During their many walks together through Oosterpark and their conversations in the studio or backstage after performances, UvA law lecturer Niels Graaf was drawn into rapper Sjaak’s world. Now there is the biography Sjaakmat (Dutch only) that Graaf wrote about the Amsterdam artist. “He used to walk through Amsterdam-East carrying a hatchet.”
hy was Sjaak the right person for you to write a biography about?
“Sjaak, to me, symbolises the modern history of Dutch hip-hop. He may not be as well-known as Opgezwolle or De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig, yet he played a central role with a unique voice. He suddenly appeared and everyone was listening to his music, even the classical grammar school students at Barlaeus or Vossius. With his breakthrough hit Ik Heb Schijt he defined the year 2007. He renamed Amsterdam East The Double O and became an important figure in a cultural life that is often overlooked.
“Sjaak is, in a way, a modern-day Nescio, the iconic writer from Amsterdam East. I just cycled through Oosterpark, where there’s a statue of Nescio’s Titaantjes, but it feels outdated now. Who still reads that? What Sjaak does today is far bigger, yet it isn’t recognised as high culture. I want to challenge that.”
So you see him as a modern literary figure?
“That’s exactly how I want to present him. Think of it as a plea for greater recognition of hip-hop as a serious cultural movement. There’s still too little of that. Hip-hop is the most popular and most streamed genre in the Netherlands, but many people still find it strange. It’s dismissed as youth culture and not taken seriously. There’s still a lot to gain there.”
Rapper Sjaak — whose real name is Mehdi Chafi — was born in 1985 in Amsterdam East. The Moroccan-Dutch rapper broke through in 2007 with the song Ik heb schijt (“I don’t care”) and went on to score hits in the following years with tracks such as Trompetisto and Stap voor Stap. He now lives with his family in Bathmen, in the province of Overijssel.
Why not write a biography about De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig or Osdorp Posse, artists who arguably helped shape Amsterdam hip-hop even more than Sjaak?
“That’s a slightly different category. I wanted to capture the world that emerged from street culture, which is more closely connected to Sjaak. I also feel that he’s been somewhat overlooked. He inspired an entire generation of new rappers through his inventive use of language and his distinctive flow. That story hasn’t been told.”
So could we call him the godfather of Amsterdam hip-hop?
“Within a certain school of Amsterdam hip-hop, yes.”
We’re sitting here at the law faculty surrounded by portraits of great constitutional scholars. Would a stately portrait of Sjaak fit among them?
“Absolutely, but ideally he should have a statue on Boerhaveplein.”
Is Sjaak still known among today’s law students?
“I’m not sure. It’s not as if I constantly told them I was writing a biography about him.”
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