TopNotch is a Dutch record label specializing in

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

. The label was founded in 1995, and is run by Vincent Patty. After some commercial success (with rap acts such as

De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig De Jeugd Van Tegenwoordig (The Youth of Today) is a Dutch language, Dutch Hip hop music, hip hop and R&B group based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, renowned for their musical approach of irreverent, humorous lyrics and electronic beats. Their hu ...

The Opposites The Opposites are a Dutch rap group, consisting of Willem de Bruin (Willy) and Twan van Steenhoven (Big2). The two started rapping when de Bruin had to write a rap for his teacher as a punishment. Willem realized his rap potential and decided to ...

Def Rhymz Dennis Bouman (3 May 1970 – 24 March 2024), known professionally as Def Rhymz, was a Surinamese-Dutch rapper best known for his humouristic raps. Biography Bouman was born on 3 May 1970. He was the first Dutch rapper ever to hit the number ...

, Postmen, and

Extince Peter Kops (born 1967), known professionally as Extince (also known as "Exter-O-naldus" or "De Exter"), is one of the first Dutch language rappers, or Dutch Hip-Hoppers to achieve a top-40 hit in the mainstream Dutch music charts. His hit son ...

) it became allied with

Virgin EMI Records Virgin EMI Records was a British record label owned by the Universal Music Group that was formed in 2013. In June 2020, the label was rebranded as EMI Records, and operates Virgin Records as an imprint of the new EMI Records. History Virgin ...

, and since 2004 has a marketing and distribution deal with

PIAS Entertainment Group PIAS is a Belgian corporation that specialises in independent music recording, licensing, distribution, sales, and marketing. The company was founded in 1982 by Kenny Gates and Michel Lambot in Brussels, Belgium,. Website] Play It Again, SamDiffe ...

. It has expanded into Dutch-language music by singer-songwriters such as

Lucky Fonz III Lucky Fonz III (born in 1981 as Otto Wichers) is a Dutch singer-songwriter from Nijmegen, Netherlands. History Wichers studied at the University of Amsterdam when he recorded his first titleless album in 2005. After winning the Grote Prijs va ...

, and in 2009 signed a distribution and marketing agreement with

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

. Still praised in 2009 as "the brand for high-quality Dutch hip-hop", it sought to expand into other musical genres.

History

Founder Kees de Koning is a former music journalist and manager of Anouk. He is credited with "putting Dutch hip-hop on the map" with TopNotch, signing acts such as

, and

. Initially the label, which released music that didn't automatically receive radio play, used platforms such as

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

and Hyves to get attention for its artists, and added

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

and

Vine A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Da ...

. TopNotch also collaborates in marketing with companies such as the brewery

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

and insurance company Centraal Beheer; for the latter, it made a video featuring Anouk, watched over 2 million times by August 2013. After achieving commercial success with

, Postmen, and Extince, the label acquired a reputation such that

hired de Koning as A&R and label manager in 2000. Success with

Raymzter Raymond Christiaan Rensen a.k.a. Raymzter (born 1979 in Almere) is a Dutch rapper. Biography Raymzter was born in Almere to a Moroccan father and a Dutch mother. He developed an interest in hip hop early in life after listening to a Public Enemy ...

and

Opgezwolle Opgezwolle () was a Dutch rap group consisting of MCs Sticky Steez and Phreako Rico, and beatmaker DJ Dippy Delic. Biography In 2001 Opgezwolle competed in a contest called "De Oogst van Overijssel". After winning the final in Enschede in May 20 ...

notwithstanding, de Koning's contract was not renewed after four years, and the label was in danger of folding. In 2004,

signed a distribution and marketing deal with TopNotch, saving the label. The first releases after the restructuring were by VSOP, Duvel Duvel, and Kubus. In 2009, the label make a distribution and marketing agreement with

(owners of Virgin EMI) and signed a non-hip-hop act, gabber punk band Aux Raus. Their fifteenth anniversary, in 2010, was celebrated with a two-day festival in the

Melkweg Melkweg (Dutch for "Milky Way") is a music venue and cultural center on Lijnbaansgracht, near Leidseplein in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is housed in a former dairy and includes four music halls as well as a cinema, a restaurant and an exhibitio ...

. That same year the label signed

, a Dutch-language singer, in a more comprehensive effort to expand beyond hip-hop which also included signing Surinamese singer

Damaru A damaru (, ; Tibetan languages, Tibetan ཌ་མ་རུ་ or རྔ་ཆུང) is a small two-headed drum, used in Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism. In Hinduism, the damaru is known as the instrument of the Hindu deity Shiva, associated wi ...

; de Koning had personally pursued the artist, whose monthly performances in the TV show ''

De Wereld Draait Door ''De Wereld Draait Door'' (; DWDD) was an early-evening talk show on Dutch television, broadcast every weekday at 7:00 p.m. on NPO 1. It was the Netherlands' longest-running, regularly scheduled TV entertainment show and had the second-highes ...

'' he admired. Their biggest commercial success to date is

Gers Pardoel Gerwin Pardoel (born 12 May 1981), better known by his stage name Gers Pardoel or Mononymous person, mononymously as Gers, is a Dutch Rapping, rapper. He rose to fame in 2009, due to his successful collaboration with The Opposites on the single " ...

, whose "Ik neem je mee" is referred to as the most successful Dutch song ever; the song's video had 15 million views by 15 August 2013, a Dutch record. De Koning started another company in 2006, Good Life, with Jerry Leembruggen and Ruben Fernhout (founders of

The Partysquad The Partysquad is a Dutch DJ production team. It consists of Jerry Leembruggen, Ruben Fernhout and Lorenzo Biemans. Since the early 2000s they have had 12 singles charting on the Dutch Top 40. They produced part of British rapper M.I.A.'s four ...

and owners of the production company F & L Entertainment). Good Life aimed to produce more pop-oriented, rhythm and blues artists (such as Wudstik) through record deals and events.

Artists

Current artists

Appa Appa or APPA may refer to: Organizations * American Psychopathological Association, a scientific professional organization * American Philosophical Practitioners Association, a non-profit educational organization *American Public Power Associatio ...

* Adje *

Cho Cho or CHO may refer to: People * Chief Happiness Officer * Chief Heat Officer Surnames * Cho (Korean surname), one romanization of the common Korean surname * Zhuo (), romanized Cho in Wade–Giles, Chinese surname * Cho, a Minnan romaniza ...

Jack Parow Zander Tyler (born February 22, 1982), better known under his stage name Jack Parow, is a South African rapper who has collaborated with other South African artists such as Die Heuwels Fantasties, Die Antwoord, and Francois Van Coke. Career ...

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 ...

* Lefties Soul Connection *

Lil' Kleine Jorik Scholten (; born 15 October 1994), professionally known as Lil' Kleine (), is a 30 year old Dutch rapper, actor and singer. He collaborated with fellow rapper Ronnie Flex to produce the number one single " Drank & Drugs" and the number on ...

Salah Edin Abid Tounssi, known by his stage name Salah Edin (born 23 June 1980), is a Dutch Moroccan ex-rapper and actor. Biography Salah Edin gained recognition as a rapper (first in Arabic, then also in Dutch) in the 1990s and broke through to a larger au ...

Typhoon A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...

* U-Niq * Tourist LeMC

Artists produced together with Magnetron Music

Former artists

Ronnie Flex Ronell Langston Plasschaert (born 16 April 1992), known professionally as Ronnie Flex, is a Dutch Hip hop music, hip hop performer and rapper of Surinamese descent. He was named the most successful rapper of all time on the Dutch Top 40 singles ...

Bilal Wahib Bilal El Mehdi Wahib (born 20 January 1999) is a Dutch actor, singer and rapper from Amsterdam. He has appeared in several Dutch films and series such as ''Nieuwe buren'', ''SpangaS'', ''Mocro Maffia'' and ''Commando's'' and films '' Layla M.'', ...

Cilvaringz Tarik Azzougarh (; born January 29, 1979), better known as his stage name Cilvaringz, is a Dutch-Moroccan record producer, rapper, and artist manager from Tilburg, North Brabant. He is associated with the Wu-Tang Clan and is best known for conce ...

* K-Liber * Kempi *

* Postmen *

* Robert Lee *

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 a ...

History

Artists

Current artists

Artists produced together with Magnetron Music

Former artists

References

Footnotes

Reference footnotes

External links