Swag is Something We All Got
Written by Andi Schmitz
Photos by Jacek Krupa
Check out the UP Podcast Episode on Swag Jam Here
Hip-hop is an elusive genre in a city like Berlin, where techno DJs and events monopolize the clubs and Späti stereos. The countercultural sibling to graffiti, hip-hop’s beginnings are undoubtedly rooted in the fabric of the U.S. and its heavily urbanized and underfunded spaces. Despite the city’s heavy techno influence, a hip-hop open mic night has flourished in a small corner of Berlin for the past 12 years. The Swag Jam, hosted by the six members of the Swag band at Badehaus in the R.A.W. Gelände, has successfully brought together people looking for the undulating beat and referential harmonies of hip-hop, rap, R&B, and afrobeat music.
The Swag opens up the show every Tuesday with improvised jamming and melodic freestyle raps, warming up the audience with some crowd work; when they say, “Swag Jam,” you say, “Yeah, yeah!” Up next is whatever special guest they have arranged; acts vary from female African choir performers and German rappers from Frankfurt to female African-American R&B singers. The one constant is the talent that is showcased on the Badehaus stage. To follow is the open mic portion of the evening, where anyone from the audience can go on stage and showcase their talent. Rappers from Poland, Mexico, Italy, etc. can perform in their native languages, and flutists and saxophone players back up various artists, making us question why there aren’t more brass instruments in hip-hop music. The energy on the humble Badehaus stage is palpable; the Swag love what they are doing, and the audience members reflect their enthusiasm.
The diversity of the performers and audience members is incredible, with everyone coming together to enjoy music and dancing. Frequent Swag Jam attendee Lotte says, “Every Tuesday when I’m here at Swag, I can just let go of the burdens I carry around all week and lose myself in the music and the passion of the artists.” The event and the space emulate the Berlin spirit of collaboration and community.
The band members are as diverse as the guests they host, hailing from Miami, Nigeria, and Germany. R.A.H., or Rapturous.Apollo.Helios and King Solomon, a.k.a. Smonobaby, both from Nigeria, lead with their powerful voices, R.A.H. lending his dynamic rhymes, and King Solomon supporting with sometimes smooth, sometimes booming vocals. SugBear can often stun the audience with his insane guitar riffs, shredding shoeless on stage, swinging his beaded braids around, and losing himself in the music. Jan “Stixonspeed” Pfennig throws down on drums, banging out beats that lift up the group’s often improvised performances, vigorously supporting the open-mic performers regardless of the set. Roy Danger shines on the keyboard, picking out unique off-the-cuff melodies, and Martin Buhl on bass cooly holds down the rhythm with his steady pulse. Danger and Buhl take over the responsibility of music directors one and two, respectively, along with audio engineer Jochen Ströh. Former founding members include Stefan Fuhr on bass and Afromaniac as the MPC/Sampler.
The venue Badehaus can be found in the R.A.W. Gelände, or “terrain,” between the southern Berlin neighborhood of Friedrichshain and Warschauer Brücke. R.A.W. has been a pivotal space for the city’s infamous club scene and home to cooperatives, art and graffiti museums, workshops, and cultural initiatives in Berlin for the past 20 years. The site was built in 1867 to be the Royal Prussian Railway Workshop Berlin II, connecting the then-Prussian capital with East Prussia. After the abolition of the monarchy, the name was changed to Reichsbahnausbesserungswerk, which, translated, means the “Government Train Repair Shop” and shortened to R.A.W. The industrial facilities that existed there would be mostly destroyed during a 1944 WWII air raid along with 80% of the area.
The R.A.W. Gelände fell into general disrepair as the city neglected it over the years. It wasn’t until the late 1990s that the vast ground along Revaler Strasse found a new lease on life when the local RAW-Tempel association was funded by a group of Friedrichshain art and cultural workers with the expressed purpose of resurrecting the space. What has grown from the wreckage is an eclectic mix of venues plastered from end to end with the city’s famous graffiti tags, bombs, and throw-ups.
The Swag Jam has found its home here and reflects Berlin’s collaborative spirit. The band’s frontman, R.A.H., or Rapturous.Apollo.Helios, originally from Nigeria, has lived in the city for over 20 years and stumbled upon the jam session the way most of us did; a friend brought him. It began as a cover jam session. R.A.H.’s friend had asked him to back her up on a track, and the next week, he was invited to be a permanent member of the session.
What began in 2012 has since evolved into Swag Jam. R.A.H. believes its longevity is rooted in the group’s passion for hip-hop: “It’s the love for the music itself that we, the musicians and the audience, have. It’s the thirst to hear this kind of music. And we improvise a lot, which makes us stand out—there is always something to look forward to.”
R.A.H. explains that, despite being a techno city, Berlin is equipped with enough youth and diversity to comfortably house a hip-hop jam session for over a decade. “You have people who love the music because hip hop is international; it’s a music and an art form for young people. The world is for young people. Young people travel from different parts of the world to come to a city like Berlin, and the Swag Jam fits here. We found our space. That’s another reason we keep doing it: It is important to somehow represent the music we grew up listening to, the music we love.”
R.A.H. and the Swag Jam took that hip-hop representation to another level this past year, traveling around Germany on two separate tours in 2023. Hitting cities such as Hamburg, Frankfurt, and Munich, the Swag was able to share their love for hip-hop with other German cities and communities.
“We’ve been playing for so long,” R.A.H. explains, “and we’ve played shows outside Berlin, but this was the first time we purposely tried to take the whole concept out and see how the reception would be elsewhere. We just wanted to see what would happen.”
The German Federal Cultural Foundation has funds allotted to promote art and culture; a grant allowed the Swag to embark on their first tour. While the group was apprehensive at first about the logistics of a tour, R.A.H. encouraged them not to underestimate the power of what they had been building. The Swag Jam is an event, but the Swag themselves are a band, and they were able to showcase their talent on the road.
“The second time we did it ourselves, we didn’t apply for a grant; we just took ourselves out, and every venue was packed at that time. It was a great feeling to know that we had never toured before, and then we went out and did it twice in one year.”
The Swag is actually an acronym, standing for “Something We All Got” or “Seriously We All Great.” It speaks to what the group is about and what the Swag Jam event strives for: its people and a place where music and creative energy can flourish, be shared, and be supported.
“As a testament to what music and art are, regardless of what you stand for, regardless of your religious or political position, once the music comes, once the sound plays, you either feel it or you don’t feel it. If you feel it, you are ecstatic about it; you go all out and express yourself best. That’s what the platform is there for; when people come to Swag Jam, they can chill, forget everything out there, and be in the moment.”
For more about Swag Jam, check out our podcast interview with R.A.H.
The Swag Jam is every Tuesday at Badehaus in Berlin.
The Swag’s album “Elements” can be found on Spotify.
Andi Schmitz is a writer, artist and recent American expat. Born in Dublin, Ireland and raised in a smörgåsbord of places, she has recently relocated to Berlin, Germany. Lifelong writer and artist, she is recovering from former corporate fintech life by self-induced art immersion. Her hobbies include painting, a good whiskey sour, and exploring art as a form of social outcry.
Website: andischmitz.com
