No publicity, no press attention. No decor, no confetti, no flamethrowers. No show or dance steps – relying solely on his word art, on an almost empty stage for a sold-out Afas Live. Rapper Lijpe performed on Friday evening at the Afas Live, Amsterdam, in a simple white shirt and jeans, and conquered the audience.
Dijpe doesn’t push his audience to moshpits or other acclaim. Except for that one time when he asks for phones to be raised. He wants to be enlightened, because “We come from dark nights, no light in the streets / We come from afar, but where are we going now?”
This ‘Dark Days’, from 2022, is a testimony of the ‘new’ Lijpe. After the indignation of his early days, he now expresses himself more sensitively. But here, in the Afas, Lijpe proclaims strong life lessons, so loud that the instrumentations are sometimes almost drowned out. Its syllables don’t flow, they’re angular and barbed, locking themselves into fans’ hearts. Lijpe orates and preaches, to music that seems to develop crosswise, with chunks of electronics and rattling beats.
Because Lijpe does not want to please. He never did. The now 29-year-old Abdel Achahbar from Maarssen, who once started his career under the name Lijpe Mocro, reached this milestone on his own. He sold out the Afas, where 5000 fans shout his lyrics verbatim.
Lijpe likes austerity. He doesn’t participate in what is expected of pop stars, such as giving interviews, being on TV, walking the red carpet. As he says in ‘Private’: “I don’t let anyone determine my mood anymore / and I prefer to live privately”.
Songs
In the shadows he works on what really matters: making music, eleven albums in nine years. And despite the relative anonymity, almost all of those albums were high in the charts.
His songs are anthems for a generation of young fans, many of whom are of Moroccan origin. He expresses their need for recognition. He too is angry about being neglected and misunderstood. He already expresses himself on the latest album Lipe more vulnerable: “Lonely nights but you know I feel / You would almost think I have no feelings”. This ‘Empty Banks’ was one of the highlights of the concert, just like ‘Microfoon’ and the sensitively sung ‘Was Er Nooit’. He was not completely alone, old friends joined in: Emms, Ismo, Kevin, Frenna, pianist Rangel Silaev, and Henkie T, for a festive sounding ‘Mandela’.