ZweiundVierzig XVIII

Deutsches Haus at NYU presents, ZweiundVierzig (42), a monthly playlist that explores German music in a transatlantic dialogue with the trends occurring in the contemporary American music industry. What kind of music is popular in the German-speaking world? What does the demographic of the performers/artists say about the political, social, and cultural shifts in the German-speaking countries? What parallels can be drawn between these countries, and what kind of parallel terminology, slang, and themes have developed? What differences are immediately apparent? From urban music, to rap and trap; to rock, pop, and techno; to dancehall, reggae, and bossa nova, etc.; ZweiundVierzig has something for all preferences and is an incredible resource for any language learner or music lover.

Why 42?
ZweiundVierzig, a stylization of the German word for forty-two (42), is the address of Deutsches Haus at NYU (DH), as well as the answer to everything, according to some.

Why do you only update once monthly?
Deutsches Haus at NYU has a full program from cultural events to language classes, but a really small team. Depending on the amount of traction and follows these playlists receive, we'll try to update more frequently. For now, we'll take it slow.

I don't have Spotify! How can I listen?
We'll screenshot the playlist below with every update. That way you can use whatever other streaming service you have: YouTube, Apple, Deezer, Tidal etc.

Why not just add the Spotify widget?
NYU is working on making this possible for our interface. Please bear with our alternate display for the time being.

Where can I find past playlists? 

You can find them on our Spotify page linked above and below. At the top of the page, you'll also find a tab that serves as a drop-down menu for past playlists. You can scroll through from editions five to the present. Unfortunately, archiving only started post episode five. However, when we're back in office, we'll work on getting those pages up as well. 

Disclaimers: *Explicit content*
The ideas, terminologies, and views expressed in these songs are not shared by Deutsches Haus at NYU or its team.

Welcome back to ZweiundVierzig (42)! Our update last month was our first ever Recommends, which you can view here. This month, we're back to our usual shenanigans, presenting a new edition of our German-language playlist. This edition is our eighteenth! It's a memorable age for those in the US and across the Atlantic! To celebrate, we're going back to our roots! No theme this edition, just a compilation of brand new releases to see what's changed in the German soundscape, and oooooooooooo is there good news! 

There is new talent springing up left and right in the German-speaking world! It seems like the past two years, however unfortunate, meant a lot more people were left to their own (musical) devices. Not only that, but many of these artists are women (of various identities) spaninng a few different genres! Let's recall that our first few editions were lacking severely on female presence. Well, not today Satan! Below are a few of our stand-out artists in this edition.

AYLIVA opens up the playlist with an amazing pop-ballad, "Während du." The epicness of the track can't be missed. Madeline Juno brings in rock elements with "November." Teven,  Aisha Vibes, and CHAN LE bring rap to the table, all three of which are new rappers on the scene, but some of which already have EP's out.  IMMI, whose name comes from the shortening of the word "immigrant," and who has also only been active since last year despite his already hefty catalog of work, brings one of the two catchier pop tracks to this playlist: "project x." The other is "Paris" by Mathea. Something about her love-drunk "la la la la" lyrics always hypnotize us! "Melodie" by Soba, who started releasing works (two exactly) this year, is also sure to cause a stir. Laslty, and not just because he's cut off from our screenshot below (that Spotify update changed everything!), Schmyt, whose song "Ich wünschte, du wärst verloren" closes out this playlist. His voice and pained annunciation are truly irresistable, and we're not the only ones who think so. He recently did a Colors show with this track, which you can enjoy here.     

We hope you enjoy this edition of ZweiundVierzig (42)! Bis bald!