Young Haarlemmer conquers Bevrijdingspop: suddenly Tobi (14) is rapping for tens of thousands of people

It all started with a cardboard sign that Tobi and his best friend made. On it was written: Together DLF or BP? “That stands for the song ‘Dom, rude and famous’ and the song ‘Broodje Bapao'”, he explains.

Pathetic little boy

“I walked to the part where the Opposites were performing and saw a lot of people, so I thought: I will never succeed. Unless I pretend that I have lost my mother,” says Tobi.

“I did, and then I went with the sign under my arm and shouted to my mother, then everyone let me pass pretty quickly. They all thought it was sad, such a little boy who is looking for his mother at such a great festival.”

Very scared

His biggest fear was going off like a watering can on stage. “Of course I was very afraid that I would forget my lines, or that I would trip, you know. Or run into them, but the moment I walked on stage I kind of forgot all about it. I just thought : I’m probably never going to experience this again, I have to enjoy this, so then I really went for it.”

Tobi found his performance “absurd.” “You saw rows of people in the audience. Those guys were very nice. Twan and Willem (the rappers of The Opposites, ed.) Made me feel very comfortable. And that DJ was very nice and yes, it just went good,” he says about his adventure.

Extremely high adrenaline

“It was really fantastic. An extreme amount of adrenaline went through me of course. I had never been so hyper in my life. It is perhaps the best moment of my life. I never dared to dream that I would be allowed to do this really absurd. So many people and such nice guests. And that too with my favorite artists.”

Tobi’s friend, with whom he had gone to the festival, was less fortunate. “My best friend had just walked away with the sign,” said the little rapper. “Of course he was a bit disappointed.”