Dad on stage – Rapper Bushido celebrates comeback in Berlin
Published: Friday, Mar 22nd 2024, 01:00
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Former Berlin gangster rapper, now head of the family in Dubai: Bushido has returned to Europe for what is officially his last tour. The father of seven let it rip at his first concert in Berlin.
"I'm sweating because I've become an old, fat man," said rapper Bushido on stage. The 45-year-old performed his music for the first time in eight years. He was back in his old, not entirely unencumbered home of Berlin for a short time on Thursday evening - for the start of his "König für immer!" tour.
In two and a half hours, the former gangster rapper ("Sonnenbank Flavour") gave his fans what they had been missing for eight years. Meanwhile, a lot has happened in the musician's life. Four of his seven biological children - Aaliyah, Djibrail, Laila and Issa - took to the stage, twice. And the audience celebrated.
Mixed reactions
"I think it's great how much he's developed," said a 28-year-old fangirl. "He's grown up, and so have I. I got what I was longing for today - even if he could have played a few more classics." A 36-year-old woman from Leipzig, on the other hand, was rather disappointed: "Expectations were high and what you got was very little. There wasn't even any merch. And it's a concert, not a family event."
The concert started on time and without an opening act. Perhaps because it was second streamed on RTL+. Maybe because the rapper's whole family, including his two-year-old triplets - with ear protection and nannies - were in the audience. "I'm so excited! Daddy's coming now!" said Bushido's wife Anna-Maria as she waited with her daughter on her lap for the performance to begin. She filmed this scene herself for her Instagram account, where she had been promoting the tour for weeks.
Family business as salvation
The fact that the Berlin gangster rapper, whose real name is Anis Ferchichi, has become a father through and through becomes clear time and again. He explained to the audience exactly how they should wave their arms from left to right and back to left to the beat and asked: "Can you do that? I'll help you."
The 45-year-old has been living in Dubai for just over a year and a half - with his large family. They will accompany him on the entire tour. His wife, a sister of pop singer Sarah Connor, as well as their seven children and nannies live on the tour buses for weeks at a time.
"My greatest wish was to have a family," he said very softly in a clip. The man who has been working on changing his image for years with family podcasts and family documentaries no longer looks like the rapper known to the police from the past.
Despite image change: Bushido still involved in lawsuits
Bushido is under police protection in Germany. In the podcast "In bed with Anna-Maria and Anis Ferchichi", he said that he was living in isolation in a hotel before the start of the tour. Neither the organizers nor the police wanted to comment on the security measures taken during the concert.
Most recently, Bushido was in the headlines mainly because of several court cases. His manager Arafat Abou-Chaker was acquitted in court in mid-February, but the public prosecutor's office lodged an appeal. Bushido was a witness and joint plaintiff in the criminal proceedings. A large part of the accusations were based on his statements.
New album soon - but when?
On Friday, Bushido will continue his tour to Leipzig, and from there to several other German cities as well as Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg. After the tour - officially the last in Europe - the musician also plans to release a new album.
It was originally supposed to be called "Rex in aeternum" - the Latin version of the title of his tour. In his podcast "Electro Ghetto" in January, he announced: "I'm definitely going to rename the album." The release date for the new record is not yet known. "In my music, I deal a lot with revenge and payback stories," he announced in an interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
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