Osdorp Posse was a five-piece hardcore rap crew from the Dutch capitol Amst… Read Full Bio ↴Osdorp Posse was a five-piece hardcore rap crew from the Dutch capitol Amsterdam, consisting of four mc’s: Def P (main rapper), Seda (rapper & beatcreator), IJsblok (rapper & manager) and King (rap, also known as ‘ Koning’ in the early days), and one DJ: Deegmeester Daan, who joined the group in 2000. They were known for their hardcore attitude, in your face lyrics, and explosive live shows.

One of the group’s trademarks was the experimentation with Dutch lyrics, which resulted the (back then) four piece in being the first ever crew in The Netherlands to release a complete demo in their native language. This turned out to be the start of a new genre they still call ‘Nederhop’ to this day, a term consisting of the words “Nederlandse” (Dutch) and “Hip-Hop”.

The start of Osdorp Posse can be tracked back as far as 1986, when Def P (real name Pascal Griffioen) made his debut on the Dutch hip-hop scene with the group Funky Fresh Force, consisting of him and DJ Dov, who would later become a famous House DJ under the pseudonym DJ The Prophet.

In 1988 Griffioen started experimenting with Dutch lyrics as a joke (translating American rap lyrics from groups such as N.W.A.), and a creative exercise (writing a couple of ‘real’ songs). His nephew Marco (later on taking on the nickname IJsblock – a literal translation of N.W.A.’s infamous Ice Cube) joined in the musical tomfoolery, as they recorded raps on instrumental tracks from their record collection, using nothing but a tape deck and a microphone.

It wasn’t until Marco and Pascal met Robin (now known as Seda) and Arthur (King) that they got down to writing real material that they found suitable for recording. Even though their musical playground that they had by then labelled Osdorp Posse (named after the Amsterdam neighbourhood Osdorp, where they all lived) consisted of a large group of friends with a continuously changing line-up, the core of the Posse was the four guys, and would remain so until twelve years later. With a lot of the co-rappers leaving the group with no interest in taking Osdorp Posse to a next level, the group recorded an infamous demo as a fourpiece. The nameless cassette – which quickly became known as ‘De Rode Demo’ (The Red Demo) – was handed out to friends, and travelled the country, taking the underground alternative music scene by storm through the tape trading circuit.

One of the many people who got hands on De Rode Demo was Saskia Sleger, the owner of the underground dancelabel DJAX. Recognizing the originality as well as the obvious talent, Sleger decided to contact the group and offer them a contract. Hardly believing what just happened to them, the young rappers immediately signed with DJAX, without reading the fine print. Def P later described this move in the band’s biography ‘Tien Jaar OP’ as impulsive and a bit naïve, but it turned out to be a good thing: the start of legendary career.

Now having to actually release cds instead of fooling around with a tapedeck, Pascal, Marco, Robin and Arthur franticly started writing out the material that they had come with before heading to a local studio in 1992, recording the first ever ‘Nederhop’ cd: the poorly produced yet explosive, hardcore and edgy twenty three song classic ‘Osdorp Stijl’ (Osdorp Style).

With an official release in stores, the group started on a journey that moved their live-shows away from the squat- and fret houses, onto the ‘ real’ alternative music scene. The album was an instant underground classic, which not only spawned an entire generation of Dutch Hip-hop acts at the time, but also quickly finding a following within a diverse group of alternative music fans such as punkers, metalheads, rockers and many alike.

The following two releases were plagued by the same production problems as their infamous debut, but through their sheer determination, explosive live shows and hardcore, relentless lyrical attitude became underground hits nevertheless. It wasn’t until they were asked to play the warm-up show at the biggest festival in the Netherlands, Pinkpop, that they got recognition from a larger audience. Their fourth cd entitled ‘Afslag Osdorp’ (Osdorp Exit), was released soon after the legendary festival appearance, and was the groups largest commercial success to that date. Riding the wave of word-to-mouth advertising following Pinkpop and their years on end of touring and self promoting (being ignored by mainstream media and critics), Afslag Osdorp sold thousands of copies; an achievement that was until then unthinkable for a Dutch rap act.

Later that year, with their popularity growing to a new height, Osdorp Posse played one of the most legendary and afterwards most talked about performances on the Dutch alternative music scene at the Lowlands Festival. Something that was euphemistically called a programming mistake, the group was set to play the smallest tent (Charlie) in the afternoon. Even though the Amsterdam crew warned the festival organisation about the possible consequences, the foursome’s advice to move their show to a bigger tent fell was ignored, resulting in half the festival attendees trying to fit in the small, claustrophobic space in anticipation of what was then one of the biggest things in Dutch music: Osdorp Posse. After the first couple of notes were played, the frantic crowd started to mosh, pogo and crowdsurf with such an enthusiasm that they nearly destroyed the entire tent. Def P later explained he had no idea how dangerous the situation was, that eventually led to an early ending of the gig when the crowd rushed to the stage, crushing the structure. No one got seriously hurt, yet everyone had witnessed and taken part in a legendary festival moment, talked about to this day.

In 1996 the group received the prestigious ‘ Pop Prijs’ (Pop Prize), as a recognition of their pioneering role in the Dutch hip-hop scene. That year also marked another legendary festival performance; the Dynamo Open Air festival – at that time the most important Heavy Metal event in the world – playing as the first and only hip-hop crew ever in front of more then a 100.000 longhaired metalheads, a large portion of whom were stoned Germans (enjoying the music all the same). The following year, ‘ Osdorp’ returned to Pinkpop, this time playing not once but twice: first on the small stage, returning on the final day at the main stage in front of 60.000 people.

After the commercial and artistic successes of albums such as ‘Briljant, Hard en Geslepen’ (Brilliant, Hard and Polished) – recorded with death metal band Nembrionic, and the chart success ‘Geendagsvlieg’ (literally: No day fly, as a play on words to the term ‘one day fly’, emphasizing their timelessness) the Posse left their long time label Djax to start up their own label called RAMP Records (consisting of the first letters in their names: Robin, Arthur, Marco, Pascal). In 2000, the group’s first release on their own turf called ‘ Kernramp’ (Nuclear Disaster) became their biggest commercial success, and remains so to this day. For the first time in their 12 year long career, Osdorp Posse even landed on the Dutch TOP 40 charts with their single ‘ Origineel Amsterdams’, which eventually ploughed into the top 10.

The release of their eighth album also marked the first change in line-up the group had seen since the early demo days: DJ ‘Deegmeester’ Daan – who already joined the band on stage for quite a while – became the fifth member of Osdorp Posse. That year they returned to Lowlands Festival as a five-piece, this time on a bigger stage. Once again controversy was part of the group’s performance, with Def P openly protesting against the nationwide crowd surf ban (as a result to the Roskilde tragedy earlier that year).

Around that time the music industry started crashing down. With programmes such as Napster and Kazaa providing fans with free – yet illegal – music, Osdorp Posse’s new label had a hard time lifting off. Every release after ‘ Kernramp’, such as ‘ Tegenstrijd” (meaning both Counter Battle, and Contradiction in Dutch) and Hollandse Hardcore Hip-Hop Helden all saw decreasing sales figures. At the same time, the genre the group created – Nederhop – had become a mainstream phenomena with acts such as Extince, Def Rhymz, and new school artists and groups like Raymster and Opgezwolle taking over the Dutch hiphop scene. Osdorp Posse, never being a favourite of the mainstream media – could only witness their own decline.

Around 2004, the group had plummeted back into the underground scene, once again playing the smaller venues. The groups hardcore following had eye for their later releases with bands such as Laberinto and Blind Justice, but stayed true to their heroes all the same.

Near the end of 2008, the group has announced to call it quits. After a release party of their final effort entitled ‘2 Decennia’ (Two Decades), Osdorp Posse embarked on a farewell tour, taking them to all the places they played, rocked the mike at, and witnessed their fanatic following go crazy to their hardcore style of performing.

The group’s swansong took place on their own turf, in the Amsterdam club De Melkweg in September of 2009, leaving a legacy that can not be ignored or forgotten: the invention and perfection of Nederhop.

Bestrijd het drugsbeleid
Osdorp Posse Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Er zijn belachelijk veel problemen door illegale drugs
zoals misbruikers of de maffia en gangsters en thugs
Brute moorden en diefstal, afpersing en chantage
Veel corruptie en zwendel, het verbranden van plantages
Zwaar verslaafde junkies zonder waarden of normen
en zwangere vrouwen die hun eigen babies misvormen
Mensen die O.D.-en, bad trippers die flippen
Hoeren die voor heroïne zonder rubbertjes wippen

Junks geestelijk, lichamelijk en financieel aan de grond
en goeie dealers zijn gezond en komen heel lekker rond!
Al die junkies met AIDS die toch hun naalden maar delen
Ziek en dakloos zonder weerstand, dus zo sterven er velen
Deze negativiteit is een sein van de tijd
want het is tijd voor de strijd tegen het overheidsbeleid!
Want er is een oplossing, luister met concentratie:
En dan geef ik je de voordelen van legalisatie!

BESTRIJD HET HYPOCRIETE DRUGSBELEID!
En kies voor verstand, tolerantie en vrijheid!
BESTRIJD HET HYPOCRIETE DRUGSBELEID!
En maak een einde aan misbruik en criminaliteit!
BESTRIJD HET HYPOCRIETE DRUGSBELEID!
En geef ons veiligheid, kwaliteit en zekerheid!
BESTRIJD HET HYPOCRIETE DRUGSBELEID!
En streef naar legalisatie voor een betere tijd!

Tegen drugslegalisatie heersen vele vooroordelen,
maar noem mij nu maar één nadeel dan noem ik tien voordelen!
EEN! Je zet de criminaliteit buitenspel
want als er niets meer te verdienen valt dan stoppen ze wel
TWEE! Al het geld wordt dan legaal binnen gehaald
zodat er over die miljarden ook belasting wordt betaald
DRIE! Zij die al junk zijn en het niet kunnen betalen
kunnen voortaan gratis halen. Fietsendiefstal zal dalen!
VIER! De overheid kan kwaliteit garanderen
waardoor de volksgezondheid weer een stap vooruit zal marcheren
VIJF! Harddrugverkoop kan via apotheken gaan
waardoor de hardere gebruikers meteen geregistreerd staan
ZES! We kunnen zo meteen ook mooi controleren
dat één geregistreerde niet meer dope komt halen dan hij kan verteren
ZEVEN! Geen woekerprijzen maar een eerlijke handelsnatie
gepaard met begeleidingsservice en produktsinformatie
ACHT! De koffieshops kunnen nu vrijuit bestaan
zodat volwassen mensen vrij hun eigen gang kunnen gaan
NEGEN! Mensen zullen voortaan drugs bewust kopen
en legaal is ook niet stoer meer, dus het sust het meelopen
TIEN! Het wordt het einde van een hypocriet beleid
want alcohol en tabak zijn net zo slecht als illegale schijt!
Dus snap je nog waarom de de top tegen legalisatie is?
Ze hebben vast een aandeel in deze illegale biz!

BESTRIJD HET HYPOCRIETE DRUGSBELEID!
En kies voor verstand, tolerantie en vrijheid!
BESTRIJD HET HYPOCRIETE DRUGSBELEID!
En maak een einde aan misbruik en criminaliteit!
BESTRIJD HET HYPOCRIETE DRUGSBELEID!
En geef ons veiligheid, kwaliteit en zekerheid!
BESTRIJD HET HYPOCRIETE DRUGSBELEID!
En streef naar legalisatie voor een betere tijd!

BESTRIJD HET DRUGSBELEID!
BESTRIJD HET DRUGSBELEID!
BESTRIJD HET DRUGSBELEID!
En legaliseer die handel voor altijd!
BESTRIJD HET DRUGSBELEID!
BESTRIJD HET DRUGSBELEID!
BESTRIJD HET DRUGSBELEID!

En eindig deze situatie voor altijd!

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Osdorp Posse's song "Bestrijd het drugsbeleid" (Fight the drug policy) address the various problems caused by illegal drugs while advocating for drug legalization. The song criticizes the negative consequences of the current drug policy, such as addiction, crime, corruption, and the spread of diseases like AIDS. It highlights the hypocrisy in the government's approach and proposes that legalizing drugs could bring numerous benefits.

The lyrics mention the problems caused by illegal drugs, including the abuse by individuals, involvement of mafia, gangsters, and thugs, as well as the violence, theft, extortion, and corruption associated with the drug trade. The song speaks about how drug addicts are left mentally, physically, and financially destroyed, while drug dealers thrive by exploiting their addiction. It also brings attention to pregnant women who harm their own babies due to their drug use.

The song argues that the current situation is a result of the government's policy and calls for a new approach. It suggests that the solution lies in legalization, advocating for the advantages it could bring. Legalizing drugs would lead to a decrease in criminal activity because there would be no profit for illegal drug trafficking. Additionally, the government would collect taxes from the legal drug industry, ensuring a legal and regulated market. Those unable to afford drugs would be provided with free access, reducing the need for them to engage in criminal activities to support their addiction. Legalization would also allow for quality control, guaranteeing the safety and health of drug users. Furthermore, the lyrics propose that hard drugs could be sold through pharmacies, ensuring individuals are registered and can be monitored. The song also suggests that controlled pricing and informative packaging and guidance would accompany drug sales. Lastly, the lyrics challenge the hypocrisy of the current policy by comparing the harmful effects of legal substances like alcohol and tobacco to illegal ones.

In summary, "Bestrijd het drugsbeleid" is a song by Osdorp Posse that criticizes the negative consequences of illegal drugs and advocates for their legalization. It highlights the problems caused by the current drug policy, such as addiction, crime, corruption, and the spread of diseases, and proposes that legalizing drugs would bring benefits such as reduced crime, tax revenue, quality control, and the ability to monitor and assist drug users.

Bestrijd het drugsbeleidOsdorp Posse Lyrics

Bestrijd het drugsbeleid
Osdorp Posse Lyrics