When Gotu Jim (Jim Lageveen, 26) broke through with the song in 2018 Second class shit he had not yet completed his studies in human geography at the University of Amsterdam. The song, about being stoned, earned him a recording contract with Burning Fik, the label of Faberyayo (De Jeugd van Today) and Abel van Gijlswijk (Hang Youth).
His debut album Generation K, on which he sang about the nightlife with a lot of autotune, became a hit especially among students. The rapper was often invited to perform at student associations. Since then, a second album and shows at music venues throughout the country and festivals such as Lowlands followed.
Your new song is called Bullshitwhat kind of bullshit is this?
“I think about everything you have to deal with when you’re 26. This period is super complicated. The student days are over, everyone follows their own path but at the same time they are still very much searching. Some of my friends have started doing completely different things and now have much more of a daily rhythm. The life of an artist is actually super unstructured. I like to do spontaneous things with friends, but that’s not always possible. Then you sometimes feel alone.”
“Almost all my music is very positive, but in this song I also mention negative sides of life. It is good to look for balance sometimes. Bullshit really felt like an outlet.”
Bullshit is also on a new EP, which will be released soon. Can you tell us something more about that?
“Since my last album I have developed a lot as an artist. I see such an EP as a great moment to present that. I’m at a halfway point. I took influences from hyperpop on my last album, but there are also many new influences. For example, there is a track with a mix of Caribbean drums and techno shit.”
“In terms of content, it is certainly less about drugs than my previous work. I also consciously chose that. It’s not fun just talking about drugs all the time.”
Was it fun to only rap about drugs before?
“It was also a style choice. Drugs were the guiding principle in my previous album, but it was actually about underlying topics such as love or finding your own place in the world. Now it’s the other way around. In all new pokoos It could also have been about drugs, but I choose to talk more about feelings.”
“Again is, for example, about the frustration when you want to get something done, but it just doesn’t work out all the time. Another track, Flames and gasoline, is precisely about the moment when the fire is laid on you. When you have to make a big decision, but you don’t dare.”
Are you facing big decisions?
“I’m now going to live together, I think that’s quite a big decision. I am in a transition between my student years and the rest of my life. For the first time I am really going to shape my life. You can still do anything until you’re 25, so to speak. You can drink every day without paying attention to yourself. The older you get, the greater the impact of not taking good care of yourself.”
“I also need more structure, but as an artist that is difficult to find. I also see that among colleagues my age. It’s a lot of searching for a way to organize your life, where you have that structure but at the same time you can continue to do what you want.”
Are your new lyrics therefore less hedonistic?
“I think my lyrics are more chosen hedonistic than my previous ones. I can’t always be hedonistic anymore. My body doesn’t like that. As you get older, you are ten times more broke and suffer from problems hangxiety (merger of hangover and anxietyed.) and that kind of nonsense.”
“I have left my hedonistic period behind me for now, but I do not rule out that it will return later. I didn’t pay attention to myself for a while, but now I do. It just had to be done. I was not feeling well at all, I had many panic attacks. That’s why it’s nice to have more structure for now.”
What kind of structure do you have in your life now?
“It’s nice to take it easy for a while. Since corona I have given a lot of shows. That went on and on. Now I also focus on other things. For example, I am shooting the second season of the NTR series Generation screwed. I notice that I also find the topics we are discussing there very interesting. Because I also worked on that during my studies in human geography. Acute social problems such as the housing shortage or climate change.”
“But I really don’t have to become a TV star. I get the most energy from making music and performing. That’s still mine main thing.”
Perhaps students will find it less easy to sing along to the new lyrics.
“I never saw myself as a student rapper anyway. That’s how I was labeled by others. But I have always told stories that students could relate to. It was very unfiltered. But I make it for everyone. Students may find it hard, but so do older people sick find it, it is also for them.”
“I think that many young people are now in a phase like me. You get older and you don’t know what to expect. I hope they can recognize themselves in that.”
What can we expect from your show?
“A classic Gotu Jimshow. I’ve had a live band for a year now with which I do electronic live shit. Just throw a really big party and it will explode. My audience always goes completely crazy.”
Gotu Jim: April 4, Tolhuistuin
