LTH ; hip hop missionary through thick and thin

A 12 year old Lloyd Terborg moved from Paramaribo Surinam to Amsterdam Holland in 1978. He ended up in the infamous Bijlmer area of Amsterdam which back then was a brandnew housingproject. The Bijlmer was mainly populated with folks from Surinam en Antillian origin. A year later he was mainly doing what most kids were at that time and place; fighting, doing petty crimes, hanging around in the streets bugging out. At one point a burglary got planned by Lloyd's "friends" and he was asked to participate that evening. That day he wandered around with doubts in his mind about the planned break in that night. He ended up checking out a youthcentre because he heard some cool funk music playing. What he witnessed there changed his life......

Amsterdam Bijlmer housing projects

At that particular youthcentre ("J.C.B." in the Bijlmer area) there where some guys dancing like Lloyd never saw before.....next to a kid named Ulrich there was this kid would turn out to be the later Mr. Solo (Werner Themen). A few years later the dancing would be widely known as breakdancing. The music that was used came from tapes from American friends of Mr. Solo....soldiers stationed in Holland (a common thing during the Cold War era).
Lloyd, all excited by the new music and dancing, decided that night not to show up for the burglary. The next day at school his "friends" beat him down for not showing up. Apperently the break in went sour and a few got arrested. Lloyd saw it as a sign, broke up with being a small time criminal and started hanging around with Mr. Solo and his friends. From that point he started breakdancing himself. Also neighborhoud parties were thrown with the same music as they kept hearing from the tapes from the American G.I.'s. Lloyd became very much Solo's pupil when it came to his first steps in hip hop. The next step to making one's own music was made soon after, Solo already in 1983 had a drumcomputer. This was the BOSS DR-110, probably the first drumcomputer used for making hip hop in the Netherlands.

At one point Lloyd had bought his own BOSS DR-110 at the "Dirk Witte shop" in Amsterdam and started cookin' up his own beats. More rappers, DJ's, beatcreators and breakdancers turned up on the Amsterdam hip hop scene like Ricky-D, Zodiac (Jeffrey Roberts), Beatmasters, DJ Genie, Dillon Lewis, Rudeboy, Babyface, Tombox, Kay Leigh and All Star Fresh to form hip hop's first generation. Connections were made with likeminded artists in Utrecht (Mellow MC's), The Hague (Skinny Scotti) and Rotterdam (TC Boyz, Mr. B). Holland's first small rapshow became a fact in 1983...venue the Melkweg in Amsterdam saw performances by Mr. Solo, Ricky-D, Beatmasters and LJ Fresh. One year later a bigger show was held at the Aknathon club in Amsterdam which would eventually became a historical venue in Dutch rap history in years to follow.
Lloyd, by then known as LTH ("Lloyd Thinks Hard") is a prominent figure within the florishing local hip hop culture. He makes beats for several rappers, breakdances, raps en masters the human beatbox. Also he helps a English party promotor that lived in Amsterdam called Norville Small with organizing more and more hip hop parties. As true missionaries LTH and friends started spreading the hip hop religion far outside the Amsterdam borders. Meeting up on Amsterdam Central Station they just hopped a train to some city with a discotheque were they would try to persuade the owner/house DJ to give them some limelight. Mind you this was mostly without getting paid and just for the love.

LTH seen at one of many hip hop showcases in the pioneering days

 

Around 1985 LTH improved his beatmaking skills....using hardware like the CASIO SK-1, KAWAI
R-50 and the ROLAND series. With rapper MC Fafa (Brain Faverus) and DJ Curious Cut he formed the rapgroup Sonic early 1986. They mainly performed in Amsterdam but also joined rap packages with the likes of Deams, LJ Fresh and Extince that Norville Small put together to perform in other Dutch cities. In 1987 LTH entered the annual W.A.P.S. (radiostation "West Amsterdam Power Station") rap contest with his group Sonic. They end up as the runners up (in 3rd place was Divorze Posse, the winner was the group Rap Division from Rotterdam).

Sonic as runner up at the W.A.P.S. rap contest 1987

In 1988 LTH was asked by Rudeboy to create a beat that would lead to a recording done for the first Dutch rap compilation album "Rhythm & Rhyme - A rap compilation vol. 1". Rudeboy didn't want to showcase his own group Urban Dance Squad just yet on vinyl so he formed a special group just for this recording occasion called 167th East Rudeboy Pack together with LTH and All Star Fresh. The track "It's up to you" featured on the album. Another track on the album was also produced by LTH being "It's easy to rhyme by Too Tough Cheryl & T Rebels. Being represented with two productions on the first Dutch real rap album only shows the impact of LTH on the emerging scene in the late '80's.

Grab both LTH productions for Rhythm & Rhyme here!

LTH with Rudeboy Remmingon, Waterloosquare Amsterdam 1988

Despite performances with Marvin D as ML Posse and appearing on a rap tv-show through early European satelite broadcaster Superchannel with All Star Fresh, Zodiac, Mr. Solo etc., it soon occured to LTH that the pioneering days of rap were behind them. '89/'90 saw an end to the hype and the public's focus moved away from hip hop to newjack swing and house music. Especcialy the west of Holland saw a crumbling hip hop culture that dissapointed hardcore followers like LTH. The spontaneous dissappearance of rap party promoter Norville Small also added to this downfall. Ongoing rap parties in the east like in Atac in Enschede gave new opportunities and having met his future wife at these parties LTH moved to Enschede to capitalize on these new furtile rap grounds. Here he started organizing parties and booking all his old friends to do shows. A new group was formed with the Graveyard Posse that resulted in the appearance of 2 tracks on the rap compilation album "Exiles from the neverlands" that saw light of day in 1992. Unfortunately the Graveyard Posse's rapper had little ambition for a rap career and choose another path (he became a stand up comedian). LTH who had found a new job at the Enschede airport became less active with recording and performing himself due to this. In 1993 he started hosting a local rap show called "Traxx2damaxx" playing everything from classic old school joint to the latest joints.

more info on traxx2damaxx

A new found collabaration with Jamaican rapper/toaster Daddy Jim saw LTH producing and performing again. A selfreleased cd called "On target" saw a release in 1996 as a direct result. This album contained mostly ragga vocals but also some rap tracks. In 1997 LTH and Daddy Jim even won the very prestigious Grote Prijs Van Nederland award for best new rap act. The prizemoney won at this competition was put at good use for building a new studio for personal use. From this point LTH and Daddy Jim started using the groupname Herdley Everet for recording and performing.

Download 2 LTH & Daddy Jim tracks here!

LTH & Daddy Jim

During the nineties LTH gets more and more socially engaged with the youth. As a prominent member of the Dutch chapter of the Zulu Nation he starts educating kids by using the positive elements within the hip hop culture untill this very day. On the side he's still busy making beats and planning on yet new music releases. A true hip hop activist!

LTH with Afrika Bambaattaa

KAY L.C. ; the K assault 1983-2011

Word of thanx goes out Ulmar for hittin' me up with all this information but especially for keepin' it true school for a lot of years in the hip hop game.

At the age of 4 ULMAR ROBERT a.k.a. KAY LC/KLC moved from Surinam to The Netherlands (1974). After living in Rotterdam and The Hague for 3 years bags got packed again and K and his fam moved back to Surinam. Already at a very early age music proved to be a great influence, being it listening to his parents' soul records, dancing or "Kawina drumming" (Surinam folk music). When 10 years old he felt attracted to a kind of punk movement that was happening in Surinam at that point. This cultural outburst was more a fashion statement then a political movement; peeps walked around with safetypins through their cheeks and buttons on their denim coats. Another trademark were the dancing contests on disco beats and James Brown grooves (Punks on disco...mmm...interesting!). In 1983 K witnessed a guy doing electric boogie on tv, getting ill to the electro beats of Herbie Hancock's "Rockit". This bugged him out. Knowing he was going to move from Surinam's capital Paramaribo back to the Netherlands again soon, K felt he was going to miss out on a whole other fresh movement. Within a few months he was again living in The Netherlands, more specificly the city of Domburg in the Zeeland provence.

Luckily the hip hop virus wasn't only spreading slowly in Surinam but as it turned out in The Netherlands aswell. K came in contact with 2 breakdancers through one of his cousins. Soon after, the breakdance crew "ELECTRONIC ROCKERS" (E.R.) was a fact. Through competing in various battles they met likeminded peeps and made new friends...the E.R. soon expanded to 10 members.
As seen so often in Dutch hip hop history, K had a go at basically every element of the hip hop culture; b-boying, graffiti, human beatbox, dj-ing and rapping. As it slowly turned out he had the gift of gab and specialized in rapping.

K showing off his graffiti exploits (1986)

Around 1986 b-boying had slowly faded from the Dutch hip hop scene. E.R. had seized to exist but a few members founded a new group called PLEASURE POSSE (P.P.). Next to K (who at that point in time took upon himself the stagename MC COOL C) the group consisted off DJ TYRONE and rapper JAREL. K learned a lot from JAREL who was an older guy with good control over the English language and who already had some splendid MC-skills. Also K memorized and learned English vocabulary and pronounciation by listening to rap tapes (The Furious Five !) when biking 10 miles from his hometown Domburg to his school in Middelburg. At DJ TYRONE's crib the first tracks got layed down with nothing more than 2 turntables, a taperecorder and a mic. DJ TYRONE turned out to be an excellent DJ who created some nice mixes aswell. Some shows got done, often backed up with dancer MARLON who was also known for his great Michael Jackson impersonations and robotic dancing at that time. Check the 1988 P.P. demotrack "On the mic with ease" here:

DOWNLOAD

DJ Tyrone & MC Cool C (PLEASURE POSSE 1988)

The P.P. had personal changes early 1989; DJ TYRONE quit and sold his turntables to JAREL who then became the crew's dj. New members were found in rapper AK7 and producer RICK DANGEROUS. As a new 4 man group the P.P. also started to use the name PRYME RHYME NETWORK (P.R.N.) K's skills improved rapidly. His big influences were Grandmaster Flash & The Furious 5, Big Daddy Kane, Rakim, Jungle Brothers, D.O.C., A.T.C.Q. and KRS-1. He stopped rapping in a LL Cool J kinda way and developed his own trademark smooth rapstyle. When taken notice to the fact that there was a USA rapper called COOL C, K changed his artistname to KLC/KAY LC (KOOL LYRICAL COMMANDER). There ofcourse were Dutch influences aswell; especially Moonrunners (check my Moonrunners blogtopic yo!!), Beatmasters and Extince. K recalls biking long distances just to catch shows by Moonrunners and 24K. This group 24K (again; check the blogtopic on 24K!) and D.A.M.N. also became a big inspiration because in 1989/90 these groups got airplay and even had albums out on wax in The Netherlands.

Ulmar soon connected with rappers, dj's and producers from Rotterdam and Amsterdam. Rotterdam being the city where he often went...buying records, visiting shows and eventually hookin' up with guys from the infamous BAD BOYS POSSE (see Moonrunners blogtopic). Further more his friend JEAN (a graffiti pioneer and one of the first Bad Boys members) introduced him to the Amsterdam hip hop scene. Eventually a 1989 P.R.N. demotape ended up in the hands of rapjournalist/radiohost KEES DE KONING who played the track "Full metall lyricz" on his rapshow Warjournal.

Kay performing "Full metall lyricx" live

In 1989 K moved from Domburg to Rotterdam. Here he intensified his contacts with producers and rappers like A.C. TUNE, ELVIS and KRIMO. As a result his involvement with P.R.N. gradually faded. Without him knowing one of his friends had sent a P.R.N. demotape to recordcompany DJAX. DJAX at that time was writing Dutch rap history with their releases of albums by 24K and Dope Posse. DJAX C.E.O. SASKIA SLEEGERS was immediately interested in signing K as the label's latest rap artist. First scheduled release was "Full metall lyricz" as a 12" but due to problems with the recording studio and an impatient K this record never saw the light of day. Instead a 9 track mini-album called "Hard 2 handle" was recorded in july 1991 at Le Roy Studio in Amsterdam. They ran into difficulties when trying to convert RICK DANGEROUS' Amiga beats in the studio. SASKIA SLEEGERS therefore brought in producer DYLAN HERMELYN (a.k.a. MASTER O.C.), who she knew from the techno musicscene. Some guest vocals on the album got layed down by AK7, JEAN, FRED BOMBER and ELVIS (of DOPE SYNDICATE fame...). Also DJ WAN-2 of 24K did some cuts. The album dropped and the track "Leavin" prooved to be a smart choice for a cd-single release. This unconventional track wasn't an uptempo brag & boast track but a slow loverap that got K some radio and even tv airplay. This specific track and his natural laid back rhymestyle set a new standard within Dutch rap. Also a selfconscious state of mind got displayed...no imitating U.S. rappers.

On that note; I recommand anyone to hunt down the 1992 "Leavin" cd-single because it also holds the amazing track "Beyond 2000" with DJ JEFF on cuts!

"Hard 2 handle" CD/LP advertisement"

"Leavin" performed live on Dutch television 1992

Having a made name within the Dutch rapping scene, Ulmar performed at many of the rap-events (B-boy Extravaganza, Flavor of the month, Party groove etc. etc.) that were held in these glory years of hip hop in the Netherlands. Amongst rappers EXTINCE, SKATE and RINGO, K suplied vocals for DJ KNOWHOW's demotape "Knowhow boostin' mc's". The track "Sunshine" can be downloaded here:

DOWNLOAD

Eventually house music pushed rap heavily to the background in years to come. It became increasingly harder for Dutch ("hardcore") rappers to get released and rap-events got organised less and less. Nevertheless Ulmar kept writing and recording tracks. Unfortunately DJAX Records made it clear they were only interested in releasing Dutch language rap at that point and also a short fling with the Dutch department of JIVE/ZOMBA Records turned out to be fruitless.

It took no less then 5 years before new music by K got released. Not taking in regard here some guestraps he did in 1994 for a clubrecord by EVELINE & THE GROOVE MOVEMENT. A new generation of rappers was given a chance to put stuff out through the labels BLUE FUNK, CMC and SOUL RELATION. All 3 labels were pretty much connected to BRAIN BUSBY and RENE PHILLIPS (a.k.a. rapper CMC or  D-Rock). A compilation album from 1997 called "This is what you want" held a track by K (using the name KAY L) called "One flow" which today is looked upon as a classic. The track got produced by A.C. TUNE. Allthough a hammer of a track, K never has performed it live.

Studiowork with producer A.C. Tune 1996

1998; rapping in the Dutch language reached a new artistic peak, mainly due to the rapper EXTINCE. K had great respect for EXTINCE as he thought that this was the only Dutch language rapper that actually had flow and feel in his delivery, contrast to most other Dutch language rappers at that time. Around this time K wrote and recorded aprox. 10 tracks using the Dutch language. Beats were mainly provided by A.C. TUNE and RHYMEO ILL. The first track that got finished was "Ideale man", using a looped beat taken of the track "Ma dukes" by O.C.. Radiohost and raplabel owner KEES DE KONING liked the track and wanted to use it for a compilation album called "Alle 13 dope", an album with the intention to show Dutch language rapping had reached new hights. Due to fear of copyright hassle concerning the O.C. beat; the track "Ideale man" had to be re-recorded quickly with an alternate beat. K states the track lost a lot of funkyness due to this rushjob. Still; the track made it onto the album (Ulmar using the artistname KEEYEL).
Another track called "Stille aanbidder" was planned to get launched through KEES DE KONING but never surfaced.
Through the PARTYGROOVE parties held in Delft city, K got acqainted with rapper REDZONE (who at that time was working on a demo with KRIMO). They joined forces and recorded some tracks together (REDZONE using the artistname DON RAMON). The collaboration stopped when REDZONE moved to the U.S.A..

Cover of compilation album "Alle 13 dope" (1998) which

holds Ulmar's first release of a Dutch language track.

Amongst the 10 recorded tracks was a funny gimmick track called "Geef me dat ding" that K recorded with female Dutch rapper SCISSORS. The track was based on a Kaseko-style (Surinam traditional dancemusic) track from 1975 called "Blanke meid" by Surinam singer MIGHTY BOTAI. It was befriended rapper ELVIS (E-LIFE) who pushed K into releasing it. BRAIN BUSBY of CMC/SOUL RELATION also saw the commercial potential and in 2001 the track got released as a cd-single on EDEL Records. A video even got shot on the beach of Isla Margarita near Venezuela. The track eventually reached no. 35 of the Dutch "Top 40" music saleslist.

Performing "Geef me dat ding" (Megafestatie Utrecht 2001)

Thanks to the modest succes of "Geef me dat ding" two more tracks were planned to be released through EDEL Records, being "Pluk de dag" and "Stille aanbidder". But things turned sour when K was asked to change his lyrics on "Pluk de dag". Industry rule 4080.......(can you dig!).

In 2003, again K featured on a compilation album called "Rhymetime 2 - Zonder pardon" and again with Dutch language rapping. Two of his earlier tracks got picked that he had recorded with REDZONE a.k.a. DON RAMON being "Een, twee" and "Pluk de dag".

Untill 2008 a period followed that showed lack of belief and ambition when it comes to recording new tracks. It took a guy called VINCE who needed a rapper for his schoolproject (studio engineering). K was prepared to lay down some raps to one of the beats VINCE had made, but only in English. They re-recorded an old track from 1997 called "Ups and downs" with an alternate beat and shifted lyrics. The track turned out nice and Ulmar felt motivated again to record tracks in English for one final album to close his rap-career. At first mainly the beats by VINCE got used but the collaboration came to a hold when it became increasingly harder to get studio access.

At the verge of throwing the towell when it comes to involvement in the hip hop scene, K met a dj/producer from the city of Delft at a party at the "Hip hop huis" in Rotterdam. DCREAL67 was a hip hop veteran himself (with rapper ROXY D he formed the hardcore rapgroup BHS in the very early nineties), he made the kind of beats that made K decide to have another go at making tracks. Hard work in the studio paid out and in 2010 the 12" record "Upset with the threat" dropped through DCREAL's own recordlabel "Rhythmic Combat Records". On the lyrical tip K analyses the decay of Dutch society over a sinister beat ("A killer Black Moon-sample forms a hook that sticks in your brain" according to NYC's indie Hip Hop-connaisseur ED CATTO). On the record's b-side track "Love Bandit", K brags 'n' boasts a little about his sexual adventures over a chopped breakbeat by DCREAL67.

The record was well recieved within the Dutch hardcore hip hop crowd and even sold across the borders. It's still for sale and you can check it through this website:

Check this dope record HERE!

KAY LC & DCREAL67 ready to bumrush 

upon wack hip hop in 2012!!!

At the moment recordings are still made in DCREAL67's "Combatlab" for what should turn out to be the crown on Ulmar's rapcareer: another full album showcasing this mc's full potential. Expected to hit the streets in 2011, am I the only one  holding his breath?!?!

DJ KID SUNDANCE....the tale of the lone hip hop ranger

Thanx 2 Raimond for talkin' endlessly after 2 Jupiler!   ;-)


RAIMOND GESTHUIZEN's first acquintance with the hip hop phenomanon is a pretty common one....as seen with a lot of other Dutch old school guys. He remembers seeing a video of SUGARHILL GANG's "Rapper's delight" on tv that immediatly caught his eye. Later on he tried to keep up with the latest sounds by listening to famous Dutch black music radioshow "The Soulshow". Using the nickname SEARCHY E he was at first focussed on rapping but soon realized he could better try his luck at DJ'ing and making beats. In 1984 he bought the Roland 505 to start things off together with a pair of crappy ERRES turntables. At fleamarkets he hunted down vinyl to find good samples. In 1986 Raimond changed his monniker into DJ KID SUNDANCE (DJ KS) (after the character in the westernmovie "Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid"). But instead of trying to be quick on the trigger obviously he wanted to be quick on the turntables. One year later DJ KS went shopping with his mother in Eindhoven cause he wanted to buy the Roland 626 to replace his 505. When passing "Bullit", a famous recordshop at that time, his mother noticed an add posted on the window. The add said "SCRATCHER WANTED" and DJ KS decided to respond. Through the add he came in contact with 3 rappers from Valkenswaard (small town near Eindhoven); ARC-S, COLD STEEL and C.R.P.J. DJ KS got accepted as the new DJ and the crew was called THE LIVING DREAM (T.L.D.) POSSE. C.R.P.J.'s uncle had a nice record collection that proved to be great for finding rare samples. Some demo tracks got layed down and live performances got done.

Check the T.L.D. demo track "We're running" (1988) here:

T.L.D. download

Home made concert poster T.L.D. Posse (1988)

T.L.D. POSSE was short lived. Another new crew in Eindhoven got formed called 24K and ARC-S switched groups. COLD STEEL and C.R.P.J. lacked motivation to continue without ARC-S so T.L.D. POSSE got terminated late 1988. DJ KS continued improving his DJ and beatmaking skills. Being without his own group he hang out a lot with befriended crews like DIVORZE POSSE and BUGAS POSSE. Occasionally he performed with them, for example when playing support-act for DE LA SOUL and RUN DMC in 1989.
In 1990 DJ KS felt the itch to start a new group again and placed an add in the Dutch hip hop magazine "Know Color" asking for a rapper to join forces:

A rapper from Leerdam responded to the add, his name was RAGOO. This guy had worked with ALL STAR FRESH and B.C. BOY in 1990, laying down some vocals on the KING BEE project album (including for the GREAT track "Zzignal of hope"). As RAGOO gained some instant fame through this project, DJ KS figured this would be a good time to work with this rapper. The crew "TREETOP UNIT" was a fact after another rapper was found called TEEBEE MC. A couple of demotracks got produced and the crew did a few live shows.

Check TREETOP UNIT's 1991 demotracks "It all fades away" and "What you got to say" here:

TREETOP UNIT download

Unfortunately RAGOO quickly changed focus from rap to the fastly emerging house scene. TREETOP UNIT soon dissolved and RAGOO built a DJ career using artistnames like OOGAR and DJ RAFADELIC, working with RONNY HAMMOND amongst others.
DJ KS now took it easy for a few years, playing music as a DJ in bars and clubs. His musical taste expanded to soul, funk, jazz etc and he became one of the resident DJ's of famous Eindhoven concerthall "De Effenaar". Through hip hop he got interested in the foundations of popular music and started digging for any style that contains 'dope sounds'. With these sounds he performed as a DJ, spinning lots of different styles to move the crowd. DJ KS's broadened musical taste eventually saw him become a group member of Eindhoven fusion-style band ZOVA NEMBLA where he tries to use his turntables as an instrument. Their 1995 demo was announced "demo of the month" in music magazine "Music Maker".

Hip hop still had been calling out to DJ KS and finally between 1999 and 2000, by the turn off the millenium, the call got answered. DJ KS started collaborating with talented Dutch MC RESCUE and THE PROGRAMMING MAN. RESCUE already made a name for himself in Dutch hip hop, having collabarated with DJ KNOWHOW, 2 OUTTA MILLIONS and THE PROOV. The 3 guys formed the new group BOOMOPERATORS. They even launched there own label "Fair Deal Records" as their own independent platform. Their first release was a stunningly fresh slice of vinyl called  “The Goodyear e.p.” in 2001. German label "Groove Attack" acted succesfully as their distributor in Europe.

Cover "The Goodyear e.p." (2001)

BOOMOPERATORS also worked on an exclusive project with "Clone Records" from The Hague. The result was the electrifying song "Focus". The track appears only on the cd/lp "Men with boxes" (Clone Records, 2001). Grab the "Focus" track here:

"Focus" track download

One year later DJ KS's "Fair Deal Records" launched another vinyl record, being the 12" "Pop the clutch".....a collabo between Dutch DJ MASS, MC RESCUE and New York MC ROYAL FLUSH.
In 2003 RESCUE and DJ KS produced the track “Alive” for the DJ FLIP compilation album in Belgium and reinstated their collaboration as BOOMOPERATORS.

The 3rd release on "Fair Deal Records" would turn out to be an extra special one for DJ KS. After meeting USA rapper DUDLEY PERKINS a.k.a. DECLAIME in Holland, DJ KS rose to the occasion and  recorded the tracks "Fault" and "Mother Earth" with him. The tracks got released in 2002 on the 12" record "In G major". This collabo with DUDLEY PERKINS was nominated for the "All Winners 2002" chart of BBC's "Worldwide" (host Gilles Peterson) and was a favorite with many DJs around the world. Check the track "Fault" :

From 2001 on, DJ KS has also been producing and DJ-ing for X PLASTAZ, a rap group from Tanzania (Africa) whose line-up includes three full grown emcees, two rapping kids and a traditional Maasai singer. He produced the track "Msimu kwa msimu", a danceable Indian influenced tune which was featured on the 2004 compilation cd "Rough Guide to African Rap" and described by Billboard (USA) as one of the standout tracks on that compilation. It got played by John Peel (infamous U.K. radio DJ) twice...

X PLASTAZ

DUDLEY PERKINS and DJ KS joined forces once more in 2006. The follow-up to "In G Major" was released under the title "The Godfather" (4th release on "Fair Deal Records"). According to the same Gilles Peterson (see above) this was a "brilliant ep"! With a few instrumental tracks and five rap tracks by the USA rapper, this 30 minutes e.p. is quite a trip.

In 2003 DJ KS saw the great chance to hook up with old school New York rap legend BUSY BEE. The rapper visited Eindhoven to do a brief showcase at a hip hop exposition. It took some time but finally the track "Hip Hop Icon" got released in 2007 on "Fair Deal Records". It got lots of press and it ended up in playlists from all over the world. Zulu Nation fathers Africa Islam and Donald-D gave it their official stamp of aproval.

Cover "Hip hop icon" 12" (2007)

In 2008 a 7" single for Japanese label "Jazzy Sport Morioka" got released. DJ KS had put nine snippets in the SP1200, added the lovely voice of URITA, some extra keyboard action by RONES and flavour it had! "Crazy Lady" took off like a rocket with even BOBBITO from New York spinnin' it!

At this point in time DJ KS is finalizing another BOOMOPERATORS release. It's going to be a full length album that'll make heads bob all over the place again. Here's a little taster accompanied with a great video:

DJ KID SUNDANCE....commin' atcha fresh for 2011!

BIG FUN IN THE BIG TOWN......a Dutch peek at early hip hop in NY

Sunday evening.....november 30th 1986.....VPRO television.....the hearts of Dutch hip hop fans skipped a beat.

Early 1986 BRAM VAN SPLUNTEREN, the host of Dutch radioshow DE WILDE WERELD ("The Wild World") got the green light to produce a series of small documanteries for VPRO television. Each of the planned 4 episodes would cover some kind of underground music of that era. Together with FONS DELLEN (co-host of VAN SPLUNTEREN's radioshow), MARCEL VANTHILT (Belgian tv-host), cameraman DEEN VAN DE ZAKEN en soundtechnician BART VAN DE DUNGEN the plan got layed down to base the first episode on IGGY POP and THE STOOGES. They travelled to New York to interview them but IGGY POP proved himself hard to catch for the Dutch tv-team.

Being in New York, VAN SPLUNTEREN (who was already a fan of rap music) decided to make a documantery on the fast emerging hip hop scene. The result was amazing footage and interviews.

f.l.t.r. : Bert van de Dungen, DMC, Bram van Splunteren,

Marcel Vanthilt, Deen van de Zaken.

The team managed to create a broad view within the vibrant NY hip hop scene with mini-interviews, live footage and impression shots of a decayed NY, sick with the crack epidemy. The documentary had to have a running time of about 40 minutes so it was edited in a dynamic way to crunch in a lot of artists. Showcased are DOUG E FRESH, SCHOOLLY D, DMC, RUSSEL SIMONS, GRANDMASTER FLASH, LL COOL J and ROXANNE SHANTE amongst others. Classic highlights are without a doubt the visit to a very young LL COOL J who was still living at his grandmother and grandfather, DOUG E FRESH doing some human beatbox in the street and GRANDMASTER FLASH displaying his mixing skills in his own house. Also RUSSEL SIMONS got interviewed in his DEF JAM office, not suprisingly he wasn't too apreciative about the big Dutch rap hit "Holiday rap".

Imagine the impact of the tv broadcast in Holland. A small rap scene fed of very minimal hip hop-related appearances in the media but than....BOOOMMMM....this amazing documentary overwhelmed the fans of the genre and without a doubt had a big motivational effect of early Dutch rap artists. Till this very day the film is in high demand with old school freaks all over the world.

Cover of the VPRO tv-guide in the week the doc

got broadcasted

If you haven't seen this dope tv-item you should definately have a go at it. It's on Youtube so it shouldn't be that hard. Here's a little taster showing DMC who's as happy as a child cause he bought himself a new Cadillac:

DJ ALIEN; running for the Moon and beyond...

Thanx to DJ ALIEN for knowledge and DCREAL67 fror driving my Brabant ass through Rotterdam.


Yes yes, I hear y'all thinking outloud! "Yo Chris, your blog is dope but what's up with topics on Holland's most important city in hip hop??!!". Damn skippy....I reckonized the need and travelled to Rotterdam to hook up with DJ ALIEN....a true Dutch hip hop pioneer without a fucking doubt!

Matthieu Stokman (DJ ALIEN) first came in touch with hip hop culture through a copy of Rolling Stone magazine his mother bought for him around 1980/81. At that point he was already writing punk-style graffiti. In 1983 ALIEN was breaking, dj-ing and writing hip hop-style graffiti, all to a very high level. With his friend Ritchie (who would built a carreer in hip hop also.....rapper DUVEL) he entered breakdance battles in youthcentres like Kwakoe, not without success.As a graffiti artist he became one of Holland's finest which allowed him to earn some cash by doing commercial paintjobs all over Rotterdam.

Graffiti by ALIEN, 1986, Rotterdam "Oude Noorden"

His breakdancing skills earned him a spot in the legendary Rotterdam breakdance crew DYNAMIC ROCKERS....a crew with topnotch breakers like EDSON THEMEN and PAOLO NUNES that became vice-worldchampion in 1984.

DYNAMIC BREAKERS (1985), ALIEN on the far right up.

Together with maybe DJ DCS and DJ SAVE, ALIEN was definately one of the earliest hip hop dj's in Rotterdam and therefore Holland. In 1983 he had his first performance together with JAZZ DMX, in Rotterdam club Arena (later: Nighttown). Just cutting up breaks over a drumcomputer and JAZZ DMX rapping....the essence. JAZZ DMX was already in a rapgroup with KAY BLACK by the time ALIEN met them. The group was called THE MOONRUNNERS (MR), after a gang in the movie "The Warriors". ALIEN joined MR and soon after another rapper/beatboxer joined; BLONNIE B. The quartet manifested themselves within Dutch hip hop history as one of the earliest groups.

DJ ALIEN, seen here with graffiti writer JEAN

KAY BLACK and BLONNIE B

In 1986 MR went through an important change. ROBIN GROENEVELD, an already wellknown promoter of musicevents, had an annual musicfestival going on in club Lantaren in Rotterdam. The event called "Nine to five festival" brought together all important Rotterdam musicians for shows and jamsessions. MR participated in 1986...after their show they joined a spontanious jamsession with musicians like TJEERD VAN ZANEN (gitar) and HANS EIKENAAR (drums). This must have been one of the earliest showcases featuring rapmusic with live musicians IN THE WORLD! The crowd went crazy and ROBIN GROENEVELD immediatly saw the potential of a collaberation. MR became a collective with a dj, rappers (TROUBLE S joined) and live musicians. The innovative hip hop band got booked for shows all over Holland, to great success. Matter of fact; a session done at De Vrije Vloer in Utrecht is said to be the direct inspiration and motivation for the establishment of another hip hop band.....URBAN DANCE SQUAD (see my blogtopic on SPYTE!!). This emphasizes how relevant MR are in Dutch music history....

ALIEN occasionally backed up rapper DEAMS, here seen at the

infamous hip hop showcase in the Amsterdam Vondelpark (1986)

Unfortunately it wasn't long before ALIEN found out that manager GROENEVELD was paying the "hip hop guys" much less then the musicians. This forced a break up within' MR; ALIEN and JAZZ DMX left the group early 1987, KAY BLACK and BLONNIE B stayed. DJ AUTOMATIC replaced ALIEN as the MR's dj. The group went on to do some live performances on Dutch radio (tracks like "Sarah" and "Funky like a train" therefore found their way on tapes from fans all around the country) and they did a few big shows all over Holland, like the Noorderslag open air event in Groningen (1988). The track "I feel fine" was used for a 1988 compilation album showcasing the upcomming Dutch rapgroups of that time....it would unfortunately remain as the MR's only ever real recording.

THE MOONRUNNERS (1987); second line up with DJ AUTOMATIC (far left)

ALIEN had been in graffiti crew BAD BOYS for some time together with writers like JEAN, TIME, SONIC, DISZ and ATES. The crew even inspired cartoonartist ROBERT VAN DER KROFT to dedicate an entire comicbook (1987) of his succesfull "Sjors & Sjimmie" series to graffiti and the BAD BOYS in particular.

After a visit to England, ALIEN and JAZZ DMX had picked up on the word "posse". As ALIEN was already in the BAD BOYS graffiti crew, he decided to form a bigger group under the name BAD BOYS POSSE (BBP). In the the beginning it was just ALIEN and JAZZ DMX performing again as duo, and guys like JEAN painting but soon BBP would grow into the biggest hip hop movement Holland would ever see. Rotterdam proved to have very furtile grounds for the upcomming hip hop youthculture. Kids of immigrants, especially from Surinam and Cabo Verde, were atracted to the fresh new movement and found their own way of expressing themselves. BBP eventually had strength in numbers up to 1000 members in Rotterdam alone. Under the BBP umbrella a lot of rapgroups got formed...most notable being DCO, IN FULL EFFECT, SUPERSONIC CREW, SPACE CONNECTIONS and DOPE SYNDICATE. The sound was generally hardcore...no gimmicks. The groups performed all over Holland....scaring the hell out of promoters and clubowners when arriving with several touringcars full of b-boys at small venues. There was a definite downside to the whole BBP story....it was accompenied with a lot of violence. Especially when the posse became so big that the core members lost total controll over it. For DJ ALIEN this was the mean reason to leave BBP in 1990.

Next to his work with JAZZ DMX, ALIEN found himself active (1988) within a new group; TIME DRILLERS (TD). TD evolved from a late '80's dancecrew called the 5TH AVENUE DANCERS. Rapper TOMBOX formed the nucleus of the group. The hardcore, noise-heavy, production of the group in combination with intense shows, made TD into one of the leading groups at the time. The track "Going up the hill" reached anthem status within the rapscene.

TIME DRILLERS (1990)

f.l.t.r.: SMOOTH VEE-NITRO-DJ ALIEN-TOMBOX

To get themselves noticed by recordcompanies TD agree on laying down some rap vocals on a PETER SLAGHUIS/PAUL ELSTAK hiphouse production. Belgian recordlabel ARS releases the track "Somebody in the house say yeah" in 1990. When SLAGHUIS dies (r.i.p.) TD produces their own tracks but the recordcompany doesn't believe there's any commercial potential and drops the group. Nevertheless TD keeps performing untill 1992 before breaking up.

ALIEN hooks up with old breakdance friend RED EYE (later: DUVEL) for musical projects like CLAN OF 26TH and CLAN STRONGHOLD. Slowly but surely ALIEN's music strays away from conventional hip hop and takes an experimental path. In 1997 he releases his first real solo project on vinyl through the FUSEBOX label. This album "Airborne" is a compilation of instrumental tracks that stylewise are hard to categorize. Check the album here:

DJ Alien - Airborne album DOWNLOAD

Today ALIEN operates still out of Rotterdam, through his creative agency CITYCRUSHER. Latest project being a crazy hip hop cooking show called "Hip hop ala carte". The first show has rap pioneer DEF RHYMZ as a guest....check it:

SPYTE; been there....done that....bought the "Hip hop veteran" t-shirt !

Props go to SPYTE for letting me pick his brain!

Siegfried Hof witnessed the birth of hip hop in The Netherlands from close by and played his own little part in it. He can't exactly recall what drew him towards rapmusic but tracks like BAMBAATTAA's "Planet rock" and "This is the future" by FATBACK made a big impact on him. Around 1984 he climbed the stage of youthcentre "De Koog" in Noord-Scharwoude (small city located close to Alkmaar and Heerhugowaard). The speakers were blastin' an instrumental disco track and Siegfried started rappin' to it, using the lyrics from "Rapper's delight". Around this same period in time The Netherlands got conterminated with the electric boogie virus. Siegfried established his own breaking crew called WESTSIDE STREETGANG together with some friends. Performances were done in all kinds of shady discotheques from Den Helder to Zaandam. Later on they changed their name to THE ZODIACS.

SPYTE rappin' within a electric boogie performance

which was maybe at first in those days

THE ZODIACS gettin' down...

The level of dancing within the crew increased when guys like FRANKY RESIDA (a wellknown electric boogie dancer, as was brother ROY RESIDA) joined. Siegfried decided to focus more on rappin' and started to use the monniker MASTER RAP SOLO, only to be changed pretty soon after into SPYTE. An early group got formed called DJ TALL & THE V.E.E.. This was an all out hip hop package with DJ FIX but also dancers from ALEX & THE CITY CREW. Two performances later and no recordings this outfit was already over with.

On march 1st 1986 SPYTE performed at the Streetsounds hip hop festival in Rotterdam. This was probably the first hip hop orientated festival in The Netherlands ever and SPYTE recalls it to be very underground. The venue got bombed all over with graffiti. The level of rapmusic at this time was still very immature....most artists basically copied straight of the USA acts. There weren't any real wellknown artists yet....and a caucasian guy like SPYTE was an odd lookin' appearance within the scene. When getting on stage the (mostly black) crowd had their obvious doubts but SPYTE's performance, together with DJ FIX, earned him respect.

Flyer of the Streetsounds hip hop festival in Rotterdam

One of SPYTE's first solo shows was a performace at discotheque "De heer van Jericho" in Heerhugowaard in 1987. He rapped his own rhymes over WHODINI instrumentals (amongs these "5 minutes of funk"). His skills got noticed by some other rappers present there...being MC SHOWCASE and RUDEBOY. They stepped up to SPYTE and plans to collaborate got layed down. Soon the group BORN FREE MC was a fact (a name made up by RUDEBOY). They performed together and joined rap contests.
In all this time SPYTE was also the house dj of youthcentre "De Koog" in Heerhugowaard where he managed to get performances there by JUST ICE, KOOL MOE DEE and ORIGINAL CONCEPT. He often supported these acts by hyping up the crowd before the main shows.

1987 BORN FREE MC line up

MC SHOWCASE - SPYTE - RUDEBOY

Few know that SPYTE was also involved in what later would turn out to be the notorious URBAN DANCE SQUAD. DJ DNA was an old acquintance from the early rap days and joined the group. He then invited the other guys from BORN FREE MC to participate in jam sessions held at "De vrije vloer" in Utrecht. Trademark of these sessions were heavy live played percussion drumbeats (go-go style), horns, synthesizers and freestyle rappin'. SPYTE even performed with URBAN DANCE SQUAD before a huge crowd at the Bevrijdingspop festival in Haarlem that year.

MC SHOWCASE - SPYTE

At the previous named Rotterdam Streetsounds festival, SPYTE got in touch with MICHIEL VAN DER KUY, partner of ERIK VAN VLIET who owned recordshop and recordlabel "Hotsounds" (see my previous post on Hotsounds records!). The recordlabel was specialized in synthesizer disco but wanted to expand on the upcomming hip hop market. BORN FREE MC was givin' the opportunity to record a track for a 12" release. This track became "Struggle for jive" and got released in 1987. Unfortunately MICHIEL VAN DER KUY had his own thoughts on how the track should sound like, and released the record with a selfmixed, MANTRONIX-like, version on the a-side that had a completely different beat than the track BORN FREE MC had recorded. The original version, with samples of ART OF NOISE and TROUBLE FUNK ended up on the b-side as the "power mix". The group had the record presented at the finales of a big rap contest they had joined. This contest was held in the famous Escape venue and shown on tv ("Popformule" hosted by LINDA DE MOL!). BORN FREE MC became runner up because a Rotterdam group TC BOYZ took 1st prize. It wasn't untill the next day the group found out about the reproduction of their track on the record.
SPYTE wasn't too bothered about it as he was still extatic about the fact they actually had a record out. RUDEBOY and DJ DNA on the other hand were dissapointed and left BORN FREE MC to focus entirely on their involvement with the URBAN DANCE SQUAD. The squad's 1989 album would held a new, uncompromised version of RUDEBOY's baby "Struggle for jive".

Download the full 12" of Born Free MC - Struggle for jive (1987)

Newspaperclipping on BORN FREE MC winning the "Best rap act '87"

preliminaries in Zaandam and reaching the final.

BORN FREE MC went on performing after RUDEBOY and DJ DNA had left. DJ BLACK BASS and DJ AUTOMATIC TEE (see the FUNKY TRIBE topic!) joined and layed down the beats and scratches for the group. In 1988 they played at the infamous Noorderslag festival in Groningen and the track "Olympic rap jam" got released as 7" and cd-single on Kwest records. The song got recorded because DJ FIX was asked to produce a commercial raptrack to bring attention to the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoel. The track didn't get picked up by the hip hop crowd and soon slid away in obscurity. BORN FREE MC dissolved soon after...

Cover of BORN FREE MC's cd-single "Olympic rap jam" (1988)

In 1993 SPYTE got pulled back in the rappin' game after a creative pause. ALL STAR FRESH, a pioneer dj and one of the most outstanding rapartists in The Netherlands at that time, called him up. SPYTE was asked to replace rapper PHRYME in ALL STAR FRESH's looseknit rapgroup KING BEE. After some successes in the dancemusic department, KING BEE wanted to take a turn with more hardcore rap styled tracks. SPYTE and rapper PAROLE were picked to make this happen. From 1993 untill 1998 the recorded various KING BEE singles. Amongst these tracks there's even a hard ass diss track aimed against rapper ICE DOG of TUFF CREW called "Who the hell are you". Grab this track and another 1993 track called "Here we go again here:

Download 2 KING BEE feat. SPYTE tracks

Cover of KING BEE - Here we go again (1993)

Cover of KING BEE - Get ready (1993)

BC BOY - ALL STAR FRESH - PAROLE - SPYTE

In 1998 KING BEE was pretty much over with. SPYTE after that collaborated on the track "Missing you" by Dutch dance act THE COURSE (project of superstar turntablist VINCENT "HYPED" HENDRIKS). Check out this pop orientated track right here:

Download THE COURSE - Missing you (1998)

Life then caught up with hip hop veteran SPYTE, family and a busy job took their toll and he put his mic down to rest. In retrospect I can say a true pioneer of the early days of rap in The Netherlands who proved that colour of skin and origin are non-topics in hip hop.

DIVORZE; all hip hop elements on lock!

A big thanx goes out to SPEEDONE, CHARM and SCT for info and photos!


1980....10 year old Chris catches his first raptrack on radio airwaves, the track being "Rapper's delight" by the SUGARHILL GANG. Totally blown away by the specific new sound of this music, Chris gets fascinated or even even obsessed with it. His surroundings being a medium sized town in the south of Holland (Helmond), there was totally no information around regarding this new phenomanon called hip hop. Therefore in the beginning he refers to this new sound as "talking music". Still...acquiring information piece by piece over the following years, Chris' love for hip hop grows and grows and he starts picking up graffiti and breakdancing (1983/84).

No this isn't OZONE at Venice Beach,

It's Chris rockin' it in Helmond City.

At secondary school Chris finds likeminded guys and together with MC LEE and DEF Y his first group BEATBUSTERS was a fact. Chris takes on the name KING CREWL as rapper and graffiti writer. MC LEE is a guy with an extensive rap collection (especially for that time) which turns out as a big source of inspiration. Meeting other b-boys also adds up to more information and therefore motivation. The first performances at schoolparties as hip hop collective became reality. JAY DEE also joined the group at one point.

1986 flyer for a BEATBUSTERS

performance at a schoolparty

From his various encounters with other writers within the graffitiscene he knew SCT (Da Spray Can Thug) and DJ CHARM (at that time known as FOX) from graffiticrew G.A.S. (Graffiti Art Suppliers). Together with especially SCT, Chris (who now changed his name to SPEEDONE) started to expand his graffiti skills. Also, rap lyrics got written, mostly on their favourite subject graffiti. As the SONIC DIVORZE POSSE they join the "WAPS rap- en humanbeatboxbattles" held in Amstelveen and Amsterdam but they don't get passed the elimination rounds. At these battles another group called SONIC was present so the decision got made to shorten the name to DIVORZE POSSE. The name DIVORZE was based on the fact that the group was kinda looseknit with members coming and going.
In 1987 Chris obtains his first drumcomputer as a graduationpresent from his parents, which was put to good use immediately.

1987 "Orgasm" piece done by SPEEDONE and SCT

JAY DEE at one point left the group. Together with DJ CHARM, SCT and SPEEDONE participate in the 1988 "Cheers open rap battle" (Cheers being the name of the discotheque venue) where they became the runners up. Other participating crews were BEAT BOYS, DONNA ME, FUCK POSSE, DEVASTATING 2 and X-TREME TEAM.
DJ CHARM would slowly become the steady DJ and producer for DIVORZE. Beats got layed down with the Roland TR-808, TR-909, a Boss DR-220A Dr. Rhythm and a samplepedall with 2,4 sec. sampletime.
CHARM's and SPEED's production skills took a flight after DIVORZE became friends with rapgroup BUGAS that consisted of rapper GHANDI and G.V. the DJ/beatcreator. G.V. was already skilled with sampling with the Amiga 500 and shared this knowledge with the DIVORZE members. BUGAS and DIVORZE started collabarating and doing shows together all over the country.

1988 DIVORZE POSSE shot

f.l.t.r. back: SOKE, EAS, DJ CHARM, SCT

f.l.t.r. front: D-MANAGER, SPEEDONE, MC LEE

SCT takes a bigger interest in graffiti and, alltough staying involved with DIVORZE as a dancer, stops rapping for the group. Other graffitiwriters SOKE and EAS join the crew as rapper and dancer. The posse broadens even further as D-MANAGER and ROLLS ROY also join (dancers). D-MANAGER is responsible for managing the group (hence the name I guess...) untill SOKE's cousin PADDY-T takes over this role. PADDY-T plays bass gitar, a musical element that would soon be integrated in the live shows of the group.

SOKE piece (1990)

PADDY-T's succesfull managing gets the group shows all over Holland, Germany and Belgium, but also the chance to record the long overdue album. Recordcompany "Runn" was specialized in recording reggae music, not rap. The recordingproces of the DIVORZE album turned out slow and full of setbacks. It seemed impossible to syncronize the drumcomputers with the other musiclayers. In the end all tracks were recorded without the drumcomputer sounds, only using the 8 bit Amiga 500 samples. This, the fact that nobody was really experienced and the late night mixing (cheap studiotime) made that the album "Remove the chains" did not live up to expectations.

cd cover "Remove the chains" album (1990)

Nevertheless the dissapointing sound of the cd (Runn records didn't want to release it as vinyl), DIVORZE still earned a lot of publicity and credibilty (not too many Dutch rapgroups had albums out at this time). They did opening shows for RUN DMC, DE LA SOUL and PARIS (word has it the DIVORZE show was much more appreciated by the crowd than the PARIS performance). The group was also asked to support PUBLIC ENEMY's "Fear of a black planet"-tour through Europe. Unfortunately a few members needed to graduate from school at that point in time and the tough decision was made not to go on tour.
The group keeps playing in Holland, Germany and Belgium untill the demand for rapshows slowly died as a result of the upcomming house music. Eventually the group split up.

Footage of a 1991 DIVORZE show, done at the

albumpresentation of DTF's "From a smooth point of view".

SPEEDONE keeps on recording occasional demotracks over the years, many with his friends from the also dissolved D.O.P.E. POSSE. He features as guest on albums by FAMILY JEWELS, ARE MC and two compilation cd's on the 4XM label.
After witnessing an event called "Return of the b-boy" in Eindhoven 1998, SPEED was shocked by the lack of "real" oldschool b-boy music. Together with old BEATBUSTERS member DEF Y he organizes an event called "Return of the real b-boyz". Especially for this show, DIVORZE reunites for a performance with beats and lyrics made on the theme of oldschool b-boy music. Check one of these reunion tracks with SPEEDONE, SCT and even DJ CHARM on the mic here:

Divorze reunion track "Back to basics"

Latest word on DIVORZE is that DJ CHARM is scratchin' that hip hop itch again and is droppin' new beats by the second. SPEEDONE and ARE MC of former D.O.P.E. POSSE are laying down some rhymes......be on the lookout for......FIRST CLASS !

Get 3 SPEEDONE collaboration tracks right here:

SPEEDONE collabo tracks

DIVORZE 1988....good times..