Joost Klein: The Gateway Drug to Hardcore

 NEW YORK – On Monday the 31st, the New York Times came out with an article discussing international Dutch super star, Joost Klein – naming him a “jilted disqualified contestant,” in reference to Joost’s dismissal from the 2024 Eurovision competition – in which he was on track to win big for the Netherlands. I am not here to talk about what the NYT said –  Joost’s disqualification has been discussed at length all over Europe, and now, the United States. After attending both of his concerts in New York on Monday and Tuesday, there’s much more to say about Joost and the rest of the “Gabberpop” team. 

 Joost Klein is a famous Dutch artist known for his upbeat, EDM sound juxtaposed with his profound and sometimes silly lyrics about unity, grieving, drugs, or even internet memes. Quirky, talented, and hardcore – Joost Klein, Tantu Beats, Daan Koens, Lyon Pol, and Gladde Paling were all in attendance at the March 31st and April 1st shows at Irving Plaza in New York. Their arrival on U.S soil introduced a pillar of Dutch techno culture to the American people.

WHAT IS GABBERPOP? AND WHAT IS GABBER?

 Joost Klein’s newfound popularity in the U.S.A is due to the bouncy beats that producer Tantu Beats makes, sang over by Mr. Klein. Even considering the barrier between the American people and the Dutch language, the fast paced music encourages anyone of any nationality to get up and dance. The infectious dance sound inspire unity – Joost’s key principle in his newest album of the same name. This eccentric style of music that Joost and Tantu Beats have made global is colloquially known as “Gabberpop.” But to understand the palatable and fun Gabberpop, we must understand the more intense techno style of Gabber.

 Known first as Rotterdam Techno, the Gabber subculture began in this Dutch port city in the 90s, developing as a fast paced resistance to the regular house music that was popular in the Netherlands. The hallmarks of gabber music are extremely fast paced beats, over 160 beats per minute, and a funky “kick drum” that thrusts the music along. Gabber music is an exercise in techno and dance stamina – maintaining a very fast kick that punches the bass with energy and keeps it there. The “gabber kick” refers to both the kicking of the musical beats themselves and the high energy style of dance that accompanies the genre. The Rotterdam gabber scene was filled with underground raves that included harsh dancing, characterized by aggressive pumping of the arms and legs. 

 The origins of the Dutch gabber were much like the American punk scene at the same time, growing from seeds of rebellion. Gabber raves began as a niche subculture that focused on insurgency and shared passion for aggressive electronic music and dance forms. The fashion in gabber culture is unmistakably Dutch and unmistakably hardcore. Shaved heads, matching sweatsuits, and clunky sneakers are all fashion staples for gabbers – the attire makes it easier to dance and jump aggressively in those hot underground rooms. 

 Gabber is considered a Dutch phenomenon, and continues to influence house and electronic music in the Netherlands and abroad, inspiring hardcore beats, fast paced dancing, and rebellion through music across the globe.

GABBER ENTERS MAINSTREAM AMERICA THROUGH JOOST KLEIN AND TEAM

 Tantu Beats, Joost’s producer for most of his songs, keeps gabber and greater Dutch culture alive through his aggressive beats in many of Joost’s songs. In Europapa, the dance break near the end of the song includes a harsh gabber style sound that Joost forcefully danced over at Eurovision 2024 – introducing gabber to an even wider audience. Tantu’s enterprising approach to hip hop beats blended with EDM makes for an intoxicating hardcore experience that’s impossible not to dance along to. It is undeniable that Tantu Beats’ exciting rave style of music is part of Joost Klein’s success in the USA. Joost Klein and Tantu Beats have made hardcore/ gabber music accessible to a culture that otherwise has a mostly house music based techno scene. While American underground rave culture has sported gabber style music before, Europapa has introduced hardcore into the bigger scene through the milder gabberpop – inspiring adoring fans of Joost Klein to seek out all things Gabber.

 Gladde Paling, another core part of the fun, digital world that surrounds gabberpop, is a producer and performer that also creates the same style of hardcore inspired music mixed with internet memes and culture, blending into perfectly gabberpoppy tracks that make the world of hardcore techno even more appetizing to fans that may not otherwise seek it out. Paling produces his own hits, but is mostly known by American fans for his production on “Antwoord,” a top Joost Klein song that was played at the New York shows, at which Paling was in attendance. 

 This exciting, hardcore adjacent world is built larger by Lyon Pol and Daan Koens, two more Dutch artists that help in the curation of Joost’s image. Pol, a videographer/director, was present at both New York shows, even joining the crowd to tape the mosh pit at one point. Daan Koens, who graciously accepted a sticker of GritMag’s logo (thank you Daan!) is an oil painter with cubist and abstract exhibits in the Netherlands, and was also taking videos in the Irving Plaza crowds at the Monday and Tuesday concerts. The lively and very digital editing style of Joost’s promotional videos make the music and his entire crew more attractive to those who aren’t familiar with hardcore. They’ve literally memeified gabber – and it’s working to unite more and more fans around the world through the world wide web. I always felt that Joost Klein and his friends spoke to me – as a girl who always loved the internet and the nerdiness yet alternative creativity it gave me. Many other fans feel the same. 

 Koens painted one of his oil paintings on stage during Joost Klein’s performance at the Netherlands Lowlands Festival in 2023. A caption from his Instagram reads “we make art everywhere baby.” 

“We make art everywhere, baby.”

 Thank you to Joost Klein and the entire crew that accompanied him at Irving Plaza at his two New York shows. The USA is closer to hardcore and closer to the Netherlands because of it, and the American people surely are addicted to Dutch rave culture after taking a bump of Joost Klein.