Ruhrpott AG (RAG) was a German hip hop group formed 1996 in Bochum.

… 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

Ragtime
RAG Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Ich flieg' zurück zu den Siebziger Jahren,
In denen zwei Konservenbüchsen am Bindfaden
Als Stelzen mein Gewicht noch tragen,
Sie mich im Kindergarten und im Stadtbad fragen,
Ob sie mal fühlen dürfen an meinen komischen Afrohaaren.
Metallic-Lackfarben auf dem Bonanza und dem Klappradrahmen,
Möbel nussbraun und leuchtend orange aussahen,
Tapeten Fotos sein mussten, psychedelisch gemustert waren,

Musterknaben die Regel waren, Mädels nie Sex vor der ersten Regel haben.
Kids mit 'ner Tüte Wassereis 'n Tag auskamen,
Abends Barbapapa im Schwarzweissfernseher sahen,
Für den im Anschluss dieses Striche-Tennis-Spiel auf den Markt kam,
Wir Fastfoodketten wahrnahmen, die Typen wie Wallraff als Gefahr sahen.
Das Ende der Zeit als Kumpels nach der Arbeit von 'Ganz Unten' kamen,
Sich Popstars auf Plateauschuhen ihren Weg durch den Glamrock bahnen.
Im Gegensatz zur Münchner Olympiade, friedlich wie Marley.
Schleier fällt durch Widerstand der Roten Armee.
Ich seh', dass Wagen stylige Karosserien haben
Und nicht so viele von ihnen auf unseren Strassen fahren,
die Zeiten mit den harten Sitzen in den Strassenbahnen
Und keine hitzeroten Tags auf ihnen und Sandsteinfassaden.
Was kommt jetzt als nächstes, wie Lava aus dem Lampenladen?
Im Dschungel der Erinnerung bewegen wir uns wie auf Trampelfaden!

Cuts: Into the future! This is Ragtime! Hey little brother! This one's for you!
Factual acts come to actual facts!
Ich weiss noch genau, wie das alles begann! Time keeps on slippin!
Right away! Rhyme after rhyme after rhyme! This is Ragtime!

Hier ist mein Rückblick auf ein verträumtes Jahrzehnt,
In dem ich eigentlich gern tanzen wollte, wie Leroy für Fame.
Gehör' nämlich zu denen, die konnten Beatstreet im Kino sehen,
Gerad' mit zehn. Besser konnt' man mir's nicht in die Wiege legen.
Hip Hop macht mich an seit den frühen Achtzigern.
Nicht der Aerobic Stulpen Eisi Gulp vom Ferienprogramm.
Ich mein', so'n Breakdancelehrer für die Eightees-Ära, das wär' ja gegangen. Zumindest Mister Robot war erwartungsgemäss da mein Mann.
Abgesehen von Tanzeinlagen in den Einkaufsstrassen
Zur Taschengeldaufbesserung, so war's an heissen Tagen.
In der Disco im Rollerdrome und den Eislaufphasen
War Highlight das Flash und die Furious Five beim Formel Eins auftraten.
Das war Illmann und hatte nichts zu tun mit Rennwagen,
Die kannte man wenn dann gerade als Bilder auf Quartettkarten.
Von Fussball traümte ich,
Obwohl im Rummenigge-Bettlaken nicht mehr so häufig.
Das änderte sich bis heut nicht.
Deutlich anders also lief's mit der Liebe zur Musik,
Die mich nie wieder verliess, seitdem man den Disc Jockey DJ rief.
Sass ich wochenlang zu Hause, mit 'nem Tape auf Rec. und Pause,
Doch ausser Hilwasum drie hatte mein Radio nie Rap im Auge.

Cuts: This is Ragtime! Hey little brother! This one's for you!
Factual acts come to actual facts!
Ich weiss noch genau, wie das alles begann! Time keeps on slippin!
Right away! Rhyme after rhyme after rhyme! This is Ragtime!

Drähte laufen heiss, du bestellst uns wie Time Life.
Das Beste aus den letzten Jahren in Zellophan geschweisst.
Wurde neunzig volljährig, null Bock auf Afterhour,
Ellenlange Acidshower, war doch alles fauler Zauber.
Farben kamen anders auf, strömten per Knopfdruck aus Deocaps wie Credo,
Mein Chef liess keinen Deckel drauf.
Schwarzweiss-Kopien dienten uns als Magazin,
Lose Blätter, Fanzine, ohne festen Termin.
Mir schien, "Do the right thing" sollte mich weiterbringen.
Ich lad den Gettoblaster mit Lyrics wie Radio Raheem.
Der Dreifingerring war wieder in, dank Recycling.
Ziegenkinn und Body-Piercing waren nicht mein Ding.
Erste Anlaufphase ging in Richtung Vertikale:
Wir planten Untertage in der fünften Etage.
Erhöhten Auflagen, durchtraten Portale,
Verdrahten Daten wie auf Montage zu Kollagen.

Cuts: This is Ragtime! Hey little brother! This one's for you!
Factual acts come to actual facts!

Ich weiss noch genau, wie das alles begann! Time keeps on slippin! R
ight away! Rhyme after rhyme after rhyme! This is Ragtime!

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of RAG's song Ragtime take the listener on a journey through time, as the artist reminisces about the 70s and 80s. The song opens with the artist talking about how he flies back to the 70s in his mind, when he used to walk on stilts made of two tin cans tied together with a string. He describes the metallic colors of his bike frames and the furniture, the psychedelic patterns of the wallpapers and the rule-abiding school kids with no sex before marriage. He talks about the simpler times when kids were content with a water-ice for the day and watched Barbapapa on the black and white TV.

The song then progresses to the 80s, where the artist talks about his love for Hip Hop, which he discovered at the age of ten after watching the movie Beat Street. He reminisces about breakdancing under the sun for pocket money and going to the disco in the Rollerdrome or the ice skating rink. He talks about his love for music in general, spending weeks at home with his tape recorder, and his Radio which barely played rap. The song features cuts throughout its runtime which highlight the message of the lyrics- the importance of memory, the progression of time, and the power of music.

Line by Line Meaning

Ich flieg' zurück zu den Siebziger Jahren,
I am revisiting the 70s, where two cans tied together with string were enough to support my weight like stilts, and where the kids in kindergarten and the public pool asked to touch my afro hair.

Metallic-Lackfarben auf dem Bonanza und dem Klappradrahmen,
I remember the metallic paint on my Bonanza bike and folding bike frame, and how the furniture was either walnut brown or bright orange, with psychedelic patterned wallpaper.

Kids mit 'ner Tüte Wassereis 'n Tag auskamen,
Back then, we were content with a bag of water ice for the whole day, and we watched Barbapapa in black-and-white TV until the next episode of Pong was released.

Das Ende der Zeit als Kumpels nach der Arbeit von 'Ganz Unten' kamen,
I recall how my friends used to come from work at 'Ganz Unten,' and how pop stars with platform shoes were making their way through glam rock, as if to come out on top of the Munich Olympics or in competition against Bob Marley, who was promoting peace through his music.

Ich seh', dass Wagen stylige Karosserien haben
I notice that cars now have stylish designs, and that there aren't as many hard-surfaced streetcars on the road as before, nor the same amount of red tags on street signs and sandstone facades.

Was kommt jetzt als nächstes, wie Lava aus dem Lampenladen?
What new changes are looming on the horizon? Are we going to see something as drastic as molten lava pouring out of a lamp store?

Hier ist mein Rückblick auf ein verträumtes Jahrzehnt,
This is a look back on a dreamy decade, where I longed to dance like Leroy in Fame and where hip hop has been a source of inspiration since the early 80s.

Hip Hop macht mich an seit den frühen Achtzigern.
Hip hop has turned me on since the early 80s, when it was more about DJing and breakdancing than aerobic routines or figure-hugging lycra.

Von Fussball traümte ich, obwohl im Rummenigge-Bettlaken nicht mehr so häufig.
I dreamed of playing football, even though I didn't get to sleep as often under my Rummenigge bedspread.

Drähte laufen heiss, du bestellst uns wie Time Life.
The phone lines are hot, as you order our stuff just like you would with Time Life compilations.

Wurde neunzig volljährig, null Bock auf Afterhour,
When I turned 90, I had no interest in after-hours partying or lengthy acid showers, as I realized it was all just a kind of lazy-daisy hocus-pocus.

Mir schien, "Do the right thing" sollte mich weiterbringen.
I felt that watching the film 'Do the Right Thing' should give me some insight into the right course of action.

Erhöhten Auflagen, durchtraten Portale,
Our circulation went up as we explored new portals and wired together collages from disparate sources, in a frenzied rush of creativity and inspiration.

Contributed by Hannah A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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