Diasporic Music in Transition: Turkish Immigrant Performers on the Stage of “Multikulti” Berlin

Abstract

This article examines the dynamics of music production by German-Turkish youth in Berlin. Taking into consideration the changes that globalism has wrought on the conditions 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 in addition 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, which evoked a tenacious, diasporic spirit, the music of younger generations is more flexible, open and integrated and accommodates rather than rejects differences.

Acknowledgements

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

Notes

^[1] Metin Türköz, one of the first representatives of the Anatolian ashik (minstrel) tradition in Germany, recorded thirteen albums and sevety-two singles during his career. His lyrics recounted 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 music mixed with Arab melodies. Arabesque became popular as a product of domestic migration from rural to metropolitan areas that occurred in Turkey in the late 1960s. Addressed by and large to the urban poor, the lyrics are often pessimistic, referring to themes such as impossible love, endless problems, despair, and disappointment.

^[3] Bağlama is a stringed musical instrument shared by various cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean, Near East, and Central Asia. It is one of the key musical instruments of Anatolian folk music and the ashik tradition.

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

^[5] İsmail YK (İsmail Yurtseven), a Turkish pop singer and composer, was born in Germany in 1978. With the Yurtseven Kardeşler (Yurtseven Brothers) he released two amateur albums in Germany, in 1985 and 1987. He became famous in Turkey in 2004 after the release of his first solo album, which sold more than a million copies.

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

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

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Serhat Güney

Serhat Güney has worked extensively on radio listenership, immigrant media, and music. His PhD thesis from the Marmara University, Istanbul (2007) is an organizational study focusing on radio producers and DJs in terms of their relationships with listeners. He is lecturing on broadcasting history and music use in media. Dr. Güney (Assc. Prof.) is currently lecturing at Galatasaray University.

Cem Pekman

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 the author and editor of three books, Private Television: The Transformation Process of European Broadcasting, The Music of Image, The Image of Music, and Ertem Eğilmez: A Film Man; and author of several book chapters. His articles are mainly on broadcasting history and policy in Turkey and Europe, film music, advertising and product placement.

Bülent Kabaş

Bülent Kabaş is a research assistant at Marmara University, Istanbul. He is studying on youth subcultures in the context of cultural globalization. His PhD thesis is an ethnographic research on the popularization of youth subcultures. He is recently working on ‘Apache Music and Culture’, a popularized subculture among suburb youth in recent years.