In August of 2016, The FADER reported on the strange tale of Deso Dogg, a German rapper who fled to Syria to sing songs for ISIS. He was a propagandist, and one of the most widely visible. According to a Middle East Media Research Institute report from 2013, “Few jihadi alive today are as photographed or video-recorded as Cuspert." As a spokesperson for Berlin’s intelligence service Verfassungsschutz told us, “he was something like a pop star of jihad.”

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In the piece, we also reported that Cuspert was, despite reports to the contrary, currently believed to be alive. A Pentagon spokesperson provided the following statement to The FADER: