Niels Littooij (born 28 December 1989), better known by his stage name Nielson, is a Dutch singer-songwriter. He was a member of the Dutch music trio Zirkus Zirkus in the early 2010s, but rose to national fame in 2012 due to his participation in the television programme ''
De beste singer-songwriter van Nederland
''De beste singer-songwriter van Nederland'' (meaning ''The best singer-songwriter of the Netherlands''), was a launching pioneer programme of the series ''De beste singer-songwriter'' abbreviated as ''DBSSW''. It was a music contest program in Du ...
''.
Career
1989–2008: Early life and career beginnings
Niels Littooij was born on 28 December 1989 in
Dordrecht
Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...
. His passion for music started when he got a drum kit for his birthday. He also started to play the guitar. As an adolescent, Littooij began to explore his interest for music and participated in several local talent shows.
Littooij attended the
Herman Brood Academy
The Herman Brood Academie is a vocational school in Utrecht. It is a magnet school for the technical aspects of music production. The school was founded in 2006 and provides education at thsecondary vocational educationlevel in the Dutch educatio ...
in
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...
, an academy that offers education in various fields of profession related to the music industry, where he specialised in
rap music.
In 2008, Littooij participated in the ''Kunstbende'' project, where he won the
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
preliminaries with a rap act. Due to this success, Littooij was asked to perform in the supporting programme of
The Opposites
The Opposites are a Dutch rap group, consisting of rappers (Willy) and Twan van Steenhoven (Big2). The two started rapping when de Bruin had to write a rap for his teacher as a punishment. Willem realized his rap potential and decided to continu ...
.
[
]
2009–2011: Part of Zirkus Zirkus
In 2009, Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
asked Littooij to be part of a new-formed dance and music trio called Zirkus Zirkus.[ With Zirkus Zirkus, he released several singles and one studio album called ''In de tent''. The trio was aimed at children and they appeared on TV in several Nickelodeon programmes. The trio had some moderate success: three singles charted on the ]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 ...
. In 2011, they split up.
2012–2013: Rise to fame
During his education at the Herman Brood Academy, Littooij developed a passion for songwriting, especially for writing Dutch songs. Littooij participated in the 2012 talent show ''De beste singer-songwriter van Nederland'' (English: "The best singer-songwriter of the Netherlands"), broadcast by VARA
Vara or VARA may refer to:
Geography
*Vara (river), in Liguria, Italy
* Vara Parish, former municipality in Tartu County, Estonia
* Vara, Estonia, village in Peipsiääre Parish, Tartu County, Estonia
* Vara Municipality, municipality in western S ...
, BNN and 3FM. This was a great opportunity to reach a broader, national, audience for his self-written songs. In the first episode, Littooij performed his song "Beauty & de brains", which became an instant hit. Although Littooij lost the competition in favor of Douwe Bob
Douwe Bob Posthuma (born 12 December 1992), professionally known by only his first and middle names Douwe Bob, is a Dutch singer-songwriter. He won the Dutch talent show ''De beste singer-songwriter van Nederland''. He specializes in folk and cou ...
, he had achieved national fame and popularity.[
]
2013–present: ''Zo van ah yeah'' and ''Met de tijd mee''
His song "Beauty & de brains" was released as single and was certified Platinum by the NVPI
NVPI (Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld - en geluidsdragers) ( en, The Dutch Association of Producers and Importers of image - and sound carriers) is the Dutch trade association of the entertainment industry. The NVPI ...
. Littooij started working on his first studio album, ''Zo van ah yeah''. It was released in March 2014 through Pacemaker Music. Several singles preceded the album, including "Hoe", a Platinum-certified collaboration with Miss Montreal
Roos-Anne (Sanne) Hans (born 22 September 1984 in Dedemsvaart), is a Dutch singer-songwriter and guitar player. She was part of Ysis until 2008 and later formed the band Miss Montreal.
Ysis
Sanne Hans first was part of the formation Ysis made ...
and "Mannenharten", a collaboration with BLØF
BLØF is a Dutch rock band from Vlissingen, Zeeland, founded in 1992 by Peter Slager. Current members are Peter Slager (bass), Paskal Jakobsen (lead vocals and guitar), Bas Kennis (keyboards), and Norman Bonink (drums). Former members are Henk ...
(the title song of the movie of the same name). The album reached the second position on the Album Top 100.
With the 2014 single "Sexy als ik dans", Littooij achieved his first success in Belgium. It reached the peak position in the Ultratop 50
Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organization of ...
and was certified Platinum by the Belgian Entertainment Association. The single also performed well in his own country, where it became his third Platinum-certified single. When King Willem-Alexander
Willem-Alexander (; Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born ) is King of the Netherlands, having acceded to the throne following his mother's abdication in 2013.
Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht as the oldest child of Princess Beat ...
visited Littooij's home city of Dordrecht
Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...
on Koningsdag
''Koningsdag'' () or King's Day is a national holiday in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Celebrated on 27 April (26 April if the 27th is a Sunday), the date marks the birth of King Willem-Alexander. When the Dutch monarch is female, the holi ...
2015, Littooij was chosen to end the festivities with a performance of "Sexy als ik dans".
In 2015, Littooij released two extended plays called ''Met de tijd mee, deel 1'' en ''Met de tijd mee, deel 2''. Included on the EPs is the single "Sexy als ik dans", among others.
Discography
Albums
Studio albums
Extended plays
Singles
As lead artist
Other appearances
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nielson
Dutch singer-songwriters
1989 births
Living people
21st-century Dutch singers