Joost Klein (; born 10 November 1997), also known mononymously as Joost, is a Dutch musician, rapper, singer and former

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

r. Mainly a hip hop artist, his songs and performances often include influences of

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

, such as

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

, hardstyle and

gabber Gabber (; ) is a style of electronic dance music and a subgenre of hardcore techno, as well as the surrounding subculture. The music is more commonly referred to as Hardcore, which is characterised by fast beats, distorted & heavier kickdrums, ...

. He has released eight studio albums, two of which reached the top ten of the

Dutch Album Top 100 The Dutch Album Top 100 or Album Top 100 is a weekly hit list of music albums, compiled by Dutch Charts. List shows the 100 best-selling music albums of the moment in the Netherlands. The list has passed through various name changes and has expand ...

. He has amassed four chart entries on the

Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 ( nl, Nederlandse Top 40) is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica ...

, and is best known for " Luchtballon", "", " Friesenjung" and " Europapa". "Europapa" was selected to represent the Netherlands in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2024 The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 is set to be the 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It is scheduled to take place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Tattoo" by Loreen. Organised by the Euro ...

and subsequently became Klein's first song to top both the

and

Single Top 100 The Dutch Single Top 100 or Single Top 100 is a Dutch chart, based on official physical single sales, legal downloads and since July 2013 streaming and composed by Dutch Charts. It is one of the three official charts, the other two being the Du ...

. Having qualified from the semi-final, he was scheduled to perform fifth in the final, but was disqualified from the competition amidst allegations of misconduct.

Early life

Joost Klein was born on 10 November 1997 in

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a city and municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 123,107 (2019). It is the provincial capital and seat of the ...

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

, the third child of Hans and Ella Klein, and grew up in the nearby village of Britsum. In 2008, he started a YouTube channel under the name ''EenhoornJoost'' (). He attended the Stedelijk Gymnasium in Leeuwarden, but did not complete the curriculum at this secondary school. At the age of twelve, he lost his father to

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. A year later, in 2011, his mother died of

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

. Following the death of his parents, Klein was looked after by his older brother Hugo and his older sister Nanda.

Career

2016–2022

While active as a YouTuber, Klein published videos ranging from sketches to mini-documentaries. In 2016, he released his debut

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

(), after which he began focusing on a career in music. "Bitches" was his first

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

that would reach a million views on YouTube. He was briefly signed to

TopNotch TopNotch is a Dutch record label specializing in hip-hop. The label was founded in 1995, and is run by Vincent Patty. After some commercial success (with rap acts such as De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig, The Opposites, Def Rhymz, Postmen, and Extince) ...

in 2017 and 2018, but eventually decided to set up his own record label, Albino Records. On 20 October 2017, Klein released the

mixtape A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...

''Scandinavian Boy'', followed by the singles "" (transl. 'Seagull') and "" (transl. 'Uncle Robert') in 2018. On 3 August 2018, Klein released the studio album ' together with Dutch rapper

Donnie Donnie or Donny is a familiar form (hypocorism) of the masculine given name Donald, Donal, Don, or Donovan. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Donny Baldwin, American drummer best known as a member of Jefferson Starship and Stars ...

. To promote the album, the duo organised a one-time concert titled in the Carré theatre in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. Klein wrote a small book of

poems Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in a ...

titled ''Albino'', which was published on 14 November 2018. Klein has mentioned that he wrote the book because of his father, who had also written a book and encouraged him to do the same. To promote his studio album of the same title, Klein organised the (transl. 'It is not going too well') concert tour in 2019, during which he visited venues such as Paard, , and Paradiso. He concluded the tour in Paradiso on 3 March 2019. The following summer, Klein performed at major

Benelux The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a politico-economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in western Europe: B ...

festivals such as

Pukkelpop Pukkelpop is an annual music festival that takes place near the city of Hasselt, Belgium, in mid- to late August. It is held within a large enclosure of fields and woodland—adjacent to a dual carriageway called ''Kempische Steenweg''—in the ...

, Pinkpop, Lowlands and Zwarte Cross. Joost_klein-1548494813

On 15 November 2019, Klein released the album ', the title of which refers to the birth year of Klein's older brother. Klein collaborated with music producers Mick Spek, Kauwboy and Tantu Beats on the album. On 24 April 2020, Klein released the album ''Joost Klein 7'', which consists of seven songs, including a collaboration with Canadian rapper

bbno$ Alexander Leon Gumuchian (; born June 30, 1995), known professionally as bbno$ (pronounced "baby no money"), is a Canadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is best known for his 2019 single "Lalala (song), Lalala" with producer Y2K (record pr ...

. On 7 August of the same year, he released the single "" (transl. 'I want you'), a

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

of the eponymous song by the Belgian band De Kreuners. In March 2022, Klein collaborated with Russian musician , releasing "Jackass", a song in which Klein sings about his love for Russian women.Dutch Eurovision 2024 representative collaborated with Russian artists after full-scale invasion https://english.nv.ua/nation/dutch-eurovision-2024-representative-has-joint-songs-with-russians-released-after-february-24-2022-50417092.html In February 2023, he released a song with

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

-based group the Village Boys. According to a statement released by Klein's management, "Jackass" was recorded prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the collaboration with the Village Boys was done after the group had left their homeland following the invasion, noting that "it has absolutely no bearing on what terrible things are still happening there, and is not pro-Russian." Klein released his eighth studio album on 13 September 2022, titled after his home province of

. The album features the singles "Florida 2009", "" and "", and was fully produced by producer Tantu Beats. Various samples can be heard on the album, such as samples of the Dutch

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

band

Doe Maar Doe Maar was a Dutch ska band with punk and reggae influences whose career peaked from 1978 to 1984. They are one of the most successful pop bands in Dutch history. 'Doe maar' translates as ''go ahead'' or ''just do it''. History Early years a ...

and Crazy Frog. In "Florida 2009", Klein reflects on the death of his parents. He premiered the song at the 2022 edition of Pinkpop.

2023–present: Eurovision Song Contest and disqualification

In 2023, Klein scored his first hit in Germany with the single " Friesenjung", a collaboration with German rapper Ski Aggu and an adaptation of a song by East Frisian comedian Otto Waalkes. The song reached first place on the German Single Top 100. That same year, Klein expressed his interest in representing the Netherlands in the

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...

, Sweden. A petition was launched by the NPO 3FM radio programme of PowNed in an attempt to realise this goal. On 11 December 2023, Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS announced that Klein had been selected as the Dutch representative for the contest. His entry, titled " Europapa", was released on 29 February 2024. Klein performed in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, held on 9 May, and having qualified, was scheduled to perform in position 5 in the final, on 11 May. However, Klein was barred from further rehearsals due to an "incident". On 11 May, the day of the final, the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...

(EBU) announced that Klein had been disqualified from the final. According to AVROTROS, Klein was recorded by a female camera operator against his will immediately following his semi-final performance. AVROTROS claims that she continued to film "against clearly made agreements." The camera operator alleges that Klein had reacted to the recording by making a "threatening move" toward her and broke the camera. The details of the altercation are unclear, but the Swedish police said it would be investigating whether criminal threats were made, not whether an assault occurred. Klein denied any wrongdoing through his lawyer. The EBU clarified in a statement that its decision to disqualify Klein "did not involve any other performer or delegation member". AVROTROS later stated that the disqualification was "very heavy and disproportionate".

After Eurovision

Klein released the single "" on 4 June 2024, and performed at festivals in Canada and the Netherlands. Klein shouted "fuck Eurovision" during a festival show in Canada on 26 May. During his slot at the 2024 edition of Pinkpop on 22 June, Klein discussed his Eurovision experience throughout the show, and ended his performance by saying "Why the fuck not, 2025", leading to speculation that he was considering entering Eurovision again in . The following day, Klein added "Eurovision 2025" to his biography line on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

and

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

, fueling further speculation. On 29 June, at the Belgian music festival , Klein reiterated his desire to participate in 2025, but not necessarily representing the Netherlands; he expressed his interest in doing so for Belgium instead.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Charted singles

As featured artist

Other singles

Other charted songs

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

Joost
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

Joost
discography at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

Joost
discography at MusicBrainz {{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, Joost 1997 births 21st-century Dutch poets Dutch hip hop musicians Dutch-language singers Dutch male poets Dutch rappers Dutch YouTubers TikTokers Eurovision Song Contest entrants for the Netherlands Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2024 Living people Musicians from Friesland People from Leeuwarden