The German rapper Pashanim has taken German rap by storm in recent years. With several songs surpassing 100 million streams, his popularity shows no sign of slowing down. Despite his success, Pashanim rarely makes an appearance in the media and has yet to give any long-form interviews. But who really is Pashanim?
Background
Pashanim, real name Can David Bayram, was born in Berlin in 2000. He grew up in Kreuzberg with a German mother and a Turkish father. At a young age, he discovered rap music and started to rap himself at the age of 12. In 2017, at the age of 17, Pashanim founded the rap collective Playsboysmafia together with Symba, AbuGlitsch and RB 030. A year later, Pashanim released his first song via SoundCloud, although some earlier demos have since surfaced.
Pashanim’s Berlin roots
Pashanim doesn’t hide his love for his home city of Berlin. He often raps about Mehringdamm, an area closely associated with his upbringing in the western part of Kreuzberg. His attachment to the area becomes particularly clear in the song “2000” where he raps “there’s nowhere I’d rather have grown up, and nowhere I want to go”.
Many of Pashanim’s songs pay tribute to specific places and neighborhoods in and around Berlin. Titles such as “Tiergarten,” “Mehringdamm laufen,” “Unter den Linden,” and “TXL” directly connect his music to places around the city.
Success without leaving his roots
Despite the massive success Pashanim has experienced in recent years, he still emphasizes about having a close circle. On the intro song to “grünewürfelflow” he raps “Everything’s still the same, we’re still here at Mehringdamm … except the cars have gotten a little more expensive”. His longtime friends remain closely involved in his career, with AbuGlitsch serving as his DJ and RB030 working as a videographer and, more recently, a rapper.
Film interest and music videos
Apart from his career as a rapper, Pashanim has worked as a cinematographer and filmed music videos for German artists such as Juju, Nura, and Casper. He also directs the majority of his own videos, including videos like Shababs Botten, Hauseingang, and Airwaves. He recently talked about his film interest in a radio show hosted on Kiss FM and explained how he drew inspiration from the James Bond movies on his latest album, Lounge Musik. In the song “Berlin calling”, he raps “I want to have a movie showing at the Cannes Film Festival”.
It is clear that Pashanim highly values his visual identity. Across his music videos, several recurring themes and objects appear. The Turkish water brand Saka, Airwaves gum, and Acqua di Giò perfume are repeatedly featured throughout the Berlin rapper’s visuals. Through his fast-paced, scrapbook-style editing, Pashanim has created a visual style that instantly is recognizable as his own.
Collaborations
Pashanim is closely associated with the Linz-born producer DJ Stickle, who moved to Berlin in 2006 and began producing music there. The first single from their collaboration was “Airwaves,” (2020) which quickly climbed up the German charts. In fact, it still stands as one of Pashanim’s most streamed tracks on Spotify. Since then, their collaboration has only flourished and Stickle helped produce 11 out of the 17 tracks on Lounge Musik.
Another frequent collaborator of Pashanim’s is the Berliner producer Kev Koko. He first gained recognition as a member of the techno trio FJAAK before leaving the group in 2019. Compared with much of Pashanim’s other work, his collaborations with Kev Koko tend to lean toward more upbeat and house-influenced production.
Conclusion
Pashanim has taken the German rap scene by storm since his first release nearly 10 years ago. With a strong visual identity and a close connection to his Berlin roots, he has created a distinct musical and visual style that reaches far beyond Germany. Pashanim’s music stretches beyond a single genre and has inspired a new wave of rappers across Europe. What comes next for the 26-year-old rapper is not clear, but we will be watching closely.