K.I.Z is a German hip hop group from Berlin. The members are the three rappers Tarek, Nico and Maxim. Until 2018, DJ Craft was also part of the group. Their lyrics often contain a lot of black humor and irony as well as sociocritical content. 　　The name K.I.Z. has several meanings. Members of the band have suggested numerous meanings for the acronym, such as Kriegsverbrecher im Zuchthaus (war criminals in penitentiary), Kannibalen in Zivil (cannibals in plain clothes), Künstler in Zwangsjacken (artists in straight jackets), or Kreuzritter in Zentralasien (crusaders in central Asia), Krüppel im Zwinger (cripples in the kennel), Kapitalismus ist Zauberhaft (literally: "capitalism is magical", meaning "capitalism is lovely"; another, not so obvious—yet probably intended—meaning would be "capitalism is magical imprisonment" with "Zauber" meaning "magical-" and "Haft" meaning "imprisonment"), Klosterschüler im Z?libat (Monastic novices in celibacy) or Karotten, Ingwer, Zwiebel (carrots, ginger, onion). 　　K.I.Z. rapper Maxim said in his humorous autobiography that graffiti artists came up with the letters because they "sound so aggressive". In an interview with the BerlinBlock K.I.Z. explained that they were using the name since their career as graffiti artists when it only had "an embarrassing English meaning".