Brothers Keepers

Brothers Keepers is a German-based transnational anti-racism project, bringing together hip hop, reggae and soul musicians, headed primarily by Afro-Germans.

The idea for the project took root in the 1990s, and when a German of Mozambiquan origin, named Alberto Adriano, was brutally killed by neo-Nazis in Dessau (East Germany) in 2000, a group of musicians decided to organize and fight back. Brothers Keepers has local groups active in information campaigns, presenting teach-ins at schools etc. However the project primarily gained prominence in Germany through the collaborative album, Lightkultur. The title is a pun on conservative politician Günther Beckstein’s term "deutsche Leitkultur" ("German leading culture"), demanding that foreigners subject themselves to the supposed standards of German culture. The album features German musicians such as Torch, Samy Deluxe, Afrob, Denyo from the Beginner and D-Flame. The proceeds of this album went to charity.

The lyrics on the album are influenced by Black Power rhetoric and are militantly anti-Nazi, proposing solutions to racism ranging from education to violence. The militancy is especially well illustrated in the German TOP 10 hit "Adriano", a seven minute tour de force produced by DJ Desue, featuring the crème of German rap. Its video shows a procession of rappers, marching as a united front and the chorus, sung by Indian-descended R&B star Xavier Naidoo, goes thus:

Dies' ist so 'was wie eine letzte Warnung, / Denn unser Rückschlag ist längst in Planung. / Wir fall’n darein, wo ihr auffallt, / Wir bieten eurer braunen Scheiße endlich Aufhalt. / Denn was ihr sucht, ist das Ende. / Und was wir reichen sind geballte Fäuste und keine Hände. / Euer Niedergang für immer! / Und was wir hören denn ist euer Weinen und euer Gewimmer.

"This is something like a final warning, / As we have been planning our counterstrike for a long time. / We intervene where you emerge, / At last, we offer resistance to your brown shit. / ‘Cause what you want is the end. / And what we offer are clenched fists and not our hands. / Your downfall forever! / And what we’ll hear is your crying and your whimpering."

or

Ich sage K, sage Z, sage Nazis rein / Ich will nicht labern, denn ich kenn mein Vaterland / Macht es mich krank wie Masern, dann verspür ich Tatendrang / Ich fühle mich eingeengt und will statt Prominenz / Und statt großer Fans, Nazis die wie Poster hängen

I say "K", I say "Z", I say Nazis in there / I don't wanna talk 'cause I know my country / Does it make me sick like measles, then I wanna act / Then I feel constricted and want instead of fans / Nazis who are hanging like lampshades.

The project is not limited to Germany. It focuses on manifestations of the African diaspora throughout the world and is supported by international artists such as Jamaican reggae musician Ziggy Marley and Senegalese mbalax musician Youssou N'Dour. There is also a UK Brothers Keepers, which, while lacking the organizational superstructure of its German counterpart, contributed a track to Lightkultur.

There is also a female version of this Movement/Band called the Sisters Keepers. Both projects have recently been heavily criticised for accused black-power hypocrisy.