German rapper Capital Bra opens up about drug addiction and impact on his family

Capital Bra said his use has directly shaped how he moves through his own home. When he is high, he avoids his children entirely, either waiting until they are asleep before coming back or retreating to a hotel. "Ich kann nicht auf Drogen nach Hause gehen," he said. "Ich kann meine Söhne und Töchter nicht anfassen." The rapper has five children, sons and daughters, who he said he does not want to see in that state.

The visible signs of drug use, he added, have forced him into furtive routines. He described sneaking through his own house and going straight to the shower to clean himself up before anyone sees him: "Dann muss ich mich zu Hause irgendwie heimlich durchschlängeln und direkt in die Dusche gehen und mich desinfizieren." The habit of hiding his condition from his family has compounded his sense of failure.

A childhood lesson in fighting back

He also addressed the emotional toll on his partner, with whom he said he was separated for a period. "Aber ich liebe sie, und es ist schlimm für mich, dass ich sie schon so lange und immer wieder enttäusche," Capital Bra said, acknowledging repeated disappointments. His broader admission was blunt: "Dass ich meine ganze Familie wegen der Drogen immer wieder enttäusche."

The rapper framed the breaking point in personal terms rather than professional ones. The moment of reckoning, he said, came from not wanting to be near his children while intoxicated and from fearing further institutional treatment. "Das hat mich irgendwann kaputt gemacht. Das geht nicht, ich will das nicht," he told the magazine. He added: "Ich möchte nicht mehr in der Psychiatrie landen."

What he says he wants next

Capital Bra also traced his instinct to push through difficulty back to childhood. He recounted coming home at six or seven with a bloody nose after a fight; when he told his mother, she asked only whether he had hit back, urging him: "Heul hier nicht rum, geh zurück und hau ihn." That response, he said, left him with a lasting rule: "Dieses: Wehr dich! Egal was ist - wehr dich." "Seitdem ist das halt so mein Ding," he added.

For the future, the musician said he wants a clean break from cycles of withdrawal and psychiatric stays. "Ich möchte irgendwann nicht mehr irgendwo einen Entzug machen müssen," he said, setting out two priorities: "Ich möchte clean werden. Und für meine Kinder da sein können." Capital Bra has been among the most successful rappers in Germany for years, a position that, by his own account, has not shielded him from the grip of addiction.

Context and coverage

The interview was published as part of a broader wave of German-language coverage drawing on the dpa news channel. Beyond the personal disclosures, the conversation gave a rare window into how long-running substance use can reshape even routine family life, from bedtime logistics to the simple act of walking through a front door.

Capital Bra's account lands at a moment when conversations about addiction in the entertainment industry have continued to make headlines in Germany. By choosing to describe the depth of his use and the cost to his children in unvarnished terms, he has shifted his public narrative from chart success to a candid reckoning with recovery.

Whether the latest commitment to sobriety will hold remains an open question. The rapper himself framed the effort as a process of endurance: "Und für meine Kinder da sein können," he repeated, indicating that the motivation, more than any single treatment episode, is what he is now leaning on.