Freedom of artistic expression

Here on ATS we often talk about freedom of speech and what is allowed and what is not. So i want to introduce a song to my dear ats members that is currently being discussed in Germany. The composer and singer Danger Dan (German Rapper) is what many here would call an classic and real 'Antifa' - he is a very committed antifacist.

Here are the lyrics (moderately well translated). I have added notes for better understanding. Please first read and then listen (its a pretty good song musically).

This is all covered by the freedom of artistic expression

So now let's be speculative
Suppose I wrote once a song
In whose i sing that i find most personally
Jürgen Elsässer* is antisemite (*From 1990 to 2002 Elsässer represented anti-German, and from 2003 anti-imperialist positions in the German radical left. Since then, he has gradually turned more and more to right-wing populism and right-wing extremism. Since 2016, he has positioned Compact as an election campaign organ for the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. He advocates anti-American, homophobic, racist, nationalist and conspiracy ideological positions, which he wants to spread as widely as possible with a cross-front. Some of his statements are classified as anti-Semitic.)
And in the second part of the first verse then
I would make the bow to Kubitschek* (Götz Kubitschek is a German publisher, publicist and political activist of the New Right.)
And by that i meant not only the rhetorical figure
But the sports equipment that can shoot arrows

Legally, the gray zone would be reached
But in court i made it easy again
Indicate me and I open a sparkling wine
This is all covered by the freedom of artistic expression

So now completely speculatively
I use quite consciously rather the subjunctive
I wrote a text that in conflict with the law
Claims that Gauland* is a reptilian (Alexander Gauland has served as leader of the German political party Alternative for Germany (AfD). Especially during the 2017 federal election campaign, Gauland's statements were repeatedly perceived as racist and revisionist. According to a study presented in January 2019, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution attests to Gauland's "völkisch-nationalistische Gesellschaftsbilder". By "defaming those who are not part of his own upgraded group," he violates Article 3 of the German Constitution.)
And suppose that the text culminated in
A call to free the world from the fascists
And to beat them back into their holes and so forth
Instead of spreading roses on their way

Legally the gray area would be reached
But in court i made it easy again
Indicate me and i open a champagne
It's all covered by the freedom of artistic expression

Perhaps you have heard of Ken Jebsen* (Jebsen mainly publishes "alternative views" and conspiracy theories, such as about the 9/11 attack and the COVID-19 pandemic. YouTube closed his account permanently on January 22 2021 for repeated publications of COVID-19 misinformation despite warnings and previous blocks.)
Who always complains very loud about censorship
In one of my band's lyrics he thought he was being mentioned
And insulted and dragged us to court
He was of course not in the right and then had to
pay the court costs and lawyer
Such a ridiculous man, i hope he tries again
What would happen then?
I can tell you:

Legally the gray area would be reached
But in court I'd make it easy again
Show me up and I'll open a glass of champagne
It's all covered by the freedom of artistic expression

No, I wouldn't really be Danger Dan
If I didn't want to try an experiment
To test the limits of what is allowed and what is forbidden
And I want to tell you my opinion here
Jürgen Elsässer is an anti-Semite
Kubitschek is lucky i don't shoot a bow
Only those who are insane believe in reptilians
Gauland also seems more like a national socialist
Fascists never stop being fascists
One does not discuss with them, history has shown
And you don't trust in the state and the police state
Because the Office for the Protection of the Constitution helped to build up the NSU* (National Socialist Underground: a series of murders of nine immigrants of Turkish, Greek and Kurdish descent between 9 September 2000 and 6 April 2006; the murder of a policewoman and attempted murder of her colleague; a 1999 bombing in Nuremberg; the 2001 and 2004 Cologne bombings; and a series of 14 bank robberies. The Attorney General of Germany called the NSU a "right-wing extremist group whose purpose was to kill foreigners, and citizens of foreign origin".)
Because the police themselves have always been occupied by Nazis
Because they tied up Oury Jalloh* and set him on fire *Oury Jalloh was an asylum seeker who died in a fire in a police cell in Dessau, Germany. The hands and feet of Jalloh, who was alone in the cell, were tied to a mattress. A fire alarm went off, but was initially turned off without further action by an officer. The case caused national and international outrage.)
And if you can't fight violence peacefully
The last resort we all have is militancy

Legally, the gray area has been reached
But in court I'll make it easy again
Indicate me and I open a champagne
It's all covered by the freedom of artistic expression.

There is currently neither an charge nor censorship of this song. And that is a good sign! But i know that some here see it differently. I would be interested in your opinion.

a reply to: oloufo
Oh look a rapper with bullets and an AK, how refreshing but I guess it's art. It's art that the number of bullets he shows is the same number of people he raps about.

The song is full of hidden threats and calls for violence, I am sure he got it checked by some law-twisters but it's very very close to death threats. If I would tell you "You are lucky I don't shoot bows" and waive an AK, would you laugh about it or would you be concerned?

The guy has talent but he wastes it on political ideology. He choose a very easy flow pattern to work with though, low hanging fruits. Preparing an AK after telling everyone he hopes that Ken Jebsen sues him again, yeah that's really tasteful.

Since I gave you my opinion it would be nice to get yours on this question:

- What are your thoughts on Ken Jebsen and that his channel got shot down in January?



Add: Clear call for violence at the end, will you condone it just like you did with Trumps "call for violence" or will you find a sketchy reason that this is somehow different?

originally posted by: ThatDamnDuckAgain
a reply to: oloufo
Oh look a rapper with bullets and an AK, how refreshing but I guess it's art. It's art that the number of bullets he shows is the same number of people he raps about.

The song is full of hidden threats and calls for violence, I am sure he got it checked by some law-twisters but it's very very close to death threats. If I would tell you "You are lucky I don't shoot bows" and waive an AK, would you laugh about it or would you be concerned?

The guy has talent but he wastes it on political ideology. He choose a very easy flow pattern to work with though, low hanging fruits. Preparing an AK after telling everyone he hopes that Ken Jebsen sues him again, yeah that's really tasteful.

Since I gave you my opinion it would be nice to get yours on this question:

- What are your thoughts on Ken Jebsen and that his channel got shot down in January?



Add: Clear call for violence at the end, will you condone it just like you did with Trumps "call for violence" or will you find a sketchy reason that this is somehow different?

thanks for your response.
i had a discussion with jebsen by email maybe ten years ago or so. at that time i found his show quite interesting. but he has become radicalized in the last few years and in my opinion has drifted away. i must admit that i have lost track of him a bit. the reason youtube deleted his account was probably because he violated guidelines.

as for the call for violence. that's what this song is about. where are the limits? how far are you allowed to go? that's why he says a lot of things in the subjunctive, in order to protect himself legally. but at the end of the song he says his opinion. and what did he mean with his call? violence as the last option. the allied forces certainly wouldn't have defeated nazi germany with roses. that's what he means. the guy condemns any form of physical violence.

originally posted by: ThatDamnDuckAgain
a reply to: oloufo
Oh look a rapper with bullets and an AK, how refreshing but I guess it's art. It's art that the number of bullets he shows is the same number of people he raps about.

The song is full of hidden threats and calls for violence, I am sure he got it checked by some law-twisters but it's very very close to death threats. If I would tell you "You are lucky I don't shoot bows" and waive an AK, would you laugh about it or would you be concerned?

The guy has talent but he wastes it on political ideology. He choose a very easy flow pattern to work with though, low hanging fruits. Preparing an AK after telling everyone he hopes that Ken Jebsen sues him again, yeah that's really tasteful.

Since I gave you my opinion it would be nice to get yours on this question:

- What are your thoughts on Ken Jebsen and that his channel got shot down in January?



Add: Clear call for violence at the end, will you condone it just like you did with Trumps "call for violence" or will you find a sketchy reason that this is somehow different?

Jebsen sued the band because of this song:

a reply to: oloufo

I have found him to be a rational person, I didn't follow him in the last months though. Last I watched from him was that interview with Jean-Pierre Krämer.

His channel was canceled because of COVID-19 misinformation. The problem I have with such measures is that YT does not say what the misinformation was. YT can ban who they want, without note and that's their right.

But I would like to see from them, when they tag something as misinformation, that they at least tell us what the misinformation was. The way it's done now is just cencorship and fuels more conspiracy.



About the call for violence. I see it differently. He uses his disclaimers about art and he makes no secret about why. I don't buy into the sneaky philosophy of makeing threats and then say it's art.

You are German just like me, we don't live in NAZI Germany. Our biggest problem IS that we can not voice our opinion without being tagged to negative things on a lot of topics. People lack the horizont to grasp this.

For example when I tell others that the cultural mindset of a lot of North African countries is not compatible with our western, good hearted approach then this is racist for a lot of people. But a lot of people never have been in any north African country, and if, they were lazy at a hotel beach. Very few really go out and dive deeper into a culture and it's treats.

A lot of those people have zero issues lieing to you because their religion allows and encourages them to. For them, you, me, we are all godless weaklings. They smile into your face because you're bringing in the money as a tourist. They call you friend but what they want is access to your purse and how many Egyptians wanted to marry me because they "love me".

I once did that stupid thing where I was supposed to be taxied directly to Kairo International Airport. What did young J do? Right, gave the driver 20 Egyptian pound to drive me to downtown market after we arrived at the airport. I was clothed how I was supposed to, almost no skin, hair covered. Still I got grabbed violently at the cheeks from little boys. Other women would throw spiteful views. I was 16 years old and this was the most dumbest and dangerous thing to do.

People there can not afford the fuzzy hearted mindset we Europeans are used to. It's a environmental and cultural thing. And if I was in their situation, I would scramble to a country where my kids won't starve, too. But we are so different.

When I still worked for someone else, the boss would give out chances to such people. After the fourth in one year, he gave up. We never needed signs on the toilets what to do. We never had someone # on the lid before. We never had someone piss right besides the toilet. We never had to mop up the floor because someone was washing their asshole with a cut open bottle of water and making a mess.

This is just the human-human interaction, wait until I tell you some stories about work moral or valuing private stuff at work. About female customers and how they treat them. About honesty.

I was so glad that we did not have unisex toilets.


Don't get me wrong, I embrace differences, I am a Italo-German mud, former neigbor was from Africa, nice guy, completely different than what I described above. There are others but the majority doesn't paint a good picture. I had German-Russian school friends, Kasachstan, Mongolia, a few Turkish too.

The dignity of every human is untouchable. I treat others like I want to be treated, yet I was called a NAZI bitch here and in real life. Because people lack the horizont and capacity to just listen to someone, compile the said and then think.

A lot of people just listen to find something to react for, not listening and really hearing what someone says. It's evident in their looks when they found a word to hang up on. You can see the wheels start to turn and then they repeat that word with a fat questionmark in the intonage and imply stuff you never said.