TheNetherlands has multiplemusical traditions. Contemporary Dutch popular music is heavily influenced by music styles that emerged in the 1950s, in the United Kingdom and United States. The style is sung in bothDutch andEnglish. Some of the latter exponents, such asGolden Earring andShocking Blue, have attained worldwide fame.

Sometimes partly based and raised upon the tradition ofIndorock, new acts with a mixture of Mainstream pop music, Dance, Jazz, Funk and Soul emerged in the mid-1980s. Many of them were and still are performing in and/or outside The Netherlands, and some of them gained (international) recognition, which would sometimes also result in a collaboration with major players from the United States or United Kingdom. An early example of these isMassada, a band with strong Moluccan roots, in the tradition of Santana. Some of the most successful artists among them wereMai Tai,Lois Lane, working with Prince, Julya Lo'ko, and saxophone playerCandy Dulfer, also working with Prince, Dave Stewart and Pink Floyd. The mid-1990s saw the rise ofTotal Touch, with singerTrijntje Oosterhuis.

Another popular genre of Dutch music is known as "Levenslied", meaning "Song of/about life". These songs have catchy, simple rhythms and melodies, and are always built up on choruses and verses. Themes are often sentimental and includelove,death andloneliness. Traditional Dutch musical instruments such as theaccordion and thebarrel organ are essential to levenslied, though in recent years many levenslied artists also use synthesizers and guitars. Artists in this genre includeKoos Alberts and the lateAndré Hazes andWilly Alberti.

Dutchtechno,hardstyle,gabber,trance and other styles in electronic dance music conquered the world. Most of the best-known DJs in theEDM scene (and the world) hail from the Netherlands, includingTiësto,Don Diablo,Armin van Buuren,Ferry Corsten,Sander van Doorn,Fedde le Grand,Hardwell,Showtek,Afrojack,Oliver Heldens,Ran-D, andMartin Garrix, all of whom consistently rank high in theDJ Mag Top 100 DJs and other rankings. TheAmsterdam Dance Event (ADE) is the world's leading electronic music conference and the biggest club festival for the many electronic subgenres on the planet. These artists also contribute significantly to the mainstream pop music played over the airwaves all around the world, as they frequently collaborate and produce for many notable artists.

Hip-hop in the Dutch language (nederhop) has exploded since 2000 in the Netherlands^[1] and is also popular in Belgium.^[2] Songs like "Traag", "Europapa", "Coño", and "Cartier" reached an international audience, and are to date the most streamed Dutch-language songs onSpotify, with around 125 to 150 million total streams per song.

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (May 1562 – October 16, 1621) was a Dutch composer, organist, and pedagogue whose work straddled the end of the Renaissance and beginning of the Baroque eras. Sweelinck was a master improviser, and acquired the informal title of the "Orpheus of Amsterdam". Over 70 keyboard works of his have survived, and many of them may be similar to the improvisations that residents of Amsterdam around 1600 were likely to have heard. Even his vocal music, which is more conservative than his keyboard writing, shows a striking rhythmic complexity and an unusual richness of contrapuntal devices.

His influence was international. Some of his music appears in theFitzwilliam Virginal Book, which otherwise mainly contains the work of English composers. Sweelinck wrote variations onJohn Dowland's internationally famousLachrimae Pavane, andJohn Bull, the English keyboard composer, wrote a set of variations on a theme of Sweelinck, indicating the close connection between the different schools of composition across theNorth Sea.

Jacob van Eyck (ca. 1590–1657) was a blind recorder and organ virtuoso, who composed a unique collection of flute music.

Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer (1692–1766) was an accomplished baroque composer, whose work Concerti Armonici erroneously was attributed toGiovanni Battista Pergolesi.Igor Stravinsky used Unico's music forPulcinella.

Alphons Diepenbrock (September 2, 1862 – April 5, 1921) created a musical idiom which, in a highly personal manner, combined 16th-century polyphony with Wagnerian chromaticism, to which in later years was added the impressionistic refinement that he encountered in Debussy's music.

Willem Pijper (1894–1947) is generally considered one of the most important figures in modern Dutch music. Between 1918 and 1922 he grew into one of the more advanced composers in Europe. In each successive work he went a step further and, from 1919, Pijper's music can be described as atonal. However, Pijper remained a composer of strong emotional character, to which his Third Symphony (1926) bears witness. In Pijper's later works the harmonic expression seems at times to approach monotonality. As a teacher Pijper had a great influence on modern Dutch music, teaching many prominent Dutch composers of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. He was senior master of instrumentation in the Amsterdam Conservatoire, and from 1930 until his death in 1947 he was Head of the Rotterdam Conservatoire.

Ton de Leeuw (born Rotterdam, 16 November 1926 - died Paris, 31 May 1996) is known for his experiments withmicrotonality. He wrote one opera,Antigone (1990–1991).

Lex van Delden (1919–1988) andSimeon ten Holt (1923–2012) were important composers.

Louis Andriessen (June 6, 1939 – July 1, 2021) was a composer whose early works show experimentation with various contemporary trends: postwarserialism (Series, 1958),pastiche (Anachronie I, 1966–67), and tape (Il Duce, 1973). Andriessen's mature music combines the influences ofStravinsky and Americanminimalism. His harmonic writing eschews the consonant modality of much minimalism, preferring postwar Europeandissonance, often crystallised into large blocks of sound. Large-scale pieces such asDe Staat ['Republic'] (1972–76), for example, were influenced by the energy of the big band music ofCount Basie andStan Kenton and the repetitive procedures ofSteve Reich, both combined with bright, clashing dissonances. Andriessen's music is thus anti-Germanic and anti-Romantic, and marks a departure from postwar European serialism and its offshoots. He also played a role in providing alternatives to traditional performance practice techniques, often specifying forceful, rhythmicarticulations, and amplified, non-vibrato, singing. Other notable works includeWorkers Union (1975), a melodically indeterminate piece "for any loud sounding group of instruments";Mausoleum (1979) for two baritones and large ensemble;De Tijd ['Time'] (1979–81) for female singers and ensemble;De Snelheid ['Velocity'] (1982–83), for three amplified ensembles;De Materie ['Matter'] (1984–88) a large four part work for voices and ensemble; collaborations with filmmaker andlibrettistPeter Greenaway on the filmM is for Man, Music, Mozart and the operasRosa: A Horse Drama (1994) andWriting to Vermeer (1998); and the recentLa Passione (2000–02) for female voice and ensemble.

Significant composers after Andriessen includeKlaas de Vries (born 1944),Jacob Ter Veldhuis, a.k.a. JacobTV (b. 1951),Guus Janssen (b. 1951) andCornelis de Bondt (b. 1953).

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Dutch folk music, is characterized by simple straightforward bass motives heavily supplemented with fast, often happy, melody. (Clickhere for an example.) Uncommon among other European folk, in Dutch music thebass line, not themelody, is the musical line that is danced to. This means that though the music itself may sound fast, the dances are usually quite moderate to slow intempo. The dances themselves are mainly group dances rather than individual or dual dances.^[3] Clogs are often worn during dances; however, Dutchclog dancing is very different from its more modern counterpart. It is virtually impossible to perform highly active dances with Dutch clogs (which are entirely made from wood, not just the sole) and hence the clogs function as additional percussion, by stamping rhythmically.

In the early 19th century, rural Dutch folk began moving to cities likeAmsterdam andRotterdam, bringing with them folk traditions. Many of their songs and dances, however, began to dwindle in popularity. In the early part of the 20th century, however, a number of urban intellectuals travelled to the countrysides to record with local musicians, a process paralleled in other European countries, such as Spain.

In the 1970s, the Netherlands underwent aroots revival, led by artists likeGerard van Maasakkers,Jos Koning,Dommelvolk andRK Veulpoepers BV,Fungus andWolverlei. Many of thefolk songs performed by these musicians was collected byCobi Schreijer andAte Doornbosch, the latter of whom broadcast them on hisradio programOnder de groene linde (Under the green lime).

It was in about 1974 that the Dutch folk revival peaked, a year marked by the first recording of Fungus and the birth ofWargaren from the bandPitchwheel.

The mainstream popularity of the Dutch roots revival was short-lived, but it continued inFriesland, where a handful of groups, starting withIrolt in the mid-1970s, sang in theWest Frisian language. Frisian folk music has survived thus, aided in part by theAaipop Festival inNylân and annual festival inJoure. At Joure's festival, established in 1955, participants dress in 19th century-style clothes and perform traditional music and dance like theskotsploech ensembles.

Modern revivalists include theGroningen bandTörf,Folkcorn,Pekel andTwee Violen en een Bas,Lirio,Dubius,Mus,Matzko,Wè-nun Henk.

Moluccan-Dutch musicians likeTala Mena Siwa and theMoluccan Moods Orchestra have had some success with pop-based Moluccan music, whilekaseko, a style from the former Dutch colony ofSuriname, has also seen mainstream popularity, primarily due to musicians likeWilliam Souvenir andCarlo Jones.

TheNorth Sea Jazz Festival attracts artists from international acclaim.

Misha Mengelberg (June 5, 1935 - March 3, 2017) was a jazzpianist andcomposer. He was the pianist onEric Dolphy's last album,Last Date (1964). Also featuring on that record was the drummerHan Bennink, and together withPiet Noordijk they formed a quartet which had a number of different bassists. They played at theNewport Jazz Festival in 1966. In 1967 he co-founded theInstant Composers Pool, an organisation which promoted avant garde Dutch jazz performances and recordings, withHan Bennink andWillem Breuker.

Mengelberg played with a large variety of musicians. He often performed in a duo with compatriot Bennink, and with other musicians includingDerek Bailey,Peter Brötzmann,Evan Parker,Anthony Braxton.

Han Bennink (born April 17, 1942) is a jazzdrummer,percussionist and multi-instrumentalist. Through the 1960s he drummed with a number of American musicians visiting the Netherlands, includingDexter Gordon,Sonny Rollins andEric Dolphy. He subsequently became a central figure in the emerging Europeanfree improvisation (orfree jazz) scene. From the late 1960s he played in a trio with saxophonistPeter Brötzmann and Belgian pianistFred Van Hove, which became a duo after Van Hove's departure in 1976. Through much of the 1990s he played in Clusone 3 (also known as the Clusone Trio), a trio with saxophonist and clarinetistMichael Moore and cellistErnst Reijseger. He has often played duos with Mengelberg and collaborated with him alongside other musicians.

As well as playing with these long-standing groups, Bennink has performed and recorded solo (such asTempo Comodo (1982)) and played with many free improvisation and free jazz musicians includingDerek Bailey,Conny Bauer,Don Cherry andAlexander von Schlippenbach, as well as more conventional jazz musicians.

Willem Breuker (November 4, 1944 – July 23, 2010) was a jazz bandleader, composer, arranger,saxophonist, andbass clarinetist. Since 1974 he led the 10-piece Willem Breuker Kollektief, which performed jazz in a theatrical and often unconventional manner, drawing elements from theater andvaudeville.

Many Dutch artists have become popular by singing songs in their own language. It started with Peter Koelewijn in the late 1950s, the first to sing Rock and Roll in Dutch. In the 1960s it was mainlyBoudewijn de Groot - to this day extremely popular. In the 1970s there were many performers, of whichRob de Nijs stood out. The 1980s were forAndré Hazes and lessKoos Alberts. The 1990s were dominated by Marco Borsato. Other well-known names throughout the years wereJan Smit,Frans Bauer,Gerard Joling, Gordon,Guus Meeuwis andRené Froger. Another notable Dutch band isTambourine.

In addition, there is a great number of bands that compose and perform pop and rock songs in the Dutch language. That started in the 1970s with Polle Eduard, Bots and Normaal - which sang in dialect. Late 70s and early 80s there was a big boom of bands that used the Dutch-speaking songs. Well known representatives from that period:Doe Maar,Het Goede Doel,Frank Boeijen Groep andToontje Lager, and during the late 80sDe Dijk,The Scene^[4] andTröckener Kecks. In the 1990s, there was a second boom of the genre inAcda en de Munnik,Bløf,Van Dik Hout andIOS.

Pioneers of Dutch rock were the so-calledIndorock bands from the late 1950s, likeThe Tielman Brothers and theBlue Diamonds. They played rock guitar instrumentals at a time when white Dutch musicians did not perform rock 'n' roll.^[5] They stemmed from theIndo community in The Hague, which was also the center of the succeeding genreNederbeat when Dutch musicians formed bands influenced by British beat groups and rock music. It earned that city the title ofBeatstad ('Beat city') in later years. With 60s bands likeGolden Earring andShocking Blue, andKane andAnouk in the 1990s, The Hague became synonymous for mainstream rock.

More progressive music emerged in the 1960s in Amsterdam. In 1964 (see1964 in music),The Outsiders were the first Dutchpsychedelic rockband to become successful. Well known was the 'Haagse Scene' - many of the popular bands of the 60s came from The Hague, such asShocking Blue, which topped the US charts in 1970 with "Venus",Golden Earring,Q65,The Motions,Earth & Fire. Other representatives from this period:the Cats,Tee-Set,Bintangs,Sandy Coast,Cuby & the Blizzards andBrainbox.George Baker acquired international fame with the songsLittle Green Bag (1969), and "Una Paloma Blanca" (1975).

From the late 1960s the post-war generation gained political influence. Many state subsidized rock venues opened all over the country. These clubs, likeAmsterdam's Paradiso andMelkweg, were stepping stones for manyalternative rock bands on their first European tour and the Dutch crowd stayed well informed about new British and American acts.

In the 1970s some artists stood out.Herman Brood became the country's ultimaterock 'n roll icon. He even scored a hit in the US with "Saturday Night", and subsequently became the epitome of the "rock'n'roll junkie" he often sang about. He had been in the media spotlight until his suicide in 2001. Other bands from the 70s includePussycat (lead singerToni Willé), whose songMississippi hit the charts at number one in Netherlands in 1975 and many other countries including UK in 1976,Gruppo Sportivo, Massada,Vitesse,Solution,the Nits,Focus and stillGolden Earring with their greatest hit ever: "Radar Love", also Top 10 in the US.

The bandTeach-In is best known for winning theEurovision Song Contest 1975 with their song "Ding-A-Dong". The band was founded in 1969 and parted in 1980. Throughout this time there were several changes in lineup.

The late 70s and early 80s gave rise to many one-hit wonders and some bands that lasted for longer. Girl groupsLuv' andDolly Dots but also disco bandsSpargo andTime Bandits were among the most successful, alongside theGolden Earring, which scored some of their biggest hits with "Radar Love", "Twilight Zone' and "When The Lady Smiles".The Nits developed a large audience outside the Netherlands, includingFinland, Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium,Greece and Canada and in 1989 were the first Dutch band to play in the (then still)Soviet Union.Urban Dance Squad was a cross-over band, combining hip-hop with funk and rock. The band's minor American success proved to be influential. Their music style (rapcore) influenced bands likeRage Against the Machine.Van Halen was created byEdward Van Halen who was of Dutch heritage.

The 1990s made international hits courtesy of2 Unlimited,2 Brothers on the 4th Floor, andVengaboys. However, the 1990s was also the start of the DJ-era.Ferry Corsten,Tiësto,Armin van Buuren,DJ Jean andBart Claessen started their careers in the 1990s and became the stars of their era.

Dutch bands in the 2000s areIntwine,The Sheer, Naked Shepherd, Krezip, Di-rect andJohan.

Originally a semi-finalist in thefifth season ofThe Voice of Holland, singer-songwriterDuncan Laurence went on to win theEurovision Song Contest 2019 with his song "Arcade", thereby granting the country its first Eurovision win since Teach-In in 1975.^[6] "Arcade" later became asleeper hit by early 2021 and also entered the top 30 of the USBillboard Hot 100, thus allowing Laurence to join the list of a few Dutch pop acts to score a hit in the US.^[7][8]

Current pop acts includeEsmée Denters,Anouk,Sharon Doorson,Davina Michelle,Maan,Nielson,Eva Simons,Ilse DeLange,Toni Willé (Pussycat),Celine Cairo and Belgian-Dutch girl groupK3.^[9]

Brothers and founding members ofVan Halen, lead guitaristEdward van Halen and drummerAlex van Halen, are from theNetherlands - both born inAmsterdam in the mid-1950s and raised inNijmegen - before moving to the United States in 1962.

Ivy Green was among the first punk bands, originating fromHazerswoude.

Tedje en de Flikkers, a group of homosexuals ("flikkers" isDutch for "faggots") fromNijmegen, was one of the most infamous punk formation of the Netherlands. They sprang from the left wing and gay movements that thrived inNijmegen during the 1970s and 1980s. Their provocative performances (politically more than musically) often literally resulted in orgies of sex, drugs and noise. They existed only for three years (1977–1980).

The Ex is anAmsterdam group of musicians making something that could be calledpunk.De Heideroosjes is also a well-known Dutchpunk rock group, singing inDutch,English,German andLimburgish.

Some bands create a kind of rock music sometimes called "Boerenrock" ('farmers rock'). These bands mix rock and pop music with regional influences, sometimes sung in one of the regional dialects, and lyrics influenced by life in rural areas. Examples include BZB (Band Zonder Banaan) andWC Experience fromNorth Brabant,Normaal andJovink en de Voederbietels fromGelderland who sing inDutch Low Saxon,Rowwen Hèze andNeet Oét Lottum fromLimburg who sing inLimburgish,Mooi Wark from Drenthe who also sing in Dutch Low Saxon andJitiizer from Friesland who sing inWest-Frisian.

Musically, the music played by such bands can be described as a rowdy, straightforward style of rock music, inspired by bands such asZZ Top,Motörhead,AC/DC andCreedence Clearwater Revival. At other times, influences from pop music and folk music (for instance the case with Rowwen Hèze) can be heard.

Not rarely, these bands display a lot of humorous elements in their repertoire, lyrics and live performances. An example is the repertoire of the WC Experience, which contains cover songs from bands such asQueen,Guns N' Roses andMadness, only the lyrics are replaced by different, rather silly lyrics in their own dialect. Also, the name of 'Band Zonder Banaan' means "Band without a Banana", and is a humorous play on the name of a famous Dutch pop-band,BZN (Band Zonder Naam, or 'Band Without a Name'). The name "Jovink en de Voederbietels" is a contraction of the names of the two founding band members (Hendrik Jan Lovink en Gijs Jolink), and "voederbietel" is a humorous contraction of theDutch Low Saxon word forsugar beets (used as food for horses) and the name of the world-famousBritish popbandThe Beatles, of which they used a number of songs in which they replaced the lyrics forAchterhooks ones.

Boerenrock bands tend to perform at local festivities and concerts in big tents in rural areas, rather than in concert halls in bigger cities. An event where a lot of Boerenrock music can be heard, and a famous event amongst Boerenrock bands and fans, is the annualZwarte Cross Festival ('Black Motocross'), which is organized by members of Jovink en de Voederbietels. The event is a mixture of several motocross related activities and a rock festival.

In the 1990s, indie rock bandBettie Serveert was formed and independent record labelExcelsior Recordings released albums of Dutchindie rock bands likeCaesar,Ghost Trucker,Alamo Race Track,Johan,Spinvis,Gem,Bauer,Daryll-Ann,zZz and many others. After 2000 Voicst was formed and became popular after a beer commercial hit single forHeineken. After leavingZoppo and formingAvec-A musicianYuri Landman received international attention as an experimentalluthier for famousexperimental rock bands. Dutchnoise rock acts areThe Ex,Gone Bald,The Moi Non Plus,Adept,Bonne Aparte,Feverdream.Post-rock acts includeWe vs Death,Electropunk:Aux Raus. The indie music scene is mainly present inAmsterdam,Rotterdam,the Hague,Groningen andUtrecht. A cross media platform calledSubbacultcha! hosts nights in venues where many international touring avant garde rockbands likeHealth,Enon,Miracle Fortress,Mahjongg,These Are Powers,Pre perform as well as local indie and noise rock acts likeThe Moi Non Plus,Bonne Aparte,Adept, Hospital Bombers,Pfaff. Subbacultcha! also publishes amusical magazine with in depth interviews with the touring bands and arranges instant recording sessions in a studio in theVondelpark with those bands. In the Hague, theState-X New Forms takes place annually inPaard van Troje.

The Netherlands are also known forsymphonic metal bands such asWithin Temptation,The Gathering,Stream of Passion,After Forever,Delain andEpica. They became successful in the late 1990s and in the beginning of the new millennium. However, bands likeSupersister andKayak (who had a hit withRuthless Queen) were already internationally successful in the 1970s. In the 1980sVandenberg was internationally successful.

Unique progressive metal music is composed byArjen Anthony Lucassen. From the long list of his projects,Ayreon is the most famous. Arjen's music is characterised by distinct vocals, storyline concepts and the wide spectrum of musical instruments used.

Similarly, in the last decade of the previous century a more extreme variety of metal,death metal, has had some success. Starting in the late 1980s and early 1990s, bands likePestilence,Sinister,Asphyx,Altar,Gorefest, andGod Dethroned gained popularity both inside and outside of Europe. At the present, bands likePyaemia, Disavowed, Prostitute Disfigurement,Hail of Bullets,The Monolith Deathcult,Inhume,Callenish Circle, Rompeprop,Legion of the Damned,MaYaN andSevere Torture enjoy a similar status.

Several black metal bands have risen to prominence from the Netherlands recently.Carach Angren,Cirith Gorgor, Israthoum, Dodecahedron, Ordo Draconis, Funeral Winds, Lugubre,Slechtvalk andUrfaust are some of the best-known. Israeli groupMelechesh have also made the Netherlands their permanent base of operations. Viking/folk metal bandHeidevolk are also gaining popularity.

Dutch doom metal bands includeOfficium Triste,Deinonychus,The Gathering and to a certain extentAsphyx.

The Dutch musical culture has a small experimental music scene with a few artists that tour international such asMachinefabriek, solo projects of members ofThe Ex,Toktek,Gijs Gieskes,Knalpot,Yuri Landman,Jaap Blonk,Wessel Westerveld,Wouter van Veldhoven,Michiel van de Weerthof,Bram Stadhouders, his brotherJasper Stadhouders,Lukas Simonis andMichel Banabila . AlsoPierre Bastien lives and works in The Netherlands, although not strongly connected to the Dutch scene. Venues likeWORM in Rotterdam,Extrapool in Nijmegen andSTEIM,OT301 andMediamatic in Amsterdam are the main venues for this musical niche.

In the early 1990s, DutchDJs developed a style ofelectronic dance music calledgabber. The style was developed in reaction to the commercialization of house music and was heavily influenced by early hardcore fromFrankfurt andNew York City. The DJs stripped the music of what they perceived as excess sounds, songs were reduced to a high-speed monotonous beat, of sometimes over 260 beats per minute. The first ever record to be labeled gabber was "Amsterdam waar lech dat dan?" by Rotterdam-based 'The Euromasters' as a reaction to the media always focusing on Amsterdam. It has to be said thatAmsterdam-basedD-Shake was probably to be the first to use the term gabber in a 1990 Dutch TV program. Important gabber groups and DJs are theRotterdam Terror Corps,The Dark Raver andNeophyte. Gabbers distinguish themselves through hair (bald heads) and clothes (Australian and Cavello). Now, gabber is usually called early hardcore. Gabber also spawnedhappy hardcore, an offshoot of gabber andBreakbeat Hardcore, a genre of dance music that originated in the UK. Important groups and DJs in happy hardcore includeCharly Lownoise and Mental Theo,Party Animals andFlamman & Abraxas.

The Netherlands has also spawned manyEurodance acts, such as2 Unlimited,Alice Deejay,Vengaboys,2 Brothers on the 4th Floor andTwenty 4 Seven. Many of the world's toptrance DJs are Dutch, such asArmin van Buuren,Ferry Corsten andTiësto. TheDJ Mag Top 10 has been dominated by the Dutch for many years. In 2012, five of the 10 DJs were Dutch. Tiësto has been awarded best DJ three times in a row by DJ Mag and is still present in the top 10. Armin van Buuren then took over first place, subsequently doing this for four years in a row.Many foreign DJs also live in and operate from the Netherlands.Drum and bass is also popular in the Netherlands, with notable artists includingNoisia andBlack Sun Empire. The Netherlands is also home to many of the largest trance events on earth, includingSensation andTrance Energy.

Other popular DJs from the Netherlands includeAfrojack,Hardwell,Laidback Luke,Fedde le Grand,Nicky Romero,Dash Berlin,D-Block & S-te-Fan,DJ Isaac,Wildstylez,Headhunterz,Brennan Heart,Sander van Doorn,W&W,Ummet Ozcan,R3HAB,Yellow Claw,Ran-D andMartin Garrix.

The Dutch have through the years also made a reputation for themselves with their underground scene. A multitude of small independent record labels, event organizations and artists have cropped up through the years. Artists such asSpeedy J, theAcid Junkies,Orlando Voorn,Miss Djax,Unit Moebius, andI-F have all gained international recognition, paving the way for several new electronic artists from the Lowlands.

Several Dutch groups have played an important role in the development ofrap and hiphop in the Netherlands. TheUrban Dance Squad, led byRude Boy (who later also played withJunkie XL), produced an original mix ofrock andrap, laying the foundation for thenu metal hype of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Def La Desh and the Fresh Witness, led by Wendy Wright, brought rap with vocals to the forefront, with groups like TLC following. TheOsdorp Posse were the founders of Dutch language rap, ornederhop. Their frontman, Def P (Pascal Griffioen), switched from English to Dutch in 1988, which made him one of the first to rap in Dutch commercially. That year, Def P, IJsblok, King and Seda formed the Osdorp Posse. Over the years, they explored all sides of hiphop, from poetic hiphop to politically engaged hiphop. They introduced several Anglicisms in the Dutch language, such asmoederneuker ("motherfucker"). Before Osdorp Posse,Rotterdam-based rapperDef Rhymz and other members of Bad Boys Posse had already used the Dutch language for raps during underground concerts. Other important Dutch rappers areThe Opposites,De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig,Pete Philly and Perquisite,Extince,Kempi,Brainpower,Opgezwolle, Spookrijders,Snelle, Polderkartel,Typhoon, andDef Rhymz. Currently,Nicolay is one of the leading hip hop producers to come out of the region.

From 2000 onwards, Dutch hiphop has exploded and is dominating the charts.^[1] An overview of the most streamed Dutch-language songs on Spotify as of October 11, 2024, shows that all but two listings arenederhop songs:

• Culture of the Netherlands
• Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest
• Music of Bonaire and Curaçao
• Music of Belgium
• Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra

• Bloemendaal, Wim. "Tilting at Windmills". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.),World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 207–210. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books.ISBN 1-85828-636-0

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