Puppetmastaz

Puppetmastaz, a singular Berlin hip-hop collective, will bring their universe to Le Transbordeur in Villeurbanne on 26 March 2026. For more than twenty years, this crew has cultivated a puppet rap cabaret where boom‑bap collides with miniature theater under strobe lights. Led by Mr. Maloke, their self‑proclaimed leader and mole‑headed MC, the latex and felt characters take the mic, deliver tight rhymes and weave themselves into a narrative that is at once absurd and precise, alternating punchlines, well‑timed jibes and shadowy hand choreography.

Their reputation was forged on the road, from clubs to festivals, with a live show that relies as much on flow as on staging, and a discography nourished by diverse collaborations. They’ve been seen alongside Chilly Gonzales, Le Peuple de l’Herbe, Modeselektor, Hippocampe Fou and Soom T — alliances that have sharpened their sound and their sense of spectacle. Puppetmastaz offer a groove grounded in classic beats, manipulated voices, layered dialogues and a gallery of unruly creatures, somewhere between a puppeteer’s workshop and an MC cypher. It’s a plunge into playful, highly precise hip‑hop, driven by feel and measured down to the millimetre, a style that’s uniquely theirs.