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De jeugd van tegenwoordig

About:

The Youth of Nowadays (as their name translates into) formed in 2004 when Vieze Fur ("Filthy Fur", real name Freddie Tratlehner), P. Fabergé (real name Pepijn Lanen) and Willie Wartaal (real name Ollicio Locadia, Wartaal means "gibberish" or "ravings") teamed up with producer Bas Bron. Bron scored a big Youtube hit in 2001 as Bastian with the song ‘ You've got my love’. With the proceeds he started Magnetron music and signed the trio. In 2005 they gave a calling card with the single ‘Watskeburt’ (in English similar to wassup). Irreverent lyrics, boyish (so might say infantile) humor over dry electronic beats. The song topped the Dutch Top 40 for several weeks that year. In December 2005 they released a special Christmas video together with actress/TV presentor Katja Schuurman . The track called ‘Ho, ho, ho’ became a novelty hit but was never officialy released. After the release of the debut album the trio undertook more guestappearances like ‘Poes in de Playboy’ together with Dutch reggae/ska band Luie Hond. Their second album, titled De Machine ("The Machine"), was released in 2008, preceded by the single ‘Hollereer’. Respons to their second album wasn’t as raving as for their debut.

As a sideproject Lanen formed the band Le Le with Piet Parra and Rimer London sing/rapping in French, German and Dutch. With it he scored a small hit with the single ‘Skinny jeans’. It was however the third JVT album De Lachende Derde ("The Laughing Third") that established them as flagbearers of serious inventive language wizards and artists. The lyrics to their songs were released in a book called "Handboek der Jeugd" released in 2011. In 2013 they release their fourth album ‘Ja, natuurlijk’. Three years later the foursome changes styles radically to a more mature discofunk infused album. Their impact of the past ten years on Dutch pop is celebrated in 2016 with a tribute album by Dutch and Belgian artists like Frank Boeijen, Guus Meeuwis, De Kik, Raymond van het Groenewoud, Triggerfinger and Replay called 'De jeugd vertegenwoordigd'.

In 2018 the band releases two albums in one year. Both albums are received somewhat cooly by the press.

On the web:

- De Jeugd is on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/

If you like this, you probably like.. / european counterparts:

Jan Delay (Germany)

Het Hof van Commerce (Belgium)

What do we think:

DB: Warning, if you want to learn Dutch, it is not advisable to listen to the Youth of Today. The juggling with words, the subcutaneous puns and lame corniness are omnipresent and will leave you just confused. If you are looking for some funk-electroncis combined with an intelligent flow then these hiphop guys are your act to check. The juvenile sillyness with probably elude you so its best to step in with their third album where the foursome gets control over their hormones and zany universe and come up with a tasty album that bounces from electro to urban to funky disco. We linked them to Jan Delay and 't Hof van Commerce with whom they share the same musical taste but compared to them De Jeugd is the juvenile naughty delinquent for what matters the thematics of their lyrics.

Recommended albums:

♪♪♪ - Parels voor de Zwijnen - 2005

♪♪ - De Machine - 2008

♪♪♪♪ - De Lachende Derde - 2010

♪♪♪ - Ja, natuurlijk - 2013

♪♪♪♪ - Manon - 2015

- Luek - 2018

- Anders - 2018

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♪♪♪♪♪ = outstanding album, an absolute must-have
♪♪♪♪ = great album, highly recomended
♪♪♪ = nice album
♪♪ = be careful, requires listening before buying
♪ = best to be avoided