"Germany's Rap Music Veers Toward the Violent

BERLIN, Aug. 8 - Germany's most controversial rapper has five tattoos, stomach-churning lyrics, impressive record sales and, somewhat improbably, admirers among both immigrants and the neo-Nazi skinheads who rail against them.

He is also exceedingly polite and quick to refill a guest's glass of water, and he occasionally goes grocery shopping for his mom, with whom he shared an apartment until three months ago.

'In reality I'm a relaxed guy who likes to chill, who's funny and who's seen some stuff,' said Bushido, 26, the son a German woman and a Tunisian man, whose real name is Anis Ferchichi. 'But these people make me out to be the Devil.'

In the past half year, Bushido and other gangsta rappers, largely from Germany's immigrant communities, have landed on a media watch list normally populated by right-wing neo-Nazi bands. They have attracted the wrath of politicians along with a following of hundreds of thousands of German youths mesmerized by their rhymes about dangerous neighborhoods, stab wounds and groupie sex.

Full story by ANDREAS TZORTZIS