FERHAT’s newest track “FATHER STATE” was again made in collaboration with Syrian-born songwriter Masen Abou Dakn. “We want to represent a shift in power dynamics: When we grow up, we are no longer restricted by our parents but governed by the state that can also be considered some sort of a father figure. We initially addressed this song towards Erdogan, but he is interchangeable with many authoritarian regimes. On the other hand “FATHER STATE” offers me a way to settle scores with my own dad. He moved back to Turkey when I was 11 years old and I haven’t really had contact with him ever since. I don’t think it is a coincidence that he was in jail whilst we shot the music video for this track inside the prison film set of the highly acclaimed “Babylon Berlin” TV series.” Directed by Matthias Michel and starring Timo Jacobs, Daniel Sellier, Florian Kleine, Erbil Ayalp, Samuel Eschmann and Michael Schumacher, the video clip shows the brutal aftermath these men face after they illegally put up posters. It highlights the omnipotence of state authority, demonstrated through imprisonment, interrogation and execution

Father State

FERHAT continues to persistently hold onto what drives him: To raises his voice against the oppression of love, religion and personal freedom, immersed in a captivating production that mesmerizingly fuses the traditional influences of his Turkish heritage with contemporary electronics. MY ISTANBUL was written in collaboration with Syrian songwriter Masen Abou Dakn. Renowned DJ Matt Star (Tresor Berlin) accompanies the release with his musical interpretation of MY ISTANBUL

My Istanbul (Matt Star RMX)

FERHAT is back! Following the release of his highly acclaimed single “Father State”, the recent winner of the Deutsche Popstiftung’s “Best Pop & Rock 2020” award makes a spectacular return with “MY ISTANBUL”. FERHAT raises his voice against the oppression of love, religion and personal freedom, immersed in a captivating production that mesmerizingly fuses the traditional influences of his Turkish heritage with contemporary electronics. Turkish director Irmak Altiner delivers a powerful music video, illustrating a gloomy Istanbul in a series of painfully intimate close-ups:
A simple salesman in a cheap fashion store went outside to smoke his cigarette – they came and said it‘s Ramadan and beat him down, so he won’t forget. My Istanbul, a poisoned breath is inhaling you.
MY ISTANBUL was written in collaboration with Syrian songwriter Masen Abou Dakn and recently nominated for the German Songwriting Award, captivating listeners and critics alike: In haunting black and white imagery, a bleak image of modern-day Istanbul is painted. ‘My Istanbul, a strange wind is blowing through my Istanbul‘, FERHAT cries out in agony and despair, processing the Taksim Square protests and the dreadful changes the Erdogan regime has brought. Jan Brauer of Brandt Brauer Frick and renowned DJ Matt Star (i.a. Tresor Berlin) accompany the release with their musical interpretation of MY ISTANBUL.
FERHAT doesn’t give up. The Berlin Music Board scholarship awardee continues to persistently hold onto what drives him: To embody everything he cares about, to reconcile, to unify us all.

My Istanbul

FERHAT's musical heart is centered on topics like eroticism, Islam and self- determination - so it's no surprise that the music video for LET ME BE is as sensual as it is scandalous. At a time when his "delicate Turkish themes" are being transformed from commentary to lamentation by political and religious extremes and global crises, FERHAT's urban pop is becoming equally urgent and universal. His tracks concern not only love and faith, but also personal freedom and civil disobedience - in a world where fear and prejudice are increasingly on the rise.
The song was written by the Swiss-Turkish musician, who lives in Berlin and Istanbul, in collaboration with composer and producer Jovanka von Wilsdorf (Polarkreis 18, Laing, Tim Benzko, Annette Humpe, among others). The extremely danceable track shows that self-determination is a hell of a lot of fun, but today it can also turn into a dangerous statement. Nevertheless, this fearless musical guerrilla continues to cherry-pick from different cultures in a deliberately provocative way:
ISTANBUL, ZURICH, BERLIN - TRADITION, ZEITGEIST, PARTY - ORIENT, URBAN, BEATS.
Incited by the idea of fusion, he wants to bring the mosque to Berghain and vice versa. "For me, openness doesn't just mean theoretical political correctness, but also not renouncing anything," he says, plunging headfirst into his mission. "The idea came to me when I constantly had the feeling in Berlin that I had to choose a scene. Either go to Berghain dressed in black, hang out in shisha bars looking grim, or submit to the vegan dictate while wearing Birkenstocks. There is hardly any blending in these parallel societies, and I have had close friendships that have ended simply because of different political views. I ask myself: why am I not allowed to live out all parts of me; why not be all that I love? LET ME BE is about showing all facets of yourself and calling for reconciliation and peace. After all, we belong together - whether it's devout women with headscarves or raki fans. In the end, we are all human beings and if the Corona Crisis has something going for it, then hopefully that our society, after incidents like the one in Hanau or others all over the world, will come together again. That's why in the video different extremes come together to make love together."
Musically, LET ME BE translates the message into a playful, exuberant dance track that has previously won the "European Songwriting Award" in 2019, while the brand-new accompanying video goes even further: Directed by Stephanie von Beauvais, the clip celebrates a party that has only existed in FERHAT's
imagination: Muslim women dance tightly entwined with tough guys in leather gear and people of all minorities kiss passionately, loving each other freely. "Although the video hasn't been officially released yet, I've already received hate comments on the net - but I'm holding on to my naive dream: a world without borders. Do we really want to waste our lifetime hating each other? I don't want that and for the four minutes of the clip I create a world for us in which I actually want to live - we're gonna dance and love again!

Let Me Be

The songs on the EP TURKISH DELIGHTS are about naivety, desire, fusion, Islam, sensuality, and self-determination, but recent political events have given FERHAT's "delicate Turkish affairs'' a more serious turn: In a time marked by political and religious extremes and global crises, his songs become their own musical revolutions about love, freedom and civil disobedience. FERHAT's playful global pop becomes urgent and universal in a world where fake news, fear and prejudice are on the rise.
Whether it's veiled women dancing in close embrace with guys in leather gear in the video for LET ME BE, government oppression in the clip for FATHER STATE, shot on the original set of Babylon Berlin, or FERHAT's bittersweet love affair with the Turkish metropolis in MY ISTANBUL - at the core, it's always about one thing: "I ask myself why I am not allowed to live out all facets of myself. Why can't I be everything I love? I want to call for understanding, reconciliation and peace, because we all belong together. We are human beings and should - even after incidents like the one in Hanau and everywhere in the world - we should be allowed to move closer together again and simply love each other."
His new single PEHLIVAN doesn't mince words either: With beautiful, half-naked
bodies and a minimalistic beat, PEHLIVAN perfectly sums up the TURKISH DELIGHTS FERHAT has to offer for the EP release. The video breaks taboos by turning traditional Turkish men's wrestling sport into an erotic affair and points out the delicate topic of homosexuality in Islam, while the accompanying track is both sensual and danceable at the same time. International reactions to PEHLIVAN demonstrate how international FERHAT's musical language is: It was nominated for "Best Music Video" at the Basel Film Festival, and has long since secured a place on the cult compilation "Listen to Berlin".
PEHLIVAN will be released on Nov. 19, one week before the release of TURKISH DELIGHTS, followed by the PEHLIVAN remix by producer and DJ İpek İpekçioğlu, who with her "Eklektik BerlinIstan" is considered a musical and political visionary worldwide. FERHAT will follow up with the release of a complete remix EP of TURKISH DELIGHTS.

Pehlivan

Here are the official FERHAT Dance The Devrim Lyrics: 

CAN`T SLEEP TONIGHT 
I`M PARALYZED
ALL THE BAD NEWS, ALL THE BAD NEWS, ALL THE BAD NEWS

CRAZY LIES ARE THE CRAZY TRUTH (I WANNA!)
CRAZY LIES ARE THE CRAZY TRUTH (I WANNA!)
CRAZY LIES ARE THE CRAZY TRUTH (I WANNA!)

DANCE THE DEVRIM!
DANCE THE DEVRIM!
DANCE THE DEVRIM NOW!

DANCE THE DEVRIM (I WANNA!)
DANCE THE DEVRIM (I WANNA!)
DANCE THE DEVRIM NOW

WHAT THEY DO TO MY COUNTRY 
IS ATTACKING MY DREAMS
WE ARE DIFFERENT WE ARE SAME
WE ARE DIFFERENT WE`RE THE SAME

CRAZY LIES ARE THE CRAZY TRUTH (I WANNA!) 
CRAZY LIES ARE THE CRAZY TRUTH (I WANNA!)
CRAZY LIES ARE THE CRAZY TRUTH (I WANNA!)

DANCE THE DEVRIM!
DANCE THE DEVRIM!
DANCE THE DEVRIM NOW! (I WANNA!)

DANCE THE DEVRIM (I WANNA!)
DANCE THE DEVRIM (I WANNA!)
DANCE THE DEVRIM NOW!

DANCE THE DEVRIM NOW!
DANCE THE DEVRIM NOW!

I`M GONNA DANCE THE REVOLUTION 
I`M GONNA DANCE THE REVOLUTION
I`M GONNA DANCE THE REVOLUTION

YOU`RE MY SISTER YOU`RE MY BROTHER
WHY SHOULD WE HATE?
WHY SHOULD WE KILL EACH OTHER?

YOU`RE MY SISTER YOU`RE MY BROTHER
WHY SHOULD WE HATE?
WHY SHOULD WE KILL EACH OTHER? 

(I WANNA!)
DANCE THE DEVRIM
(I WANNA!)
DANCE THE DEVRIM 
(I WANNA!)
DANCE THE DEVRIM NOW!

Dance the Devrim

The actor-turned-musician FERHAT first studied acting at the Theatre College Of Bern and went on to play in the well-known ARD crime series “Mordkommision Istanbul”. In the following years the artist of swiss-turkish origin took singing lessons at the “Popschule Berlin”, “Sängerakademie Hamburg” and the Zurich School of Arts. Starting out as a dancer for global pop phenomenon Madonna and Robert Miles just to name a few, FERHAT went on to release his first music on Dance Compilations by ZYX or Dance Street/Bigbird Records. His live shows brought him on the stage of Berlin’s legendary SO36, as well as a performance at the Zurich Christopher Street Day and the M4Music Festival, where he was nominated for an award in the category “Best Pop”. Most of FERHAT’s music is made in Berlin-Kreuzberg, where he lives and works with frequent collaborators Jovanka von Wilsdorf (e.g. Polarkreis 18, Laing, Tim Bendzko, Annette Humpe) and Masen Abou Dakn

FERHAT

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