D-Men was a Dutch rap formation established in 1997 under the name D-Men Squad. This was after a freestyle session they held on a

basketball court In basketball, the basketball court is the playing surface, consisting of a rectangular floor, with baskets at each end. Indoor basketball courts are almost always made of polished wood, usually maple, with -high rims on each basket. Outdoor ...

in Diemen-Zuid. The original members of D-Men were rapper

Lange Frans Frans Christiaan Frederiks (born 12 November 1980), known by his stage name Lange Frans, is a Dutch rapper and television presenter. From 1997 to 2004 he was a member of the band D-Men. Between 1997 and 2009 he was part of the Lange Frans & Baas ...

, his brother rapper

Brutus Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC) was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, which was reta ...

and a childhood friend rapper-singer Bart Zeilstra better known as Baas B. They picked the name that sound like their home town

Diemen Diemen () is a town and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality with a population of in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is located approximately 6 km (3.7 mi) southeast of Amsterdam's Amsterdam ...

. Many others joined in the formation, famous for its mixtapes ''De Straatremixes''. D-Men also have their own record label named D-Men Entertainment.

Members

Besides the three founding members, many joined in the group that its heyday had the following members: ;Original members *

(rapper) * Baas B (rapper/singer) *

(rapper) ;Joining members *

Negativ Maurits Robert Delchot better known by his stage name Negativ (born 8 September 1982) is a Dutch rapper, actor and radio broadcaster of Surinamese origin from Amsterdam-Oost. Negativ became part of the rap formation D-Men. He has also acted f ...

(rapper) *

DJ MBA A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music festivals), mobile DJ ...

(DJ) *

Yes-R Yesser Roshdy (, ; born 2 November 1986), better known by his stage name Yes-R, is a Dutch rapper, singer and television presenter. He was born in Amsterdam, to an Egyptian father, and a Moroccan mother. Before going solo, he was part of the Dut ...

(rapper) * Brace (singer) * Soesi B (rapper) * C-Ronic (rapper)

Career

In 1997, the band's original trio started at various small venues. As D-Men they released their first single in 1999, entitled "Zoveel Mensen"Nederlandse Rappers: D-Men - Biographie
(in Dutch) ("So Many People"), and they won a talent hunt that was organised by Stichting Grap ("Joke Foundation") in 2001. With the joining of new members, the name was changed to D-Men Entertainment with the inclusion of Negativ, DJ MBA, Brace, Yes-R, Soesi B and C-Ronic. D-Men regularly performed in many venues including in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

and released three mixtapes: The original ''De Straatremixes'' in 2003, followed by ''De Straatremixes Deel 2'' and ''De Straatremixes Deel 2'' both in 2004. Most are parodies of American urban sounds. A sequel was also planned to be titled ''Rollen met D-Men'', but this did not materialize. The band started breaking up with the departure of singer Brace, followed by rapper

Ali B Ali Bouali, known professionally as Ali B (born 16 October 1981), is a Moroccan Dutch rapper and entertainer. He is one of the most prominent rappers in the Netherlands and has collaborated with musicians such as Akon and Marco Borsato. He is se ...

. A single "Vraag jezelf eens af" was released. Contractual disagreements intensified with rapper

who joined the label of his cousin Ali B. Soesi B, a friend from childhood to Yes-R followed suit. The last of the new members to leave was

. This the formation went back to the original three members Lange Frans, Brutus and Baas B. After leaving D-men, Yes-r made a recording with them called "Je krijgt het van ons" ("You get it from us"). D-Men decided to disband. In 2008, Lange Frans and Baas B declared on Juize.FM that a follow-up release was planned entitled ''De Straatremixes Deel 4''. Negativ was positive and expected that at least some of the other members would come back. BUt this never materialized. D-Men was replaced by the duo

Lange Frans & Baas B Lange Frans & Baas B ("Tall Frans & Boss B") is a Dutch hip hop duo. Both Lange Frans ( alias of Frans Frederiks) and Baas B ( alias of Bart Zeilstra) grew up in Diemen, North Holland. Musical career 1997-2003: Underground music In 1997, after a ...

D-Men Entertainment

D-Men have established their own Record label called D-Men Entertainment.

Discography

Mixtapes

*2003: ''De Straatremixes'' *2004: ''De Straatremixes Deel 2'' *2004: ''De Straatremixes Deel 3''

Singles

References

External links

D-Men at Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:D-Men Dutch hip-hop groups Dutch-language musical groups Musical groups established in 1997 Musical groups disestablished in 2005