Lil Kleine

A brash young talent on the rap scene in the Netherlands, Lil' Kleine released his first EP, Tuig van de Richel, in 2012 before reaching a broader audience with the next year’s “Zo Verdomd Alleen.” Following the huge success of his 2015 compilation entry “Drank and Drugs” with Ronnie Flex, his debut album, WOP!, went all the way to the top of the Dutch album chart in 2016, a feat he repeated with 2017′s Alleen and 2020′s Jongen van de Straat.
Born Jorik Scholten in Amsterdam’s Nieuwmarkt district on October 15, 1994, Lil' Kleine survived a brush with death at the age of one when he was diagnosed with cancer that required surgery. He would later refer to the incident in his music. When he was seven, his parents split up, and he and his father relocated. The youngster was photogenic and displayed a precocious talent, and began making the rounds of talent agencies. Scholten made his acting debut in the 2005 film Diep, and was soon showing off his skills dancing and rapping. He struck up a friendship with Lange Frans of the hip-hop group D-Men in Diemen and began performing with the crew on-stage.
In 2012, Scholten adopted the stage name Lil' Kleine and released his first EP, Tuig van de Richel. The EP established his tough, insouciant lyrical style, though sales were not impressive. That year, he also appeared on the single “Het Leven Is Een Melodie” with pop singer Brett, from the film De Groeten Van Mike! In 2013, he appeared on the popular television series Ali B Op Volle Toeren and performed the song “Zo Verdomd Alleen,” which helped him break out to a larger audience. The year 2013 also saw Lil' Kleine sign with the hip-hop label Top Notch, which released his single “Verliefd Op Je Moeder.” In April 2015, the label issued a collection titled New Wave, featuring new material from their signees. Lil' Kleine teamed with Ronnie Flex for a track called “Drank and Drugs.” While the song was controversial for its endorsement of drugs and alcohol, it was also catchy enough to become a number one hit in the Netherlands.
In the wake of “Drank and Drugs,” Kleine began working on a full-length album, with Ronnie Flex assisting on most tracks. The resulting WOP! was full of songs about sex, drugs, and money, and like the “Drank and Drugs” single, it soon topped the sales charts in the Netherlands. He returned to the number one spot in 2017 with the follow-up, Alleen. Its 11 songs collectively broke streaming records in the Netherlands for a single artist in the course of a month.
Lil' Kleine began a two-season stay as a coach on TV’s The Voice of Holland in 2018 before releasing his third album, Jongen van de Straat, in 2020. It returned him to number one and went as high as number two in neighboring Belgium. ~ Mark Deming & Marcy Donelson