We Interview Rising German Hip-Hop Star Eunique

Eunique is changing the face of the German hip-hop scene, one silky smooth bar at a time. Hailing from Hamburg and singing exclusively in German, the rising rap star is set to release her debut album Gift on March 23, but she is by no means new to the game. Her high-attitude music videos have clocked up hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of views, and she's even got her own super-cool reality show, Becoming Eunique, on YouTube.

Our Fizzygirl Bea caught up with her on shoot with Nike's React kicks in Berlin to get to know the girl with the gift.

I love the wordplay of your name. In your opinion, what makes your sound unique?

I guess my voice is what makes my sound unique. At first it was something that I felt ashamed of because I was never really comfortable with my own voice, until I learned to feel comfortable about the way that I sound.

Tell me about your musical journey. How did you become Eunique?

My musical journey started with my birth I guess cos my mom was listening to a lot of music. She had me when she was 20, so basically everything she was listening to I was listening to. And also she, you know, taught me a lot of music styles and genres so I was listening to Beethoven at the same time as I was listening to soca. Plus my background: my mom's from Ghana, my dad's from Trinidad and Tobago. I'm half American because he was living in New York, and my grandpa is from England. But I was born in Hamburg.

Ah you were born in Hamburg? Where did you grow up?

In Ohlsdorf.

That's so weird because FIZZY MAG is also from Hamburg!

Ah, nice! And so I guess my music influence is basically my family and everything that I was listening to. I had my first keyboard when I was seven, and I just begged my mom to give me piano lessons and she then did. I had classic piano lessons and then I started to do my own melodies and basically just learn how to play the instrument so I could use it for my own interpretation of the songs I had to play. And with that I was in choir school and I've always been singing for myself a lot.

Who are your biggest influences?

I would say my mom because she was the one that would bring me the music basically, and other than that I would say everything I hear influences me in some way. It's just there's a difference between people that actually listen to music...like, there's a few ways to listen to it: there's listening to it because of the way it makes you feel; you listen to it because you like the lyrics; or you listen to it because you like the music more than the vocals. For me, I was always so fascinated by all of those things clashing together and making the song.

What inspired you to create your own reality series?

I love watching reality series in America. I love Love and Hip Hop – I love every show basically! – and I always felt like there is no real entertainment in Germany like that and I wanted people to know who they're actually listening to and I felt like that was the easiest way to do it. Plus our life was so crazy and like every day we had, every day was a special day, and it was like, “Yo, where are the cameras, where are the cameras!” And then, I don't know, three months or five months later, it was like, “Oh my God, there are cameras, we have the cameras now.” We were talking about this a long time and it's just crazy how you can talk things into reality and reality makes it happen.

Why is it important for you to rap in German?

It's important for me to rap in German because German's also my mother language, so I want to give back what I've learned, what I've grown up with because I was still born in Hamburg. And I always felt like it was a bit of a challenge to make music in Germany that you would actually listen to, so I really try to make it sound cool and stuff.

In your opinion, what's exciting about the German hip-hop scene?

I think what's exciting is that there's so much potential and there's so much space for people to come up and just exist because we're way more open. But I also think that has a lot to do with the internet, because everything has just changed, it's not like you are forced to watch TV and the TV decides this is the next person to pop. Now it's society deciding, this is the next person to pop or this is a trend or this is a hype.

You're clearly a huge fan of streetwear. If you had to choose one item of clothing to wear for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Oh my God... that's a tough one.

Maybe you can also choose two.

Choose two?

Three! Four!

Um, I'd probably go with trainers, I like jogging.

Like a tracksuit?

Yeah.

Tracksuit sounds like it's one right?

Yeah, or onesies, just one piece.

So you're just good to go...

Yeah.

What is it that you like so much about the Instant Go sneaker?

I like that you feel lighter, so everything's just so easy because it feels so soft and you're just floating in the air. It makes you feel faster because you feel lighter.

What's next for Eunique?

I have so many plans. First of all, I wanna kill all the stages, and then I want people to...when you have something to say about me, you know exactly what to say about me because you just know me that good. I don't want people to just be hating because of the way that I look or the way that I sound, I want people to really have a reason, they have to have a reason. You would have to spend time with me, you would have to watch my reality show, you would have to listen to my music, you would have to really see me to, you know, know who I am.

Well, talking to you, you're just such a nice person in reality, it's quite hard not to like you, seriously. Thank you so much for your time!

Thank you!

Pre-order Eunique's new album, releasing March 23, here.

Nike's React kicks, boasting a game-changing new foam, is available at Nike.