“Lieben Wir” by Shirin David

Occasionally we cover rap songs from other parts of the world beside the United States, i.e. the country where the genre originated and remains most prominent.

Indeed by this point in time no one can argue against the notion that hip-hop, which originated in the late 1970s within the African-American ghettos of New York City, has become a global phenomenon, with popular rappers being existent in virtually every country. And as far as Germany is concerned, the number one hip-hop artist at the moment is reportedly Shirin David.

But the point the previous paragraph was intended to make is that in covering rappers from around the world, in most of the cases the songs we’ve come across read almost identical to those from the United States, i.e. popular global rappers being respective local versions of this or that US-based rapper. 

“Lieben Wir”

And such is largely the case with Shirin David in “Lieben Wir”, right down to the music video and even name of the label that put the song out. And we’re not hating on her or anything, as it’s become pretty obvious that emulating American rappers – like Nicki Minaj as far as this track is concerned – is sort of like a proven formula for musical success.

As far as Minaj is concerned, Shirin honestly sounds and looks similar (in the video) to her. Furthermore, she even goes as far as to refer to herself as “Bramfeld’s Barbie”. Bramfeld is the ‘hood that David grew up in. 

Barbie

And a Barbie is of course a popular doll but also, as you likely know, a phrase that Nicki Minaj uses quite regularly. But perhaps what Shirin is saying is something like she is a Barb, i.e. a big fan of Minaj’s. She is clearly definitely been influenced by her. Or perhaps not. For at the end of the second verse, she proceeds to reveal that “Barbie’s real name is Barbara”, which also happens to be the vocalist’s actual first name.

Notable names mentioned in “Lieben Wir”

Shirin also namedrops a few American A listers. They include the likes of the following:

• “Taylor Swift”
• “Anna Nicole Smith”
• “Chris Brown”

But she makes just as many references, if not more, to her own locality.

What actually does “Lieben Wir” mean?

Then as for the actual meaning of “Lieben Wir” (tr. “We Love”), again it reads a lot like what you would expect from a popular female rapper stateside though, relatively speaking, devoid of raunchy language.

The only times it appears David really goes there is at the end of the first verse, where she somewhat graphically boasts of her female homeys sexual attractiveness/prowess, or something like that. Also in the chorus she refers to giving her man “head” so long as he’s rich enough to actually afford the service.

Indeed the lyrics of this song are more based on the vocalist’s sex appeal than anything else.  She also expresses a desire for wealthy men and a disdain for female rivals, just like a Nicki Minaj.  But there are also some differences from standard American female rappers also, in that Shirin doesn’t boast of her own wealth, nor does she appear to make any violent threats towards anyone.  Instead it would appear that the vocalist’s primary concern is maintaining a beautiful appearance.  Indeed amongst the two things mentioned that she and hers “love” is “look(ing) like a snack”.  And second would be, once again, rich men who are willing to spend on them.

Bisexual Shirin

Another notable part of this song is during the beginning of the second verse, where Shirin alludes to being bisexual. Again, such innuendos have become common fare as far as mainstream female rappers are concerned in the US. But apparently not so much in Germany or at least not as far as Shirin is concerned, as she doing so actually made headlines.

At the end of the day

So we will conclude by saying that this song may in fact prove to be a chart topper in Germany, as it adheres to the American formula of commercial success, albeit by a local artist and in the native language. 

But in other parts of the world like the US itself, since audiences have already become accustomed to this type of sound/imagery, then “Liebin Wir” comes off more like your standard female rap song.

Shirin David

Shirin David was raised by her mom, who is of Lithuanian descent, in Germany. And her dad is actually Iranian, which would by and large explain why if you look at her closely, she doesn’t appear as your standard German.

Shirin blew up on YouTube circa 2014 and then television before venturing fully into a music career in 2019 with her debut single, Orbit. Her second single, Gib Ihm (2019), scored a number one in her homeland. 

And whereas she has established herself in different spheres – for instance also coming out with an award-winning perfume line – it is in the music industry where she has apparently proven most successful to date. For instance, in 2019 with the release of Supersize, she became the first female rapper in Germany to top the albums’ chart with her debut full-length. 

And she’s also come out with a couple of other songs, 90-60-111 (2020) and Ich Darf Das (2021), that reached the pinnacle of the singles chart in Deutschland. Indeed one site based in the country has acknowledged her as “the most successful German rapper”.

“Lieben Wir”

With Lieben Wir being made public on 2 July 2021, it would appear that it is the third single from Shirin David’s forthcoming sophomore album, which is entitled B**ches Brauchen Rap  (tr. B**ches Need Rap). 

The production team behind the song consists of Young Mesh, Frio, Juh-Dee and Laas Unltd, all of whom are seemingly based in Germany. Additionally, all four of them are credited as co-writers of the track alongside Shirin David.

The company that put this song out is Juice Money Records. This is a label which is believed to have been founded by Shirin David.

As of the issuance of this song, Shirin is 26 years old.