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 seven 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 "" (2022), " Europapa" (2024), " Luchtballon" (2024) and his collaborations with German rapper Ski Aggu and comedian Otto Waalkes on " Friesenjung" (2023), Finnish rapper Käärijä on " Trafik!" (2024), and Estonian rapper Tommy Cash on "United by Music" (2025).

"Europapa" was selected to represent the 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 in second place from the second semi-final, he was scheduled to perform fifth in the final, but was disqualified from the competition due to allegations of misconduct. These were investigated by Swedish prosecutors, who dropped the case in August 2024 after concluding that they could not prove any criminal conduct.

Early life

Joost Klein was born on 10 November 1997 in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, and grew up in the nearby village of Britsum. In 2008, he started a YouTube channel under the name ''EenhoornJoost'' (). He did not complete the curriculum at his secondary school. At the age of twelve, his father died of 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 and sister.

Career

2016–2022: First releases

While active as a YouTuber, Klein published videos ranging from sketches to mini-documentaries. In 2016, he released his debut EP (), after which he began focusing on a career in music. "Bitches", produced by Mick Spek 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 Sports.

On 20 October 2017, Klein released the mixtape ''Scandinavian Boy'', followed by the singles "" (transl. 'Seagull') and "" (transl. 'Uncle Robert') in 2018. On 3 August 2018, Klein released the studio album ' together with Dutch rapper Donnie. To promote the album, the duo organised a one-time concert titled 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 (transl. 'It is not going too well') concert tour in 2019, during which he visited venues such as Paard, , 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 ', 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 "" (transl. 'I want you'), a remix of the eponymous song by the Belgian band De Kreuners. In 2021 he created a song for StuBru named "Fok De Blok". "Fok De Blok" is a rebellious and energetic anthem about breaking free from control, rejecting authority, and staying true to yourself. In the song, Joost uses humor and chaos to express frustration with systems that try to limit individuality—like school, societal norms, or other forms of pressure. The phrase "Fok de Blok" symbolizes a refusal to be boxed in. It's a bold call for freedom, self-expression, and not caring what others expect of you. It's also used by schoolchildren to express their frustration with the exam block.

In March 2022, Klein collaborated with Russian musician , 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 Russian 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 Russian 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 after his home province of Friesland. The album features the singles "Florida 2009", "" and "", 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. He also released "" as a single. In it, he makes a pun on his surname, Klein, meaning small, in the chorus (''Z'n naam is Klein maar z'n droom is groot''). He has also used variations of this pun in other songs and interviews (''My name is small but I'm standing tall, Mein Name ist Klein aber mein Traum ist groß'')

2023–present: Eurovision Song Contest

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 Otto Waalkes, a German comedian from East Frisia. 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 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" towards her holding a 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". On 12 August, the Swedish Prosecution Authority announced that the case against Klein was closed because it could not be proven that the act "was capable of causing serious fear or that had any such intention". The prosecutor also stated: “The investigation has come to the conclusion that the man made a movement that hit the woman's film camera”.

In June 2024, Klein released the singles "", "The Bird Song", and " (World Cup 1998)", followed by a collaboration with Käärijä titled " Trafik!" on 12 July. He additionally performed at various festivals across Europe between June and August 2024. 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. After deciding to participate, AVROTROS offered Klein the opportunity to represent the Netherlands in Eurovision 2025; however, despite having already written a new song for possible participation, he ultimately declined.

In 2025, Klein released 'Why Not???' The song contains lyrics that reference the incident in Malmö. He opens the song with the lyrics 'Once there was a boy, and he had a dream / But then, one day, his dream was taken away'. He also released a YouTube exclusive song titled 'funny onion song' which samples an interview he had prior to Eurovision. On February 21, Klein released his ninth album ''Unity'', after releasing a series of social media posts and vlogs about operating a fictional internet cafe. The album features the pre-released singles "Europapa", "Friesenjung", "Luchtballon", "Filthy Dog" and "Why Not???". Another case of EBU-critical lyrics on the new album after the Malmö incident is the song "United by Music" which features the lyric 'Fuck the EBU, I don't want to go to court'. 'funny onion song' was later released on Spotify under the moniker 'internetcafe24/7', referencing one of his other songs from Unity. In one of the songs from ''Unity'', 'Kunst und Musik', he samples a song from the BBC children's television show Hallo aus Berlin. Soon after the release of ''Unity'', Joost released the song Boerenland with Donnie. Klein supported Tommy Cash in his successful Eesti Laul campaign and eventual Eurovision participation for Estonia, screaming 'Twelve points to Estonia!' at a concert. Cash also described Klein as 'ChatGPT', who gave him advice and support during the Eurovision season. At Eurovision that year, Käärijä performed a shout-out