… Read Full Bio ↴Ruhrpott AG (RAG) was a German hip hop group formed 1996 in Bochum.
RAG first found recognition in the German hip hop scene in 1998, with the album Unter Tage. The second and final album Pottential followed in 2001. RAG's music was characterised by profound, poetical lyrics containing numerous similes, and by relatively restrained, often heavy and melancholic beats.
Ruhrpott is local slang for the heavily industrialised Ruhr Area of northwest Germany, and the abbreviation AG (Aktiengesellschaft) is equivalent to "plc".
Formation
RAG arose from two earlier (and still active) hip hop collectives in the Ruhr Area: Filo Joes (with the two MCs Pahel and Galla) and Raid (MC Aphroe and DJ Mr. Wiz). Mr. Wiz is from Oberhausen, rather than directly from Bochum, and Aphroe is originally from Herne. Both groups have been active in the hip hop scene since the early 1990s.
Raid and Filo Joes encountered each other at jams and other events – they discovered they were linked by a similar mentality, and decided to make music together under the name "Ruhrpott AG". One of their earliest recordings (although not actually released until it appeared on their second album) was the original version of Tief im Westen: a stream of emotions, associations, similes and metaphors concerning the band's native region, the "Ruhrpott", painting a multi-layered and often contradictory but nevertheless affectionate picture.
After two albums the members of RAG went their separate ways in 2003. Pahel and Galla released solo albums on different labels (entitled Natur des Menschen and Swing Kid respectively), while Aphroe, who has stated on his MySpace that there will not be a third RAG album, is also pursuing a solo career. His first solo album 90 was released in 2012.
Galla died in 2011 at the age of 38 after suffering from cerebral infarction.
Lyrics and music
RAG's lyrics and beats, particularly on Unter Tage, conveyed a fairly heavy and melancholic mood, with the band members expressing their feelings about their lives in the Ruhr Area. Their complex use of language, dense with imagery, excurred at times into fantasy. They frequently used metaphors, often relating to their self-knowledge and also their place in the world, for example in the hip hop industry. The second album, Pottential, expanded their range from the early heavy, dreamlike style towards a harder-edged, more concrete lyrical approach in which the storytelling was not always shrouded in indirect imagery.
Examples of this are Nackte Stadt and Pro & Contra (both from the second album). Nackte Stadt is a collage of thoughts and feelings from various city-dwellers, who are all connected by a web of relationships that none of them can see in full. Pro & Contra, another song with a noticeably harder sound than Unter Tage, is a wordplay which builds sentences through the association of words beginning with the syllables pro and kon.
Former members
Galla
Aphroe
Pahel
Mr. Wiz
Ohne Gewähr
RAG Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Das macht einen doch kaputt ey.
Wühl' mit Stil, mit Profil, hinterlässt siebte Zeichen,
jage Jahre durch Tagebücher, wälze gelbe Seiten.
Kopf oder Zahl, lass' das Schicksal entscheiden.
Schmeissen Summen in Wunschbrunnen,
bis Erfüllungen an die Oberfläche treiben.
(???) siegen, doch bescheiden bleiben.
Die Groschen sind gefallen, auf den Grund stiller Wasser,
rostige Almosen der Verfasser.
Gevatter Frost, der durch Eisrosen auf Kristallkugeln glotzt,
liest heimlich in meinem Kaffeesatz
reinigt mein (???),
zurück aus der zukunft, lass' Vergangenes ruhen.
Verdammtes was nun, wir sind raus aus unseren Kinderschuhen.
The lyrics of the song 'Ohne Gewähr' by RAG describe the struggles a person goes through in life, their search for meaning, and their attempts to make sense of their surroundings. The singer talks about how they dig deep to find meaning in their existence, sometimes by flipping through the pages of a diary, and sometimes by searching through the yellow pages of a telephone directory. They leave their mark wherever they go, and they let fate decide their destiny. They throw coins into a wishing well until their desires come true.
The singer acknowledges that in life, one must experience love and hate, happiness and sadness, success and failure. They must avoid the seven deadly sins, and learn to win with humility. The singer also reflects on the nature of money, describing it as rusty offerings from its creators. The singer mentions a character named 'Gevatter Frost,' who looks through ice crystals on crystal balls and examines coffee grounds in secret. This suggests that the singer is making references to spirituality and how they try to find guidance from the supernatural in their search for meaning.
Overall, the lyrics of 'Ohne Gewähr' delve into the complexities of life and how people make sense of their experiences, struggles and triumphs. The use of images and metaphors like coffee grounds, diary pages, and wish wells help to paint a vivid picture of the singer's journey.
Line by Line Meaning
Wühl' mit Stil, mit Profil, hinterlässt siebte Zeichen,
Search with style, with flair, leaving seventh signs,
jage Jahre durch Tagebücher, wälze gelbe Seiten.
Chase years through diaries, flip through yellow pages.
Kopf oder Zahl, lass' das Schicksal entscheiden.
Heads or tails, let fate decide.
Schmeissen Summen in Wunschbrunnen, bis Erfüllungen an die Oberfläche treiben.
Throw sums into wishing wells, until fulfillments surface.
Hassen, lieben, leiden, sieben Sünden meiden, siegen, doch bescheiden bleiben.
Hate, love, suffer, avoid seven sins, win, but remain humble.
Die Groschen sind gefallen, auf den Grund stiller Wasser, rostige Almosen der Verfasser.
The pennies have fallen to the bottom of still waters, rusty alms of the authors.
Gevatter Frost, der durch Eisrosen auf Kristallkugeln glotzt, liest heimlich in meinem Kaffeesatz
Comrade Frost, who gazes through ice roses on crystal balls, reads secretly in my coffee grounds.
reinigt mein (?), zurück aus der zukunft, lass' Vergangenes ruhen.
Cleanses my (?), back from the future, let the past rest.
Verdammtes was nun, wir sind raus aus unseren Kinderschuhen.
Damned what now, we are out of our childhood shoes.
Contributed by Lincoln S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Eva Krompholz
Unglaublich gut. Wird's nie mehr so geben.
Schrödingers Katzenparadies
Das ist das Gold meiner Jugend, lebt im Herzen immer weiter.
Der G
Ein lyrisches Meisterwerk.
Heutzutage können die sogenannten deutsch Rapper ja kaum noch vernünftig deutsch sprechen
Michael Rauch
@fresse halten Fresse halten
Funkaholic
@fresse halten check mal sichtexot und entourage, find morlock, Hiob usw aber auch top, auch wenn Drogen vorkommen. Gibt's aber dutzende andere, check einfach mal die label kataloge auf discogs und hör dich bisschen durch. Drogen, Gewalt als Thema ist für mich üblicherweise nicht das, was mich stört bei vielem im Rap, sondern die Art und Weise wie damit geprollt wird. Aber ka, bin selbst seit Anfang 2000 mit hip hop im Kontakt und 2010 und auch vorher haben sich einige kleine Label formiert die bis heute top quali liefern. Man muss halt nur bisschen abseits vom mainstream gucken
fresse halten
@Funkaholic Nenn mir mal bitte ein Paar MCs, welche ohne Drogen, Gewalt und Frauenfeindlichkeiten auskommen
Funkaholic
doch schon, guck halt nicht im mainstream
TheIncredibleHuKK
2021 immer noch ungeschlagen
Solay Artist
Still <3
bent0r
5490 Klicks =(
Rap in reinform!