"Krone" interview
Money Boy: “I should pay for these fans”
Eight years after Money Boy was once disinvited from Nova Rock, he played a nostalgic best-of set at the Frequency Festival on Saturday evening. After the performance, the Viennese rapper spoke to the "Krone" about the past, his new focus on good live concerts and why Vienna loves him like never before.
"Krone": Money Boy, just as you left the stage at Frequency, it started pouring down like a bucket ...
Money Boy: When I started the encore, it just started raining like crazy. That's crazy after such a heatwave and it has to happen to me of all people, but it is what it is. I've been checking out the weather forecast for days and thought if it doesn't start raining until 6pm, I should be cool with it.
You joined the Frequency line-up very late. When exactly did it work out with your performance?
There was some talk a few months ago, but the line-up was already set. But then I slipped in recently, it was all relatively spontaneous. The atmosphere was good and that's what I had hoped for beforehand. A lot of people had been asking me about it for a while, so I thought the gig would be cool. There was a lot going on and people were totally dancing, which was nice. I already had a great gig at Rolling Loud, so there were probably even more people there. But both gigs were great highlights.
But you played different sets. You played a few different songs at Rolling Loud than at Frequency.
For me, the Frequency is an Austrian festival, whereas I see the Rolling Loud as more international. That makes a difference in the choice of songs. Rolling Loud is purely a hip-hop and trap festival and I take that into account. For Frequency, I've thought about a few specials and classics like "Gucci and Prada" because it simply fits better here. I perform best the bigger the stage and the more people there are. Frequency is definitely part of that.
The Frequency Festival is an old hand and will celebrate its 25th birthday in 2025. What is your relationship with it and were you a visitor before your own career?
I was never a big festival goer, even though I've been to some. But Frequency is very special and perhaps the biggest festival in Austria, I'm aware of that.
Do you feel better understood in Austria now than you used to?
I've noticed this for two or three years now and the Spotify statistics prove my suspicions right. Vienna is one of the top three cities. When I think back to the fact that I used to travel a lot in Germany and that people didn't love me so much here at the beginning of my career, it's a really great thing. People often say that a rapper has the hardest time in his hometown, but I don't feel that anymore. A big shout-out to the fans. I should have had to pay for the fact that the fans celebrated me like that. I can only thank them for that.
Why did it take so long for you and the Viennese or Austrians in general to fall in love?
That's a good question. I don't know exactly why it was like that. Maybe people today think that they are from the same city as Money Boy and can therefore flex. They are then perhaps much more blatant fans than those in Berlin or Hamburg.
After the bottle-throwing scandal at Vienna's WUK, you were disinvited from Nova Rock in 2016, where you were supposed to play a big gig. The same company also organizes the Frequency Festival - is that something of a late satisfaction for you now?
I'd have to lie that I didn't think about what it was like back then. But today is cool and good and that's the most important thing. I'm also sure that it was cooler for me here at Frequency today than it would have been at Nova Rock back then.
Are more career doors opening up for you now?
If word gets around that Money Boy put on a great show, that's certainly not a disadvantage. I got really crazy feedback for the performance at Rolling Loud, some media even wrote about a "Secret Headliner Money Boy". Word gets around in the industry, of course, but the fans have known about it for a long time. Sometimes it just takes longer to convince the people who make the final decision.
Would you say that you are much more focused on your career today than ever before?
100 percent. But everything had its time. I may not have been as focused in the past, but I had a lot more raw energy, which was also very entertaining. Today, I'm more focused and sometimes I let things sit and reflect. I also like to incorporate new songs at festivals because it's exciting to see how people react to them.
Like today at Frequency - you also presented a brand new song.
I only recorded the track the day before yesterday and thought it would be perfect for a festival. So I quickly mixed and mastered it and wanted to get started right away. The song is called "Glo Gang", it's officially coming out on August 20th and has a very fine beat that I knew could also go down very well live. There won't be a video for it for the time being, at least nothing is planned. I've been dropping so many videos recently that I'd rather let the sound do the talking again, because the material is good enough anyway. It's a bit like reading a book - you concentrate on the essentials.
The Dutch song contest starter Joost mentioned you several times on stage during his set, and rappers like Donna Savage and Verified could be seen down in the audience. How do you feel about this positive credibility from colleagues?
I often see people tagging me in their stories and then writing about how they're celebrating my songs or gigs. That's totally cool. I get messages from the entertainment industry and from streamers. I get to meet some of them later in real life and that's a great experience.
A few weeks ago you released a great song called "Guapo", which has already become a fan favorite. When will you finally include it in your live setlist?
I'm delighted that the song has been so well received. It's on my latest album and was produced in Germany by people who also work with Apache 207 and Herbert Grönemeyer. I didn't realize for a long time that so many people knew the song, but from the comments and messages I'm slowly realizing that it should be played after all. My DJ often suggests it to me, but I didn't quite realize that for a long time. I played it once and then messed up the lyrics, so I left it out. That put me off a bit, but I'm going to tackle it again.
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