The rise of Northern hip-hop artists continues
Translated by Thomas Ansell
As reported by the Omrop Fryslân, a new rap sensation is building in Leeuwarden. Mohamed Baluah, better-known as Moker_B, is becoming one of the Netherlands’ most successful music producers and his new track (with vocals from Bilal Wahib and Bizzey) Video Vixen has just reached 20 million streams on Spotify.
In 2017, Baluah also produced Danse Avec Moi with Leeuwarden-based rapper Rollán, which received an official gold certification. However the Frisian rap revolution was likely started by YannO (also from Leeuwarden), who gained fame through the ‘FunX Talent Summer Vibes’ contest on radio, or by Hiewi- a rapper from Friesland that appeared in a 101Barz youtube session.
As you might expect, rap is a musical genre generally associated with the South of the Netherlands, with Amsterdam and Rotterdam the birth-places of most of the largest Dutch rappers. It’s only with online platforms that rappers such as Moker_B have been able to find audiences, though that hasn’t stopped them from producing their music in the North regardless.
