Berlin, anno 2017. Everyday life is characterized by an atmosphere of doom and gloom—rent prices continue to climb; indistinguishable neighborhood institutions are being replaced by temples of consumerism; the city’s famous/infamous nightlife is now, most of all, catered to tourists. You can choose to see the city’s condition this pessimistically, but you don’t have to. You can also do as the North Berliner (Weddinger, to be exact) Shacke One does and chill in a wading pool sipping on a Sterni, throw back wine from the box, and haunt subway tunnels all night long. Yup, that other Berlin—that raw, devious, anarchist, rule- and institution-skeptical paradise for male and female homies alike—still exists.  Hardly anyone embodies today’s version of this Berlin better than Shacke One, who renounces a mandate for innovation in a contemporary hip hop and instead delivers verbal ammunition over vinyl-sampled funk and soul beats with a superior microphone presence. It’s known to some as battle rap.

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