MAINZ, Germany, Feb. 11 (UPI) — A Germany-based former rapper once known as Deso Dog is now on the United States global terrorism blacklist for allegedly joining and recruiting for Islamic State terrorists.

Deso Dog, born Denis Cuspert, enjoyed moderate success on the international hip-hop scene in the early 2000s, even touring with DMX, but in 2010 started associating with Islamic State terrorist and denounced his life as a musician.

Cuspert now goes by Abu Talha al-Almani and has “pledged an oath of loyalty to ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and appears to serve as an ISIL recruiter with special emphasis on recruiting German speakers to ISIL,” according to the U.S. State Department.

“Cuspert is emblematic of the type of foreign recruit ISIL seeks for its ranks – individuals who have engaged in criminal activity in their home countries who then travel to Iraq and Syria to commit far worse crimes against the people of those countries … Cuspert has been a willing pitchman for ISIL atrocities. Cuspert is also wanted by the German government on suspicion of involvement in terrorist activities in his home country.”