Exiles from the Netherlands: A Rhizomatic Approach to Dutch Hip Hop History

Mainstream canonisation of Hip Hop history in the Netherlands has mainly focused on the country’s West, and often relegates anglophone rap to a footnote in favour of Dutch-language rap. I offer an alternative reading by approaching the Netherlands’ early Hip Hop history rhizomatically. I examine Hip Hop group Zombi Squad from Groningen, a province in the country’s periphery, to elucidate two key characteristics of the development of the Dutch Hip Hop scene that have been underappreciated. Firstly, I show that the practice-oriented interconnectedness of the Dutch scene across country was integral to the general scene’s development. Secondly, I argue that a national approach to culture obfuscates the creolizing dynamic of Dutch Hip Hop history and how this is inextricably bound with colonial history. Hip Hop as such, provides an entry point to explore how these influences manifest locally to re/present Europe in a way that adequately reflects its inhabitants.

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