Introduction DEUTSCHLAND! – Echt jetzt?: German Popular Music’s Complicated Relationship with German Identity

Popular music definitely is one of those discursive sites where German identity is negotiated, but Germanness is not a topic that is routinely addressed openly in German popular music. Therefore, it is all the more surprising that was framed by two public debates in German media, both of them triggered by the publication of a popular music video that made an explicit statement about what it means to be “German.” German comedian Jan Bohmermann caused quite a stir with the presentation of his latest video, “Be Deutsch!” in his weekly TV show Neo Magazin Royale. In the very same Neo Magazin Royale show in which he recited a “Schmähgedicht” (dispraise poem) about Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, causing an international diplomatic crisis, Jan Bohmermann also presented his latest music video “Be Deutsch!,” which in the show’s aftermath was discussed on a national scale.