Despite common notions of the Old School German hip hop's emulation of US hip hop styles and the New School's attempt to rap about crime and violence, some "Old SchoolersVon Dirke, S. (2000). "Hip Hop Made in Germany: From Old School to the Kanaksta Movement.” German Pop Culture." feel that the New School has, in fact, forgotten about its roots. Old School supporters and Scholars disagree on the nature of the recent transformation in German hip hop. Scholars have argued that the Old School German hip hop "scene was musically and vocally oriented to American role models. Rhymes were written in English; funk and soul samples dominated musical structures".Elflein, D. (1998). "From Krauts with Attitudes to Turks with Attitudes: Some Aspects of Hip-Hop History in Germany." Popular Music, Vol. 17(3); 257 However, Old Schoolers themselves contend that it is the New School German rap artists who have been "Americanized," and therefore lack the authenticity of the struggle of the ghetto in West Germany. The German old school acknowledged that there were many differences between the situation in the United States and the situation in Germany, and aimed at expressing the concept of "realness," meaning to "be true to oneself". Different from the US hip hop's equating "realness" with a tougher "street credibility," many raps that came out of the old school German hip hop "address this issue and reject unreflected imitation of US hip hop as clichés and as the betrayal of the concept of realness". Furthermore, the Old School of German hip hop may have been seen as representing "a critique of White America" because of its modeling after US hip hop; however, Old schoolers dispute that hip hop in Germany was about the oppression of people in Germany. One Old School artist, DJ Cutfaster lamented that, "Most people have forgotten that hip hop functions as a mouthpiece against violence and oppression and ultimately against the ghetto, which has become the metaphor for the deplorable state of our world". Contrary to the New School hip hop's attempts to crossover into the mainstream popular culture, the Old School "envisioned and propagated hip hop as an underground community that needed to keep its distance from and to create resistance to mainstream culture in order to avoid co-optation".
Despite common notions of the Old School German hip hop's emulation of US hip hop styles and the New School's attempt to rap about crime and violence, some "Old SchoolersVon Dirke, S. (2000). "Hip Hop Made in Germany: From Old School to the Kanaksta Movement.” German Pop Culture." feel that the New School has, in fact, forgotten about its roots. Old School supporters and Scholars disagree on the nature of the recent transformation in German hip hop. Scholars have argued that the Old School German hip hop "scene was musically and vocally oriented to American role models. Rhymes were written in English; funk and soul samples dominated musical structures".Elflein, D. (1998). "From Krauts with Attitudes to Turks with Attitudes: Some Aspects of Hip-Hop History in Germany." Popular Music, Vol. 17(3); 257 However, Old Schoolers themselves contend that it is the New School German rap artists who have been "Americanized," and therefore lack the authenticity of the struggle of the ghetto in West Germany. The German old school acknowledged that there were many differences between the situation in the United States and the situation in Germany, and aimed at expressing the concept of "realness," meaning to "be true to oneself". Different from the US hip hop's equating "realness" with a tougher "street credibility," many raps that came out of the old school German hip hop "address this issue and reject unreflected imitation of US hip hop as clichés and as the betrayal of the concept of realness". Furthermore, the Old School of German hip hop may have been seen as representing "a critique of White America" because of its modeling after US hip hop; however, Old schoolers dispute that hip hop in Germany was about the oppression of people in Germany One Old School artist, DJ Cutfaster lamented that, "Most people have forgotten that hip hop functions as a mouthpiece against violence and oppression and ultimately against the ghetto, which has become the metaphor for the deplorable state of our world". Contrary to the New School hip hop's attempts to crossover into the mainstream popular culture, the Old School "envisioned and propagated hip hop as an underground community that needed to keep its distance from and to create resistance to mainstream culture in order to avoid co-optation".