining popularity in Berlin: “It’s ‘in’ nowadays among young people. Although it

speaks mostly to Turks, Germans follow it, too. Muhabbet and Alpa Gun are two

popular singers. Muhabbet has even made it onto the German music charts.”Sinem Altan, a member of Olivinn, studied classical music in Berlin and stresses the

entertainment factor when explaining the group’s “Operap” project, which blends rap

and opera. “Young people are more interested in projects that combine artistic forms

and elements of entertainment. Although it is inconsistent for us as musicians, we try

out these syntheses in order to reach the masses.”Finally, the emergence of Turkish youth in Berlin’s lively electronic music scene may

be interpreted as directly related to hip hop’s growth out of the boundaries of the

diaspora. This phenomenon is discussed in the following section.

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The Electronic Music Scene

While Berlin is one of the music capitals of the world and electronic music is at the center

of the city’s multicultural production, it is not a genre widely adopted by German-

Turkish youth. One common motive for the few who are involved in the electronic

music scene is that it offers a universal culture and experience in which immigrant

identity is almost irrelevant. They commonly describe the genre as “universal . . .

where questions of language, race, religion and gender are not raised.” For DJ Yavuz Ak,

the genre’s most impressive aspect is its general appeal:

It has no religion or language. Some people like to listen to it, others do not. Wedon’t play to a certain audience, we just play our music . . . and it forms its ownconnections. When you go to a party . . . people might not be speaking the samelanguage, but you share the same feelings when you dance on the floor.

Electronic music event manager Bahattin Cınar believes that the music offers a chosen

lifestyle that eliminates prescribed identities: “It’s enough for us to share the same

music, the same lifestyle.” According to DJ Seymen, the genre is valuable precisely

because it brings different people together and makes otherwise unlikely encounters

possible: “You see people from many different cultures when you enter a club. When

you get to know them, you change your mind about your prejudices.”In a music scene in which ethnic identities are unquestioned, German-Turkish

musicians do not feel a need to bring their culture to the music. DJ Seymen explains:

We don’t care to express Turkish identity through our music except that we use afew “oriental” samples. We’re not different from others in musical terms. Perhapswe differ in our daily routines, a bit. Germans drink beer in the production studio,we make tea.

Yavuz Ak, on the other hand, realizes that being Turkish might be advantageous in a

cultural atmosphere where differences are appreciated, as they are in Berlin. But he

stresses that ethnicity is no longer an issue in an artistic environment where authentic

cultural identity is affirmed and recognized for its essential significance:

One can find music and musicians of every type in Berlin. And so, being from adifferent culture and living here together among many other cultures is importantfor us. Besides, I think ethnic motifs could be well applied to our music, and thatmight help Turkish musicians become better known.

As with the rock music scene, Turkish young people have become visible in the

electronic music scene only in the last few years. They meet at the same Berlin clubs,

concerts and events that are the hub of the whole of the German electronic music

community. Musicians report that their initial interest in this traditionally unfamiliar

genre was mere entertainment; the idea of producing original electronic music

developed only in time as more young Turkish people began to frequent the clubs.

Encounters with the broader electronic music community helped German-Turkish

musicians to develop self-confidence and an original identity. DJ Demir is among

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those who believe the time has come to talk of a distinctly Turkish electronic music

community:

A few years ago you could count the Turks in a club on the fingers of one hand. Inthe last couple years, we’ve taken the stage with Seymen at many parties. We’reseeing Turks participate more. And many producers and DJs have made names forthemselves in Berlin. The scene is maturing. We plan to organize a festival calledTechnoTurk this year, if we can find sponsors.

The members of the scene are generally well-educated university graduates and post-graduates, mostly born in Germany, and have no significant integration problems. Since

their social environment is composed of musicians from all around the world, the“TechnoTurks” are exempt from the exclusion and “othering” that is often part of the

day-to-day experience of other Turkish youngsters. Moreover, they are generally notperceived as members of the Turkish community within their social circles. They

perform to audiences in which it is rare to find Turks outside of the small, recognizedcircle of electronic music enthusiasts. Even the production of electronic music differs

significantly from that of the ethnic and hip hop forms: notions of adopting, protecting,transferring, or bridging an identity are not meaningful for Turkish electronic

musicians. Because the music is not rooted in ethnicity or protest, the diasporicexperience and its chronic problems seem far removed for electronic music’spractitioners.

DJ Yavuz Ak argues that integration issues spring primarily from traditionalistfears. Cultural patterns need to be broken to eliminate such worry-mongering:

I don’t think there’s an integration problem, but then again, the Turks here aregenerally not extraverts. Fear of assimilation is a big factor . . . though it’s almostbeen overcome in the third and fourth generations. But for many Turks, it’s still aproblem. I think such worries are baseless, especially in a city like Berlin.

Especially in the electronic music scene, the phenomenon of in-betweenness—so

peculiar to the second generation—is not observed. DJ Demir notes that thecommunity is not much concerned with the question of being double-rooted:

Personally, I say that I possess the best of two cultures. After all, I am neither a pureGerman nor a pure Turk. . . . I am a mix. If you ask me how I define myself, I sayI’m a “Deutsch-Turk.”

Remarkably, electronic music has strong ties with the old hip hop scene, and there is

even a hybrid genre called “techno hip hop.” Moreover, a strong cooperation betweenTurkish electronic and hip hop musicians is still observable today in Berlin’s

techno/hip hop music market. While hip hop, which started as a form of immigrantprotest music, is susceptible to market conditions and demands, it couples easily withtechno. In the marketplace, there is a reciprocal benefit to their coalition. Almost all

Turkish electronic music production takes at Dual Studios and is published by the 36Beats label, both founded by the members of 36 Boys. Moreover, most of the

musicians in the electronic music scene have hip hop pasts, as Yavuz Ak explains:

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We’ve all grown up with hip hop. What it meant for blacks in America, it meant thesame for the Turks here in the ’90s. Hip hop was the most effective and almost theonly way of expressing the problems of our youth.

There are still major ideological differences between techno and hip hop. Resistanceand defiance play heavily in the hip hop subculture, whereas the electronic music

scene is arguably hedonist in its outlook, taking up themes such as dance, drugs, sex,leisure, and partying. But members of the two genres are increasingly overlapping in

terms of their lifestyle and daily lives, and the emergence of a Turkish electronicmusic community seems to have influenced the hip hop music scene. Given the

atmosphere in Berlin, which offers ample opportunity for youth subcultures toflourish peacefully, there is the potential for the Turkish techno movement to take

advantage of immigrants’ waning interest in protest. The warm waters of a hedonistculture await.

Conclusion

While they may differ in social and class structure, lifestyle, and musical perspective,

the Turkish young people who are taking the stage in Berlin’s music andentertainment scene have much in common. The younger generation holds fewerprejudices towards the host country and does not subscribe to the myth of return. As

producers and consumers in a transnational field, they are more cosmopolitan andopen to the influence of worlds outside the immigrant community. This new outlook

has allowed youth to transform the music culture and relationships forged by formergenerations of musicians. The phase wherein music sustains ethnic identities and a

particular take on the immigrant experience has passed, and it is taking on newfunctions and roles. A significant outcome of this change is the fusion of musical styles

apparent in the many hybrid genres like Turkische Rock, Anatolian Jazz, Rnbesk, andOperap. These reflect the complex and multifaceted nature of youth in the diaspora,who grow up juggling multiple identities. According to Nevzat Akpınar, who

correlates this trend with the general, current state of the diaspora, “a fusion cannotnot be created for the sake of creating one: real musical fusions are produced only if

the creator is himself a ‘fusion.’” These fusions led by Turkish musicians areresounding among the German-Turkish community in Berlin, which is indicative of

the multidimensional identity structures in which the new generation of Turks findthemselves embedded, at least in terms of cultural production.8

We observe three developments that are enabling the new forms and meanings ofmusical production in the diaspora. The first is that Berlin is itself a world city that

welcomes difference. It is an ideal atmosphere for spontaneous cultural encounter andexchange. Second, language is no longer an obstacle to adaptation for youngergenerations, and the idealization of homeland no longer factors into their thinking

owing to the ease of transportation and communication. And, finally, technology haschanged the culture: the internet provides a new platform for cultural products like

music to become visible and valuable. Younger German-Turks grow up interacting in

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this global space where traditional formulations of the immigrant experience seem

passe.Turkish musicians embedded within the musical genres outlined above are among

the communities that most strongly experience and drive these transformations. Beingactive in universal fields of cultural production enables them to express and distinguishthemselves in a broader public sphere. In turn, they overcome the limitations of static,

diasporic identities and take on more productive, dynamic, multidimensional ones.The general tone of the music of older generations ridiculed German culture, kept alive

the myth of return, stressed the discrimination and exclusion felt by immigrants andthus nurtured a tenacious, introverted diasporic spirit. The stance of music today

toward German society can no longer be characterized as “othering.” The immigrantmusic of younger generations is more flexible, open, and integrated and accommodates

rather than rejects differences. It is now serving as a medium for originality,entertainment, and cultural interaction.

Acknowledgements

Authors gratefully acknowledge the support of Galatasaray University. This research is funded byGalatasaray University Scientific Research grant 11.300.003.

Notes

[1] Metin Turkoz, one of the first representatives of the Anatolian ashik (minstrel) tradition inGermany, recorded thirteen albums and sevety-two singles during his career. His lyricsrecounted the cultural differences between Turks and Germans in an ironic way.

[2] Arabesque is a genre of music native to Turkey. It is a blend of classical Turkish and folk musicmixed with Arab melodies. Arabesque became popular as a product of domestic migrationfrom rural to metropolitan areas that occurred in Turkey in the late 1960s. Addressed by andlarge to the urban poor, the lyrics are often pessimistic, referring to themes such as impossiblelove, endless problems, despair, and disappointment.

[3] Baglama is a stringed musical instrument shared by various cultures in the EasternMediterranean, Near East, and Central Asia. It is one of the key musical instruments ofAnatolian folk music and the ashik tradition.

[4] Rafet El Roman, a second-generation German-Turkish musician, was born in 1968. Afterstarting his career with stage performances in Germany, he returned to Turkey in 1995 andreleased his first solo album. The album was a huge success, and his popularity increased alongwith successive albums in the 1990s.

[5] Ismail YK (Ismail Yurtseven), a Turkish pop singer and composer, was born in Germany in1978. With the Yurtseven Kardesler (Yurtseven Brothers) he released two amateur albums inGermany, in 1985 and 1987. He became famous in Turkey in 2004 after the release of his firstsolo album, which sold more than a million copies.

[6] Asık Veysel Satıroglu (1894–1973) was a Turkish minstrel and highly regarded poet in theTurkish folk tradition. He is considered the most important exemplars of the Anatolian ashiksin the twentieth century.

[7] Berliner Mete Eksi was killed in a street fight in 1991 when he was 19 years old. He became asymbol in immigrant communities of the struggle against racism and discrimination.

[8] Bahar Kızıl (winner of Popstars Germany in 2006), Rnbesk vocalist Muhabbet (who rose tonumber 15 on the music charts), and the fusion band Olivinn (recipient of the jury’s specialprize at “Junge Ohren” in 2011), are but a few examples.

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Notes on Contributors

Serhat Guney has worked extensively on radio listenership, immigrant media, andmusic. His PhD thesis from the Marmara University, Istanbul (2007) is an

organizational study focusing on radio producers and DJs in terms of theirrelationships with listeners. He is lecturing on broadcasting history and music use inmedia. Dr. Guney (Assc. Prof.) is currently lecturing at Galatasaray University.

Cem Pekman is a professor at the communications faculty of Kocaeli University. He is

lecturing on broadcasting history, broadcasting systems and media policy. He is theauthor and editor of three books, Private Television: The Transformation Process of

European Broadcasting, The Music of Image, The Image of Music, and Ertem Egilmez: AFilm Man; and author of several book chapters. His articles are mainly on

broadcasting history and policy in Turkey and Europe, film music, advertising andproduct placement.

Bulent Kabas is a research assistant at Marmara University, Istanbul. He is studyingon youth subcultures in the context of cultural globalization. His PhD thesis is an

ethnographic research on the popularization of youth subcultures. He is recentlyworking on ‘Apache Music and Culture’, a popularized subculture among suburb

youth in recent years.

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