Usually, a group of six to ten young people aged eleven and up creates a song together during a workshop. This means engaging deeply with a theme, writing their own lyrics, and recording them with professional equipment. In this way, the participants learn skills in linguistic expression, rhythm, creative writing, and studio recording. However, much more important is the experience underlying it: experiencing self-efficacy and the relevance of one’s own actions.
The rap workshops I conduct offer young people a way to express themselves through language. As a basic principle, I start from the assumption that every form of expression by the young people is initially valid and good. Rap music is often close to the lived reality of the participating youth and is already part of their identity; this creates trust and motivation as well as an easier point of access for me as the workshop leader.
The most important goals I want to convey to the young people are: “You are capable. You are able to create something through your own strength. You have something to say. Your opinions and your experiences are important; with them, you are in a safe place here—at this location, with this group, and in this workshop.” I reach these goals through the following steps: group-strengthening exercis-es, rhythm and speaking exercises, a step-by-step approach to the final product, an introduction to the necessary technology, and not least a fundamentally empowering attitude on my part as the workshop leader—one based on equality and empathy. In the process, the young people get to know a new and exciting way of working, and their lived realities are integrated into the content development.
Participants are usually initially skeptical, especially regarding this last point. Many young people cannot imagine that their perspectives and interests will be taken seriously and instead expect the usual restrictions. I try to explore together with them the limits of what a sometimes very harsh lan-guage can— and in the shared protected space may—convey. The young people therefore have the opportunity to co-create and shape many aspects, giving them a sense of control. They also experi-ence that they are simultaneously autonomous and part of the group.
As a workshop leader, I repeatedly see how closed-off, reserved, anxious, or aggressive young peo-ple open up within just a few hours, calm down, and show joy, courage, pride, and self-confidence. I also see how groups of young people who are strangers to one another, or even hostile, grow into a strong group body, supporting, motivating, and respecting one another. Through the workshops, I have already been able to help many young people find an expression of their world, gain strength, and make the institution in question even more their place.
Nils Claßen
The rap workshops in the Ahr Valley were made possible above all thanks to the support of Aktion Deutschland Hilft (ADH).