German rap duo charged with hate speech

State attorneys in the western German city of Dusseldorf are investigating a scandal-laden German rap duo for hate speech, a city spokesman said on Wednesday.

Spokesman Ralf Herrenbrück told the regional daily Westdeutsche Zeitung that two hate speech charges had been made against Kollegah and Farid Bang. A Jewish person had pressed one of the charges, he said.

Prosecutors are examining the duo's lyrics from their latest album, "Junge, Brutal, Gutaussehend 3" ("Young, brutal, good looking 3"), and earlier songs as part of their investigation, Herrenbrück said.

Read more: Rappers Kollegah, Farid Bang stir controversy at Germany's biggest music awards

'Commit another Holocaust'

Both rappers have been at the center of an anti-Semitism scandal after they won a prize in April at Germany's 2018 Echo music awards.

The winning album included a song in which the rappers say their bodies are "more defined than Auschwitz inmates." In another, the duo sing: "Commit another Holocaust, come with a Molotov cocktail." 

The Echo awards' organizers scrapped the event after German media, musicians and Holocaust survivor associations sharply criticized them for awarding the rap duo a prize. Some winners of previous Echos had also returned their Echo awards in protest.

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