Joost Klein facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Joost Klein
Klein in 2024
Background information
Also known as	Joost, Eenhoornjoost
Born	(1997-11-10) 10 November 1997 (age 27) Leeuwarden, Netherlands
Origin	Britsum, Netherlands
Genres	Hip-hop electronic indie rock Gabber
Occupations	Musician rapper singer YouTuber
Years active	2016–present
Labels	TopNotch Albino Sports Made Joost Klein
YouTube information
Years active	2010–present
TikTok information
Followers	3.9 million
Likes	75.4 million
Page Direct URL	joostklein

Joost Klein (born 10 November 1997), often known simply as Joost, is a Dutch musician, rapper, singer, and former YouTuber. He mainly creates hip-hop songs. His music often mixes in sounds from electronic music, like drum and bass, hardstyle, and gabber.

Joost has released several studio albums, with two of them reaching the top ten in the Netherlands. He has also had four songs appear on the Dutch Top 40 charts. Some of his most famous songs include "Wachtmuziek" (2022), "Europapa" (2024), and "Luchtballon" (2024). He has also worked with other artists, such as German rapper Ski Aggu on "Friesenjung" (2023), Finnish rapper Käärijä on "Trafik!" (2024), and Estonian rapper Tommy Cash on "United by Music" (2025).

His song "Europapa" was chosen to represent the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024. It became his first song to reach number one on both the Dutch Top 40 and Single Top 100 charts. Joost qualified for the final of the contest. However, he was later removed from the competition due to an incident. Swedish prosecutors investigated the matter and closed the case in August 2024, stating they could not prove any criminal actions.

Early Life and YouTube Start

Joost Klein was born on 10 November 1997 in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. He grew up in a nearby village called Britsum.

In 2008, when he was about 10 years old, Joost started a YouTube channel. He called it EenhoornJoost, which means "UnicornJoost." He made different kinds of videos, from funny skits to short documentaries. Joost did not finish high school. When he was twelve, his father passed away. A year later, in 2011, his mother also passed away. After this, his older brother and sister took care of him.

Music Career Beginnings

First Songs and Albums (2016–2022)

While still making YouTube videos, Joost started focusing on music. In 2016, he released his first collection of songs, called Dakloos (meaning 'Homeless').

For a short time, Joost was signed to a record label called TopNotch. But he later decided to start his own label, which he named Albino Sports.

In 2017, he released a mixtape called Scandinavian Boy. The next year, he released singles like "Meeuw" ('Seagull') and "Ome Robert" ('Uncle Robert'). On 3 August 2018, Joost released the album M van Marketing [nl] with Dutch rapper Donnie. To celebrate this album, they held a special concert in Amsterdam.

Joost also wrote a small book of poems called Albino, which came out in November 2018. He shared that he wrote the book because his father had also written a book and encouraged him to do the same.

In 2019, Joost went on a concert tour called Het gaat niet zo goed (meaning 'It is not going too well'). He performed at famous venues like Paradiso. That summer, he played at big festivals in the Netherlands and Belgium, including Pukkelpop, Pinkpop, Lowlands, and Zwarte Cross.

Joost Klein performing in 2019

In November 2019, Joost released the album 1983 [nl]. The title refers to the birth year of his older brother. He worked with producers like Mick Spek and Tantu Beats on this album. In April 2020, he released Joost Klein 7, which had seven songs, including one with Canadian rapper bbno$. Later that year, he released "Ik wil je" ('I want you'), which was a new version of a song by the Belgian band De Kreuners. In 2021, he made a song called "Fok De Blok" for a radio station. This song is about being free and expressing yourself, especially when you feel limited by rules or expectations. It became popular with students who felt stressed about exams.

In March 2022, Joost worked with Russian musician Ruslan Tushentsov on a song called "Jackass." In February 2023, he released another song with the Russian Village Boys. His team explained that "Jackass" was recorded before the conflict in Ukraine. They also said that the Russian Village Boys had left their home country after the conflict started, and their collaboration was not meant to support any political views.

Joost released his eighth album, Fryslân, in September 2022. This album is named after his home province of Friesland. It includes songs like "Florida 2009," "Wachtmuziek," and "Papa en mama." The whole album was produced by Tantu Beats. In "Florida 2009," Joost sings about his parents' passing. He first performed this song at the 2022 Pinkpop festival. He also released "Droom Groot" ('Dream Big') as a single. In this song, he plays on his last name, Klein, which means "small" in Dutch. He sings, "His name is Small, but his dream is big." He has used similar phrases in other songs and interviews.

Eurovision Journey and Recent Music

Eurovision Song Contest (2023–Present)

In 2023, Joost had his first big hit in Germany with the song "Friesenjung." This song was a collaboration with German rapper Ski Aggu and was based on a song by German comedian Otto Waalkes. "Friesenjung" reached number one on the German music charts.

That same year, Joost shared that he wanted to represent the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024. Many fans supported him, and a radio show even started a petition to help him achieve this goal. On 11 December 2023, the Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS announced that Joost had been chosen. His song for the contest, "Europapa", was released on 29 February 2024.

Joost Klein (center) and two dancers performing Europapa at the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024

Joost performed "Europapa" in the second semi-final of Eurovision 2024 on 9 May and qualified for the final. He was scheduled to perform fifth in the final on 11 May. However, he was not allowed to take part in further rehearsals because of an incident. On the day of the final, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced that Joost had been removed from the competition.

According to AVROTROS, a camera operator filmed Joost against his wishes after his semi-final performance. AVROTROS stated that she continued filming despite clear agreements. The camera operator claimed that Joost reacted by making a "threatening move" towards her camera. The details of what happened are not fully clear. The Swedish police investigated whether any threats were made. Joost, through his lawyer, said he did nothing wrong. The EBU confirmed that their decision to remove Joost did not involve any other performer or team member. AVROTROS later said that the disqualification was "very serious and unfair." On 12 August 2024, the Swedish Prosecution Authority closed the case against Joost. They stated they could not prove that his action was meant to cause serious fear or that he had such an intention. The prosecutor also said that the investigation found that Joost made a movement that hit the woman's camera.

In June 2024, Joost released new songs like "Luchtballon", "The Bird Song", and "Fußball (World Cup 1998)". On 12 July, he released "Trafik!" with Käärijä. He also performed at many festivals across Europe during the summer of 2024. During his performance at Pinkpop on 22 June, Joost talked about his Eurovision experience. AVROTROS offered Joost the chance to represent the Netherlands in Eurovision 2025. However, even though he had already written a new song, he decided not to participate.

In 2025, Joost released "Why Not???". This song includes lyrics that refer to the incident in Malmö. He starts the song with the lines, "Once there was a boy, and he had a dream / But then, one day, his dream was taken away." He also released a YouTube-only song called "funny onion song," which uses parts of an interview he had before Eurovision. On February 21, Joost released his ninth album, Unity. This album includes the songs "Europapa," "Friesenjung," "Luchtballon," "Filthy Dog," and "Why Not???". Another song on Unity, "United by Music," has lyrics that are critical of the EBU. The "funny onion song" was later released on Spotify under the name 'internetcafe24/7'. In his song "Kunst und Musik" from Unity, he uses a sample from the BBC children's TV show Hallo aus Berlin. Soon after Unity came out, Joost released "Boerenland" with Donnie. Joost also supported Tommy Cash in his successful bid to represent Estonia at Eurovision, shouting "Twelve points to Estonia!" at a concert. Tommy Cash even called Joost his "ChatGPT" for advice during the Eurovision season. At Eurovision that year, Käärijä gave a shout-out to "Europapa" during his performance.

Personal Life

Joost Klein lives in the Netherlands. He is good friends with many people he has worked with, including Tantu Beats, Appie Mussa, Martijn van Eijzeren, Donnie, Ski Aggu, and bbno$. He is also close with fellow former Eurovision contestants Käärijä and Tommy Cash.

Joost can speak Dutch and English, and a little bit of German. He can also understand Frisian. He is a fan of the football club Feyenoord Rotterdam. Joost has also said that he is proud of his childhood in Friesland.

Discography

Studio albums

• Dakloos (2016)
• Scandinavian Boy (2017)
• M van Marketing [nl] (2018) (with Donnie)
• Albino [nl] (2019)
• 1983 [nl] (2019)
• Joost Klein 7 (2020)
• Albino Sports, Vol. 1 (2020) (with Brunzyn)
• Fryslân (2022)
• Unity [nl] (2025)

Awards and Nominations