Joost Klein

Joost Klein (born 10 November 1997), also known mononymously as Joost, is a Dutch musician, rapper, singer and former YouTuber. Mainly a hip hop artist, his songs and performances often include influences of electronic music, such as drum and bass, hardstyle and gabber. He has released eight studio albums, two of which reached the top ten of the Dutch Album Top 100. He has amassed four chart entries on the Dutch Top 40, and is best known for "Luchtballon", "Wachtmuziek", "Friesenjung" and "Europapa".

"Europapa" was selected to represent the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 and subsequently became Klein's first song to top both the Dutch Top 40 and Single Top 100. 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, Friesland, 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 (lit. 'UnicornJoost'). 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. A year later, in 2011, his mother died of cardiac arrest. Following the death of his parents, Klein was looked after by his older brother Hugo and his older sister Nanda.

2016–2022
While active as a YouTuber, Klein published videos ranging from sketches to mini-documentaries. In 2016, he released his debut extended play Dakloos, after which he began focusing on a career in music. "Bitches" was his first music video that would reach a million views on YouTube. He was briefly signed to TopNotch in 2017 and 2018, but eventually decided to set up his own record label, Albino Records.

On 20 October 2017, Klein released the mixtape Scandinavian Boy, followed by the singles "Meeuw" (transl. 'Seagull') and "Ome Robert" (transl. 'Uncle Robert') in 2018. On 3 August 2018, Klein released the studio album M van Marketing together with Dutch rapper Donnie. To promote the album, the duo organised a one-time concert titled Viraal in Carré in the Carré theatre in Amsterdam.

Klein wrote a small book of poems 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 Het gaat niet zo goed (transl. 'It is not going too well') concert tour in 2019, during which he visited venues such as Paard, De Oosterpoort, Doornroosje and Paradiso. He concluded the tour in Paradiso on 3 March 2019. The following summer, Klein performed at major Benelux festivals such as Pukkelpop, Pinkpop, Lowlands and Zwarte Cross.



On 15 November 2019, Klein released the album 1983 (Joost 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$. On 7 August of the same year, he released the single "Ik wil je" (transl. 'I want you'), a remix of the eponymous song by the Belgian band De Kreuners.

In March 2022, Klein collaborated with Russian musician Ruslan Tushentsov, releasing "Jackass", a song in which Klein sings about his love for Russian women. In February 2023, he released a song with Saint Petersburg-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 Fryslân after his home province of Friesland. The album features the singles "Florida 2009", "Wachtmuziek" and "Papa en mama", and was fully produced by producer Tantu Beats. Various samples can be heard on the album, such as samples of the Dutch ska band Doe Maar 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 Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, Sweden. A petition was launched by the NPO 3FM radio programme VoorAan 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 (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".

Klein released the single "Luchtballon" 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 and TikTok, fueling further speculation. On 29 June, at the Belgian music festival Genk on Stage, Klein reiterated his desire to participate in 2025, but not necessarily representing the Netherlands; he expressed his interest in doing so for Belgium instead. A Dutch inquiry into additional witnesses to Klein's backstage incident at Eurovision 2024 was carried out, with the results presented to Swedish prosecutors in the week of 15 July.