Netherlands in Alaska
December 10th, 2016
Episode 50:
Blaxtar ‘Ozmoses’
Throughout history there have been many stories of the rivalry between brothers, of the long shadows cast by one sibling over another both inside and outside of the music world, Cain and Abel, George and Jeb, Art Garfunkle and whoever Garfunkel’s brother is.
But thankfully for us, this pressure to live-up to a more established musical family member has seemed to have left today’s featured MC, Blaxtar largely unscathed; after all his brother is the wildly prolific and successful MC Typhoon, known for his solo work and membership in the super-group Fakkelbrigade with fellow Zwolle natives Rico and Sticks.
Perhaps it is because the two brothers were not alone in their pursuit of music, rather they grew up in an extremely musical household: their brother is the well established MC O-Dog, and their sisters Sharon and Dinopha talented vocalists.
In this seemingly supportive and inspiring environment Blaxtar, born Kevin de Randamie, grew up; and the brothers have avoided the pitfalls of many musical siblings: either sounding too similar to their more well known kin, or attempting to sound too different from their sibling in a way that seems forced and inauthentic.
In 2006 Blaxtar released today’s featured album ‘Ozmoses’ his first in the Dutch language, after a longstanding conflict with a previous producer stalled and eventually prevented his English-language debut from ever surfacing.
The album’s title, and it’s various meanings, is perhaps a good indication of the multi-faceted subject matter of the album; spelled O-Z-M-O-Z-E-S it is meant to allude to both the fantasy world of Oz that Dorthy discovers, and the biblical prophet Moses who brought change in the form of the 10 commandments; one could surmise that this album is a sort of fantastical, formative journey, in which Blaxtar is ushering in a new era of hip-hop for the Lowlands; and together it provides a homophone for the word Osmosis the process of molecules moving through a semi-permeable membrane. This album is, in as many words, a sojourn, a discovery, a landmark, and a shift on a very rudimentary level.
And while the language barrier may hinder a lot of listeners today from hearing this lyrical depth themselves, the move to the Dutch language allowed him to seamlessly feature accomplished friends of the Dutch-speaking scene in Zwolle: Rico, Sticks, and his brother Typhoon just to name a very accomplished few, something that would seem awkward if he were to still be rapping in English.
The linguistic shift to his native tongue could not have gone better; he quickly won the 2006 Grote Prijs van Nederland, one of the country’s top musical honors, and he has since produced two follow up albums and scored a number of great collaborations, most notable perhaps with Norwegian accordion metal band Kaizers Orchest.
Tracklist:
Ozmoses
De prognose
Kost
Hopen ft. Juiceisdenaam
Tijd
Verstoft toch
Tot
Rijm ft. Neo en Manu
Dus ft. Dinopha
Schrijf ik ft. Rico
Niet
Ten Einde ft. Typhoon
De Tijd
Te Vermoorden ft. Sticks
Ik Schrijf In
Momenten die Niet Tot Tijd Toebehoren
Hand Op
