From fashwave TikTok clips to ‘Ayran Classics’ YT playlists, an extremely toxic subculture of extremist trolls are going viral by posting unhinged remixes of hit songs. In the middle of May, a viral video circulated showing people outside of a bar in Sylt, an island in Germany, chanting “Foreigners out, Germany for the Germans!” to the tune of the Italian Gigi D’Agostino’s 2000 techno hit “L’Amour Toujours”. The song has nothing to do with ethnic purity or xenophobia. It’s about passionate love, but not for this crowd: at least one man was reportedly seen giving a Nazi salute, while some guests allegedly made a racist remark at a young Black woman and punched her in the face. To prevent more extremist actions like this, Oktoberfest organisers have since banned the tune from being spun at the yearly festival; the Austrian Football Association also prohibited it from being played at stadiums. “L’Amour Toujours” is one of a growing swarm of songs that far-right trolls have co-opted into a made-up genre they call “Save Europe” music. Internet creators use these tunes, which are often sped up to delirious nightcore insanity, in YouTube edits and TikTok memes with racist, anti-immigrant calls to make Europe fully white, as well as explicit neo-Nazism. One popular page has clips with hundreds of thousands of views saying North Africa and the Middle East are a “creeper farm” and the only “problem” places out of the world’s 195 countries. There are now dozens of popular Save Europe-themed Spotify playlists and YouTube channels dedicated to the style, like “Aryan Classic”, with millions of views. Viewers brag in the comments about how they’re “pure-blooded” and worship Nazi state sculptor Arno Breker. Some fervent fans even remix the music by weaving in audio of chief Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels. And yet somehow, platforms haven’t caught wind of the overt racism in these clips and comment sections. Save Europe memes have existed for over a year, but the trend really exploded a few months ago on TikTok. A slew of people made viral clips saying they didn’t agree with the Save Europe horde’s racism but loved their music taste, inadvertently boosting the toxic subculture. One user even made a popular “Top 10 Save Europe bangers” list with stuff like Lil Texas’ pummeling edit of Ke$ha’s “Die Young” and a squeaky-speedy revamp of Malo Tebya‘s “SEREBRO”. The comments on these ostensibly anti-Save Europe videos are rife with people admiring Save Europe tunes and adherents trying to lure passersby into the movement. In one clip, looksmaxxing influencer Kareem Shami says he doesn’t like Save Europe but can’t deny “they got some bangers”, and nearly every top comment promotes the ideology and has thousands of likes. “I heavily fuck with save europe music! And the ideas too,” goes one. There’s no single explanation behind extremists christening certain songs as racist-core. Some of the most common were already popular long before their troubling takeover, like ATC’s eurotrance classic “All Around the World (La La La La La)” and a manic version of a section taken from Scott Brown’s “Taking Drugs?” Maybe the most chilling track is a slow-yet-hardstyle edit of Peter Schilling’s stratosphere-soaring “Major Tom (Coming Home)”. The way it’s remixed feels anaemic and hyperreal, like a soundtrack for zombie warfare. Save Europe truthers have used it in videos obliquely urging viewers to “Defend Europe,” calls for an Anglo-American takeover of Yemen, and hyper-Christian rallies for violence. “Defend the cross and your nation,” one person commented.
via dazeddigital:; Save Europe: the alt-right movement spreading hate with dance music
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