Baas B, known for hits such as “Het Land Van” and “Moppie” was not in a sold out pop stage this week, but in the Amstelveense Wijkcentrum Pluspunt. He gave a rap workshop there for an entire afternoon in which he introduced the elderly to rap.
Not seniors, but young people are the original target group of his rap workshops. Bart, better known as Baas B, has worked as a psychologist with young people with addiction and behavioral problems. During that work he noticed that people dare to be vulnerable more quickly when they write a story in rap form or poem.
“Participe then approached me and asked if I wanted to do this with the elderly. After a successful test session, I will challenge the older people here to share something beautiful with each other.”
Power of sharing
The rapper continues: “With this I try to achieve that the participants experience connection through the power of sharing. That is the ultimate goal, but I also just want people to have a nice afternoon, where we can listen to real stories. .”
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Friends Dores and Ingeborg write about a profound subject: loneliness. “That’s a big problem for us old folks,” Dores says. “The older you get, the worse it gets. Many people around you die and then you have to see that you can still get happiness from the little things in life. You should not wait for other people to make you happy. We’ve had those times.”
Participant Frans, who used to be a singer, soon finished his story. It’s about all the wickedness in the world. Marianne writes about the sadness in her life, but also about her pride in making the right choices.
Applause
The highlight was the moment when the raps were actually recited. All fourteen participants were treated to loud applause by Baas B.