Austria is located in central Europe and borders Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, and Italy. Hip Hop in Austria is in its infancy, with new groups attempting to lay the foundation for a vibrant culture. Austrian emcees rap mostly in German, which is Austria's official language, with English mixed in. Graffiti is prevalent in Austrian cities.

While in Vienna, I entered a music store and asked about the Hip Hop scene in Austria. The clerk told me that "there are only two groups and they both suck." He asked me, "What type of rap do you listen to?" Type? I didn't know how to answer that, so I just said "Jazz Rap." Then he told me that Austria doesn't have any Jazz Rap, because Hip Hop in Austria hasn't been around since the 1950s like in America. If knowledge is power, so is ignorance.

German artists are big in Austria. Texta (Myspace page) are from Linz, the modest center of Austrian Hip Hop, and have collaborated with German emcees. They've also done a song with Akil from Jurassic 5 called "Worlds." Gerard MC (Myspace page) is from Wels. The Waxolutionists (Myspace page) are from Vienna.

other sites:

Hip Hop.at (in German)

Austrian Hip Hop.at (in German)

Article in German about Texta (here)

other artists:

BumBum Kunst (Myspace page) from Linz.

Phatlip (Myspace page) from Vienna.

HiddenNationCrew (Myspace page) from Vienna.

Ausgleich (Myspace page) from Vienna.

Soundtruck (Myspace page) from Linz, is influenced by Hip Hop and Reggae.

Dokta G.C. (Myspace page) from Linz, Hip Hop and Electronica.

Twang (Myspace page).

Mundpropaganda (Myspace page).

Prince Zeka is from Bukavu, Congo and now splits his residence between Vienna and Paris, France.

stores-

Goalgetter in Vienna.