Danger Dan has never been especially interested in labels.
The German rapper and pianist says he never experienced himself as particularly straight, but also never identified as gay or bisexual.
“It was always pretty irrelevant to me,” he told Tagesspiegel.
Now he is speaking publicly for the first time about a past relationship with a man.
Danger Dan, whose real name is Daniel Pongratz, is known both as a solo artist and as a member of the German hip-hop group Antilopen Gang. His 2021 solo album reached number one in Germany.
His new album, Keine Angst, includes a love song about his former boyfriend. The song is called “Warum es nicht geklappt hat,” which translates roughly as “Why It Didn’t Work Out.”
Danger Dan performed the song publicly for the first time at Christopher Street Day in Görlitz.
He described the performance as a “retrospective coming out.”
That is a strikingly precise way to describe the moment.
This is not a conventional celebrity announcement built around a new label. Danger Dan says fixed categories have never felt especially important to him.
But he also acknowledges that he did not treat this relationship as equally as his relationships with women. He felt he owed his former boyfriend a love song.
He told Tagesspiegelthat the current political climate made the timing feel right. As queer events face threats in Germany, he said, he wanted to make clear that he was not merely expressing solidarity with LGBTQ+ people.
He was one of them.
The song will appear on Keine Angst, which is released on October 2.
Sometimes coming out is not about finding the perfect word.
Sometimes it is about finally acknowledging the person you loved.
📷 @dangerdanmusik
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