Capital Bra: The rapper has five children.Image: www.imago-images.de
The rapper speaks openly about his drug addiction, failed withdrawals and the consequences for his family. What drives Capital Bra to keep fighting despite setbacks.
July 3, 2026, 11:46 amJuly 3, 2026, 11:46 am
Jennifer Doemkes / t-online
He is one of the most successful German-speaking rappers of recent years and has already topped the charts with over 20 songs. Away from the spotlight, Capital Bra, whose real name is Vladislav Balovatsky, is above all a family man. He and his wife Charlyn have five children, the youngest of whom was born in March.
But there is a dark shadow over his professional and private success: the musician is addicted to the painkiller Tilidine – and has been for 20 years. “When I was 11 I smoked, smoked, smoked weed for the first time and had sex for the first time. Then I came to the youth home. And tilidine was the cheapest drug available and available at the time. But at some point I became dependent,” he now describes in an interview with “Spiegel”.
“I want to be there for my children”
When asked whether he had tried withdrawal, the 31-year-old replied: “One? I had ten, twenty.” He went through withdrawal in Dubai for a whole year – accompanied by months of pain. He gets them without tilidine, as well as panic attacks. “I can do without grass, coke, whatever,” emphasizes Capital Bra. But without Tilidine – which he now even gets on prescription – it doesn’t work. “Why should I live with pain and panic attacks when there are remedies for them?” he asks.
Things will get bad if he overdoes it with other drugs. Like in April when he live-streamed a crash on social media and ended up in the hospital. Cocaine psychosis. The musician vividly describes how much addiction affects his family life. “I can’t go home on drugs. I can’t touch my sons and daughters,” he says. Sometimes he escapes to the hotel, other times he waits until the children are asleep. “Then I have to secretly sneak my way home and go straight into the shower and disinfect myself.”
He doesn’t want to see his children when he’s high: “That destroyed me at some point. That’s not possible, I don’t want that.” The addiction also put a strain on his relationship; according to the musician, he and his partner were separated for a time. “But I love her, and it’s bad for me that I’ve been disappointing her over and over again for so long,” he emphasizes. “That I keep disappointing my whole family because of drugs.”
The 31-year-old has a clear wish for the future: “I don’t want to end up in a psychiatric hospital anymore. At some point I no longer want to have to go through withdrawal somewhere,” he says. «I want to get clean. And be able to be there for my children.” His eldest son is 11 years old and his youngest daughter is just a few months old.