German hip-hop

"PopCamp" is an educational seminar for up-and-coming pop music stars in Germany who want to learn everything about the business - from singing and performance techniques to contracts and copyrights. Participating artists and groups represent some of the best of what the sizzling music scene has to offer - demonstrating that German pop is not an oxymoron!

In this edition of German Pop, Deutsche Welle's new podcast, we introduce you to Luis und Laserpower - a band that can give a one-two punch to German hip-hop. But rather than your usual ghetto-beats and distorted voices, you'll hear down-to-earth rock. No gansta fuss or boasting hyperbole here; instead, songs with a smart take on life and a huge desire to pump up the jam.

All four of the young band members are products of the Pop Academy in Mannheim. Together, Luis und Laserpower have already traveled far with their music. The Goethe Institute - a German cultural organization - sent them to China to perform; they won the "Play Live" Contest" of the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg in 2008, and were chosen for Popcamp 2009, sponsored by the German Music Council. "We're louder than the rest of the Republic," they claim.