The real is ova here….in The Netherlands

Last night I went to the “Volle Toeren” (Full Throttle) Tour of The Opposites, Dio & Flinke Namen (Big Names) in the venue Watt @ Rotterdam. Last week I was also present at the Paradiso Amsterdam edition, where the roof literally got blown away by the “Volle Toeren” performance.

Yesterday it became clear to me, where the Netherlands used to be a midget on the global hip hop map. Nowadays the Netherlands showcase some of the most revolutionising and original hip hop music in the whole wide world.

The Opposites - Geen Klasse, Geen Stijl (Produced by Reverse)

How did I came to this conclusion, well it’s easy it’s just adding up all the elements that are present and those that are missing in for instance America, Germany, France and the UK.

When Kool Herc started with his movement, in my opinion it started with Bob Dylans “Blowing in the wind” reaching the ear of Sam Cooke - but that’s another post, it was all about being original and innovative with next to nothing. From the basements and improvised clubs through out the NY city boroughs hip hop became bigger and bigger, with numerous icons & people responsible for the growth of this movement.

As we speak it seems that hip hop is at his highest point yet and it still shows room for more growth. But the scene, especially the US scene, seems to be feeding its people good and maybe a little bit to good. The hunger for more is absent - people are satisfied, the hunger for change and innovation to stand out seems to be replaced with “2001 sure shot formulas” in which artist most often use the same ways to brand and position themselves on the overcrowded market.

I mean you have 3892 triple six maffia’s, 16.890 Jay-z’s, 35.627 50 cent’s and were still waiting on the next line of Kanye West’s with a “Made in China” label in the neck.

So to get back on topic and speak about The Netherlands its pioneering hip hop scene.

The Cool Kids for instance, they are becoming big names and pioneers in the US scene – but the image and music they are portraying are overlapping what artist such as “de jeugd van tegenwoordig” (Todays Youth) from the Dutch scene were doing way before the Cool Kids as a group even existed.

It seems that the Netherlands are becoming global trendsetters on this part. This influence is already growing in the International Hip Hop world. For instance one of the better “music” productions from the G-Unit camp ever, Stunt 101, was produced by Jay Collin from The Netherlands only to be stolen by Denuan Porter. Nicolay made the critically acclaimed album Foreign exchange together with Justice League and is still working on upcoming projects. Akon’s right hand production man Giorgio Tuinfort co-produced allot of the latest Konvict records tracks.

In my opinion the mix off cultures and history of music in the Netherlands have made it to what it is. Most of the people that are creating the face of Hip Hop in The Netherlands all have roots that lay in other continents; South America, Africa, Asia, Eur-Asia. If you add up the fact that the Netherlands are #1 on the Global House & Dance scene you get a mix that produces the best and freshest hip hop I’ve seen and heard in a while.

Ill give you a few examples of Dutch artist, so you can look for yourselves and judge.

Examples

- The Opposites

- De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig

- C'mon & Kypski ft Pete Philly

- Dio

- Kempi

- Appa & Mr Sjaak

- Flinke Namen