Interview

One Portion of Bae.Con, Please! Interview with Berlin Rapper

25 December 2018 · 8 min read

Bae.con, bitte: Freche Berliner Rapperin. Foto: © C. Rohrer /[030] Magazin

Young Berlin rapper Feah Maxine, aka Bae.Con, doesn’t like German rap. But she does like bacon. Get it? Bacon! It all comes full circle. Our colleague Claudia Rohrer really put in a shift just before her move to the Alps. Here’s her interview.

It’s only logical then that she raps in English so everyone can understand her. Bae.Con performs where people speak and understand English. So, outside of Berlin-Neukölln and Prenzlauer Berg. It all started on a trip to South Africa. She spontaneously wrote her first song there. Recorded it the very same day – the digital age makes it possible. This wasn’t long ago at all. Just a few months back, really. But Bae.Con is ambitious, and everyone has to start their career somewhere. Will it actually become a real career? We don’t know. Still, we met up with her and had a chat. Where does she want to go, what’s important to her, who has influenced her? Answers to all the burning questions.

That’s the plan.

Did you just think one morning, ‘Yo, I’m going to be a rapper now,’ or how did it happen?

Yeah, my thought was basically that I want to make music all my life and make a living from it too. And then rapping sort of came along, which just made the whole thing a bit more real. And when I actually started recording something, everything suddenly took shape. I’ve worked with other musicians as well, actually quite a few by now. I just really enjoy it. And if I can make money from it, I can do it even more. So that my life always looks like this. That’s the plan.

A simple question: How did it all start?

I started off playing acoustic guitar when I was eleven. Then electric guitar. I wrote songs back then too. And I always wanted to play in a band at some point. I always just made music for myself. In my room, for hours. When I turned 18, I finally had a band. We even had one gig *laughs*. But I only really started recording and actually going for it at the start of this year, when I recorded my first rap song in South Africa. And since then, I go to the studio regularly.

The Beginning

Did you travel there specifically for this, or did it just happen spontaneously?

I flew out there with no expectations. I just wanted to travel, and I fancied Cape Town. While I was there I met the right people, people who also make music and have a home studio. Then they said, ‘Hey, do a rap track!’ So I wrote one called ‘Dolce & Gabana’. Then I recorded it, and that’s how it all began. That’s where I discovered a passion for rapping and for recording too. South Africa changed my life.

How did you make your first song? Did you know how to do that?

I just found a type beat online and started writing over it. And then I just recorded it straight away. On the same day I finished the song.

Women can be Badass too

What things do you write and rap about?

Varies. With every song it just depends on what mood I’m in. That’s what it’s all about. If I’m feeling aggressive or sad, it ends up being darker songs, often about killing people *laughs*. Nah, but if I’m in a good mood and feeling good, then I’ll write songs about flexing. But I also have love songs and heartbreak stuff or whatever. It really changes. There’s loads more to come. And lots of dark shit, because there’s just a lot of dark stuff going on in my head.

‘You can only see me in the night, find me in the dark.’ Photo: © C. Rohrer /[030] Magazine

Why don’t you make or like German rap?

Phew, there are a few reasons. I’ve never really been interested in German rap myself, there are a few things I listen to or have listened to, but it’s never been my favourite. And when I make music and create a song, I do it the way I would personally like it. The way I’d listen to it myself. Of course. So why would I write in German if I don’t feel it? And anyway, I know I don’t want to live in Germany in the long run. I know I’m going to emigrate as soon as I can. Probably to an English-speaking country. And English is international. Above all, I’m not aiming to reach loads of people in Germany in particular. Or, yeah, that’s the thing, that I can actually reach them anyway. I just don’t want to limit myself to Germany.

Where did you learn English?

A lot of it is left over from school. But I’ve always involved myself a lot with the language privately, listened to lots of music, wrote English songs even when they were rubbish back then. But I’ve always been interested in the language. Top of the class, you know. But a 5 in maths *laughs*. And yeah, I lived in America for a year and after that, I was fluent of course. I speak to lots of friends only in English as well and I travel a lot.

When I came back to Berlin after travelling for a long time, every time I just felt a certain emptiness had been filled. -Bae.Con

What did you do in Oklahoma?

Lived with a host family and went to high school. And just lived the American country life. *laughs*

Is Berlin your home?

I do love Berlin. And I’m glad I can call it my home and, above all, that I know I can always come back. Berlin definitely has a lot to offer. But every time I’ve come back from travelling for a long while, I’ve realised that a certain emptiness was filled. I definitely know I want to go somewhere else, just not where yet. Whenever I’m away from here, I always feel so much better. Berlin often feels a bit overwhelming to me. For the goals I have in life, I just don’t see myself in Berlin, at least not for the next few years.

Definitely no children

Do you think you would be less creative if you hadn’t grown up here?

Maybe, I don’t really know. I’ve no idea what I’d be like if I’d grown up in the countryside. But I do remember, back in year 5, when it started for me, I began dressing a bit differently and listening to different music. I wasn’t massively influenced by Berlin, my influences just came more from music and the scene. So hard to say really. But raising kids in Berlin: you can do it, but I don’t think I want any. *laughs*

If you could wish for anyone to come over and have a smoke with you, who would it be?

Definitely Kurt Cobain. And it would be weed. Smoke weed everyday, you know! And Kurt Cobain for multiple reasons. I’ve read literally everything of his, his diaries, biographies, everything that exists by him. It’d be mad to have a jam session with him.

Do you like performing live?

I haven’t performed loads yet, but I’ve loved it every time. And after my first gig with my band (when I was 18), my mum said it looked like I’d been on stage for ten years. I just feel incredibly comfortable and I’m definitely looking forward to future shows. And I’m going to make more of an effort now to perform a bit more often.

Sunglasses and bacon

Where did your stage name come from?

It actually started as a joke, back when everyone was called Young or Lil and all that. So I just called myself Yung.Bacon on Instagram for a laugh, because I love bacon – everyone who knows me knows that. But that name already existed, so that’s where the ‘ae’ in Bae came from. That’s why it’s now a mix between Bae and Bacon, you know. *laughs* And then I started rapping and just took the name, dropped the ‘Yung’, and now I’m just Bacon.

I see you’ve got loads of pairs of glasses. What’s the deal with that?

That’s a fetish. I’ve got a sunglasses fetish. *laughs*

https://soundcloud.com/feah-maxine/sets/agony

In the visuals you see of you, there are loads of different hairstyles. Do you do them yourself?

Either I come up with them myself, if I’m just messing about with my hair, or I see something on Instagram or somewhere else. Like I see it on some girl and then try to create my own version. But I always do everything myself, I don’t trust anyone with my hair. Last time I went to the hairdresser, when I was 13, I came out in tears and I’ve never gone back.

Not giving a damn

Do you have an idol?

That’s a hard one. I’ve got a few for different reasons. They’re idols from every genre who inspire me just with their personalities, people like Kurt Cobain and Marilyn Manson. But it’s not necessarily the music, it’s about their attitude. And from the rap game, Tupac, and in the new rap game, R.I.P., XXXTENTATION, and so on. For his diversity – he just didn’t give a damn and did whatever he wanted, so if he wanted to write a sad song with acoustic guitars in the background, he did it, but on the same album there’d still be a banging dark tune. That’s what I want to do as well; I don’t want to stick to just one direction. I just want to do everything I feel like doing.

Have you already done any features?

Yeah, a few. I started in South Africa. I didn’t just record a single track there, but also with the people I was hanging out with. So several. I did a few songs in LA too, for my new album. And since I’ve been back in Berlin, I’ve done two. And in future I really want to do even more collaborations. I’m really up for it, so if anyone’s reading this and fancies it: Hit me up!

Thanks for the chat!