Denis Cuspert, a former German hip-hop recording artist, has been declared an international terrorist by the U.S. on Monday, regarding his ties to ISIS, reports NBC News.

A Berlin native, Cuspert, 39, had been convicted of crimes in his country before moving onto the Syrian battlefield and changing his name to Abu Talha al-Almani, meaning "Abu Talha the German," in 2012. Before his Islamic conversion, according to news reports, he was active in Berlin's hip-hop scene, performing under the stage name "Deso Dogg."

Cuspert pledged allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi and appeared in several videos on behalf of the jihadi rebel group. In a video released in November, "[Cuspert] appears to be holding a severed head he claims belongs to a man executed for opposing [ISIS]," the State Department said in a statement.

According to the State Department, Cuspert has acted as a "willing pitchman" for the group's "atrocities" and has been officially appointed as a "foreign terrorist fighter and operative" for the organization.

"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," the State Department announcement said.

Last September, German intelligence officials created a 25-page analysis on Cuspert's radicalization process. The report states Cuspert is believed to have been radicalized in Germany's Salafist scene. As Deso Dogg, he rapped, "Welcome to my world full of hate and blood," in a 2007 music video and quickly became a popular radical preacher who attempted to recruit ISIS followers.

"[Cuspert] in a few years developed into a well-known German-speaking demagogue of the armed Jihad," the report said.

The country's Federal Prosecutor is investigating whether Cuspert could be charged with war crimes, reports the Die Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

Cuspert has been added to the U.S. terror blacklist. He is also wanted by the German government on suspicion of terrorism activities.

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