Current music from Germany  Popcast #7/2026

With music by:

Juju Rogers | Counterkultur
Shed | Dekmantel
Domino
Maryibu | TangaTunes
Enik | Flip the Atom Records
Author: Angie Portmann
Speaker (English): David Creedon
Speaker Female Voice-Overs (English): Louise Hollamby Kühr
Translation (English): Eric Rosencrantz

  With a blend of jazz, hip hop, funk, and Soul, the German-American rapper JuJu Rogers evokes themes of identity, Black history, and belonging. The 2024 Musicboard scholarship recipient also explores divinity on his new album Pink Guitars, Spaceships N Voodoo Dolls, released in May, 2026. On the track Elohim (Hebrew for “God”), featuring Jamila Woods, he draws on spiritual and cultural concepts that exist outside of established Western categories. JuJu Rogers, who is based in Berlin, is against labeling anything: “Let things breathe. Let them become what they become,” he said in a recent interview on hvyfeelings.com. It's no surprise his tracks read as a genre-defying statement, with the excitement of freedom palpable in every line.
Mouse on Mars, the Berlin-based duo of Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma with regular collaborator Dodo NKishi, reimagine electronic music with a playful approach, drawing on elements of krautrock and ambient jazz. Together with legendary Jamaican dub and reggae pioneer Lee “Scratch” Perry, they recorded Spatial, No Problem, released in June 2026. The album is based on recordings made before Perry's death in 2021 and stands as one of his final collaborative projects. Its tracks are filled with colorful sounds that invite listeners to dance and daydream. Berlin-based producer René Pawlowitz, better known as Shed, continues to push the boundaries of contemporary techno. With his latest album, Rave Echoes, he combines the intensity of peak-time club moments with the winding-down atmosphere of the after-party. Released in May, the eight-track record showcases his distinctive blend of driving rhythms and emotive textures. This summer, Shed will play live sets at BLITZ in Munich, PARA·LEL in Lleida, Spain, and Dekmantel Festival in Amsterdam. Rave Echoes is likely to resonate with anyone who loses themselves on the dancefloor and seeks the perfect soundtrack for watching the sunrise after a rave.
Women’s empowerment, unfiltered: Mariybu is a boss babe from Hamburg who is at home in the world of hyperpop. With her album Frech (Cheeky), she never holds back while singing about sex, male violence, and feminism. Unapologetic, bold, and confident, Mariybu’s music creates a space where not only women can sing along, play, and simply be themselves. True to form, when asked by Sleek why she chose to release her album on German Father’s Day, her response was: “A good day to educate people a little.” Get ready for a collection of a million emotions, trapped and ready to burst out at any moment, created by Enik, a songwriter, singer, and musician from Munich. His music ranges from pop to electronic, and his career spans more than two decades. The latest album of his solo career, Rainbows Planecrashes, is characterized by atmospheric and hypnotic sounds, as well as striking contrasts in mood and texture. His sound blends art pop, distorted blues, jazz-infused romanticism, progressive experimentation, and eccentric rock. Dramatic melodies and theatrical electronics come together in arrangements that consistently defy convention. A masterpiece of original modern music from Germany.

07/2026