D-Men was a Dutch rap formation established in 1997 under the name D-Men Squad. This was after a freestyle session they held on a

basketball court In basketball, the basketball court is the playing surface, consisting of a rectangular floor, with baskets at each end. Indoor basketball courts are almost always made of polished wood, usually maple, with -high rims on each basket. Outdoor sur ...

in Diemen-Zuid. The original members of D-Men were rapper

Lange Frans Frans Christiaan Frederiks (born 12 November 1980), known by his stage name Lange Frans, is a Dutch rapper and television presenter. From 1997 to 2004 he was a member of the band D-Men. Between 1997 and 2009 he was part of the Lange Frans & Baas ...

, his brother rapper

Brutus Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Serv ...

and a childhood friend rapper-singer Bart Zeilstra better known as

Baas B Bart Zeilstra, better known by his stage name Baas B (born 10 April 1982), is a Dutch rapper and singer who was a founding member of Dutch rap formation D-Men and between 1997 and 2009, a member of the Dutch hip hop duo Lange Frans & Baas B both ...

. They picked the name that sound like their home town

Diemen Diemen () is a town and municipality with a population of in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is located approximately 6 km (3.7 mi) southeast of Amsterdam's city centre, within the Amsterdam metropolitan area. Etymology The name ...

. Many others joined in the formation, famous for its mixtapes ''De Straatremixes''. D-Men also have their own record label named D-Men Entertainment.

Members

Besides the three founding members, many joined in the group that its heyday had the following members: ;Original members *

(rapper) *

(rapper/singer) *

(rapper) ;Joining members *

Negativ Maurits Robert Delchot better known by his stage name Negativ (born 8 September 1982) is a Dutch rapper, actor and radio broadcaster of Surinamese origin from Amsterdam-Oost. Negativ became part of the rap formation D-Men. He has also acted fi ...

(rapper) *

DJ MBA A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile D ...

(DJ) *

Yes-R Yesser Roshdy ( arz, ياسر رشدي, ; born 2 November 1986), better known by his stage name Yes-R, is a Dutch rapper and television presenter. He was born in Amsterdam, to an Egyptian father, and a Moroccan mother. Before going solo, he was ...

(rapper) * Brace (singer) * Soesi B (rapper) * C-Ronic (rapper)

Career

In 1997, the band's original trio started at various small venues. As D-Men they released their first single in 1999, entitled "Zoveel Mensen"Nederlandse Rappers: D-Men - Biographie
(in Dutch) ("So Many People"), and they won a talent hunt that was organised by Stichting Grap ("Joke Foundation") in 2001. With the joining of new members, the name was changed to D-Men Entertainment with the inclusion of Negativ, DJ MBA, Brace, Yes-R, Soesi B and C-Ronic. D-Men regularly performed in many venues including in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

and released three mixtapes: The original ''De Straatremixes'' in 2003, followed by ''De Straatremixes Deel 2'' and ''De Straatremixes Deel 2'' both in 2004. Most are parodies of American urban sounds. A sequel was also planned to be titled ''Rollen met D-Men'', but this did not materialize. The band started breaking up with the departure of singer Brace, followed by rapper

Ali B Ali Bouali, known professionally as Ali B (born 16 October 1981), is a Dutch-Moroccan rapper. He is one of the most well known rappers in the Netherlands and he has performed together with Akon and Dutch artist Marco Borsato. In 2007 he made an ...

. A single "Vraag jezelf eens af" was released. Contractual disagreements intensified with rapper

who joined the label of his cousin Ali B. Soesi B, a friend from childhood to Yes-R followed suit. The last of the new members to leave was

. This the formation went back to the original three members Lange Frans, Brutus and Baas B. Yes-R even made a recording to diss the original members with his recording "Je krijgt het van ons" ("You get it from us") D-Men decided to disband. In 2008, Lange Frans and Baas B declared on Juize.FM that a follow-up release was planned entitled ''De Straatremixes Deel 4''. Negativ was positive and expected that at least some of the other members would come back. BUt this never materialized. D-Men was replaced by the duo

Lange Frans & Baas B Lange Frans & Baas B ("Tall Frans & Boss B") is a Dutch hip hop duo. Both Lange Frans (alias of Frans Frederiks) and Baas B (alias of Bart Zeilstra) grew up in Diemen, North Holland. Musical career 1997-2003: Underground music In 1997, after ...

D-Men Entertainment

D-Men have established their own Record label called D-Men Entertainment.

Discography

Mixtapes

*2003: ''De Straatremixes'' *2004: ''De Straatremixes Deel 2'' *2004: ''De Straatremixes Deel 3''

Singles

References

External links

D-Men at Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:D-Men Dutch hip hop groups