The Ballermann hit “Layla” was banned by the Würzburg town hall because of its supposedly sexist content, but it still makes it into the beer tent, as a video shows.
- Ballermann hit “Layla”: Würzburg bans song at Kiliani folk festival.
- sexism allegations in the lyrics of “Layla”: Experts position themselves clearly.
- After the ban on hit hits: Federal Minister of Justice considers the decision to be exaggerated.
- Debate about “Layla” ban divides Bavaria: Now a landlord is speaking
Update from July 13, 8:01 p.m.: “Layla” is sung in the beer tent of the Würzburg folk festival despite the ban. However, not played. The band stays out, letting the audience sing, as this Twitter video shows. By the way, our readers have a clear opinion on the “Layla” ban.
Debate about the “Layla” ban splits Bavaria: Now a landlord is speaking
Update from July 13, 3:48 p.m.: The debate over the controversial song “Layla” continues. After Würzburg banned the song at its folk festival, the Düsseldorf fair followed (see previous update). The Schützen boss didn’t want the song on his festival ground. Festwirt Christian Fahrenschon, who hosts numerous folk festivals in the Rosenheim, Penzberg, Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen region and who organizes the forest summer in the city of Geretsried at the end of July, sees things differently.
He says he can’t understand the debate. “I don’t hear anything misogyny out of it.” In his opinion, the vocabulary used is something completely normal in today’s language and everyday life. There will be no ban on the song on the forest summer. “I don’t get involved in the program of a music band,” says Fahrenschon. “That’s her artistic freedom.”
Ballermann hit “Layla”: Second German folk festival bans song
Update from July 13, 10:18 am: After Würzburg, another German city is now taking action because of the controversial party song “Layla”. The song should not be played at the upcoming fair in Düsseldorf either. The organizers of the St. Sebastianus shooting club made a corresponding decision. “I think this song belongs everywhere – just not on our fairground,” said Schützen boss Lothar Inden of the German Press Agency. The city of Düsseldorf had previously spoken to the organizers about “Layla”.
After the shooters had promised that the song should be banned in marquees and rides, the city saw no reason for a ban, according to a spokeswoman. However, the administration saw “no legal basis” for this either.
Controversial Ballermann hit “Layla”: Rapper Sookee supports ban
Update from July 13, 10 a.m.: Numerous people have already spoken out about the – now nationwide – debate about the ban on the Schlager hit “Layla” at the Würzburg Kiliani folk festival. Federal Minister of Justice Buschmann also commented via Twitter (see previous update). Unlike the minister, rapper Sookee supports the song’s ban.
“How little does a society demand of itself that it wants to strive for artistic freedom as a high good to justify and protect such a song?” she said in an interview with radio station Bayern 2. The song was discriminatory and it is “kicked down socially” in the lyrics of the song.
After the ban on Schlager hits: the Federal Minister of Justice considers the decision to be excessive
Update from July 13, 6:29 a.m.: The debate about “Layla” is now drawing national circles. Even the Federal Minister of Justice has now presented his view of things. “You don’t have to like pop lyrics. You can even find them stupid or tasteless,” explained Marco Buschmann via Twitter. However, he considers the measure taken in Würzburg (see below) to be exaggerated. Officially banning the folk festival hit was “one too much” for him, said the FDP politician.
Update from July 12, 4:02 p.m.: After the public excitement about the hit “Layla”, the interpreter himself has now expressed himself. DJ Robin cannot understand the criticism that there is no sexism in the song. “People used to sing “scandal in the restricted area” or “we’re going to the whorehouse in Barcelona,”” he is quoted as saying Bild. “So we can’t really understand the discussion. Everyone can have their opinion, but in every German rap song the lyrics are worse. Nobody gets upset about that.”
Allegations of sexism in the lyrics of “Layla”: Experts position themselves clearly
Update from July 12, 12:20 p.m.: The song “Layla” should not be played at the Kiliani Festival in Würzburg. A city councilwoman in Würzburg already expressed criticism after the city’s decision that the song was not sexist for her (see previous update). The director of the Center for Popular Culture and Music at the University of Freiburg, Michael Fischer, sees it differently: “Of course the song is sexist,” he told the German Press Agency on Tuesday.
In the song, a woman named Layla is described and “sung about in a sexist way, and the video of course also supports this in its visual language.” the character of the song. This is beyond irony or trans aspects. “It’s just a sexist song.” The musicologist Markus Henrik also described the song as “highly sexist”.
After the Ballermann hit “Layla” was banned at a folk festival: Würzburg city councilor speaks out
Update from July 12, 11:07 am: After Würzburg banned the hit “Layla” at the Kiliani folk festival (see first report), there is already criticism of the decision. The youngest city councilor in Würzburg, Rena Schimmer (Junge Union), is fighting the ban, as reported by BR. “For me, subjectively, that’s not sexism, so I don’t have a problem with it,” she says. The lyrics are covered by artistic freedom. She also criticizes that the decision was not discussed in the city council and is submitting an application to find out how it came about.
First report from July 11th: Würzburg – “I have a whorehouse and my whorehouse mom’s name is Layla,” is the refrain of the hit “Layla” by DJ Robin & Schürze, who currently tops the list of German single charts. And that has been the case for a good three weeks. Because of the lyrics, however, the song has already received a lot of criticism.
“She’s prettier, younger, hornier,” the chorus continues. A nationwide debate broke out because the text is about a prostitute. Musicologist Markus Henrik referred to the song over the Editorial network Germany (RND) as “highly sexist”.
Ballermann hit causes sexism debate: Würzburg bans song at folk festival
At the Ballermann, at festivals and also at folk festivals, the song serves as a mood hit, especially among young people, and people sing along vigorously. The city of Würzburg probably does not want to play along and is setting an example. She bans the song without further ado at the municipal folk festival.
A report of main post According to Würzburg, the playing of the hit “Layla” at the Kiliani folk festival in the city has been banned. “It will be ensured that the song will no longer be played in the future,” the newspaper quoted a city spokesman in its Tuesday edition. The background is the lyrics, which critics perceive as sexist.
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It’s not just the hit song “Layla” that’s banned in Würzburg
The city of Würzburg had already concluded an agreement with the folk festival operators that the controversial “Donaulied” – the text of which revolves around a rape – may no longer be played. The agreement includes all song lyrics that have racist or sexist content, the newspaper reports. Now “Layla” may no longer be played at the festival. (tkip with dpa)
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