Joost Klein (Dutch pronunciation: [joːst klɛin]; born 10 November 1997), known mononymously as Joost, is a Dutch musician, rapper, singer and former YouTuber. Mainly a hip hop artist, his songs and performances often include influences of electronic music, such as drum and bass, hardstyle and gabber.^[1][2] He has released eight studio albums, two of which reached the top ten of the Dutch Album Top 100. He has amassed four chart entries on the Dutch Top 40, and is best known for "Scandinavian Boy", "Wachtmuziek", "Europapa" and "Friesenjung".

He represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 with the song "Europapa", which became his first song to top the Dutch Single Top 100.

Joost Klein was born on 10 November 1997 in Leeuwarden, Friesland and grew up in the nearby village of Britsum. In 2008, he started a YouTube channel under the name EenhoornJoost (lit. 'UnicornJoost'). He attended the Stedelijk Gymnasium in Leeuwarden, but did not complete the curriculum at this secondary school.^[3] At the age of twelve, he lost his father to cancer.^[4] A year later, in 2011, his mother died of a cardiac arrest.^[4] Following the death of his parents, Klein was looked after by his older brother and sister.^[5]

While active as a YouTuber, Klein published videos ranging from sketches to mini-documentaries.^[3] In 2016, he released his debut extended play Dakloos (transl. 'Homeless'), after which he began focusing on a career in music. "Bitches" was his first music video that would reach a million views on YouTube.^[6] He was briefly signed to TopNotch in 2017 and 2018, but eventually decided to set up his own record label, Albino Records.^[7]

On 20 October 2017, Klein released the mixtape Scandinavian Boy, followed by the singles "Meeuw" (transl. 'Seagull') and "Ome Robert" (transl. 'Uncle Robert') in 2018. On 3 August 2018, Klein released the studio album M van Marketing [nl] together with Dutch rapper Donnie. To promote the album, the duo organised a one-time concert titled Viraal in Carré in the Carré theatre in Amsterdam.^[8]

Klein wrote a small book of poems titled Albino, which was published on 14 November 2018. Klein has mentioned that he wrote the book because of his father, who had also written a book and encouraged him to do the same.^[9] To promote his studio album of the same title, Klein organised the Het gaat niet zo goed (transl. 'It is not going too well') concert tour in 2019, during which he visited venues such as Paard, De Oosterpoort [nl], Doornroosje [nl] and Paradiso.^[10] He concluded the tour in Paradiso on 3 March 2019. The following summer, Klein performed at major Benelux festivals such as Pukkelpop, Pinkpop, Lowlands and Zwarte Cross.

On 15 November 2019, Klein released the album 1983 [nl], of which the title refers to the birth year of Klein's older brother.^[11] Klein collaborated with music producers Mick Spek, Kauwboy and Tantu Beats on the album. On 24 April 2020, Klein released the album Joost Klein 7, which consists of seven songs, including a collaboration with Canadian rapper bbno$. On 7 August of the same year, he released the single "Ik wil je" (transl. 'I want you'), a remix of the eponymous song by the Belgian band De Kreuners.^[12]

Klein released his eighth studio album on 13 September 2022, titled Fryslân after his home province Friesland. The album features the singles "Florida 2009", "Wachtmuziek" and "Papa en mama", and was fully produced by producer Tantu Beats. Various samples can be heard on the album, such as samples of the Dutch ska band Doe Maar and Crazy Frog. In "Florida 2009", Klein reflects on the death of his parents. He premiered the song at the 2022 edition of Pinkpop.^[13]

In March 2022, Klein collaborated with Russian musician Ruslan Sergeyevich Tushentsov [ru], releasing "Jackass", a song in which Klein sings about his love for Russian women.^[14] In February 2023 he released a song with the Village Boys from St. Petersburg.^[15] According to a statement released by Klein's management, "Jackass" was recorded prior to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, and the Village Boys collaboration was done after the group had left their homeland following the invasion, noting that "It has absolutely no bearing on what terrible things are still happening there, and is not pro-Russian."^[16]

In 2023, Klein scored his first hit in Germany with the single "Friesenjung", a collaboration with German rapper Ski Aggu [de] and an adaptation of a song by East Frisian comedian Otto Waalkes. The song reached first place on the German Single Top 100.^[17] That same year, Klein expressed his interest in representing the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, Sweden. A petition was launched by the NPO 3FM radio programme VoorAan of PowNed in an attempt to realise this goal.^[18] On 11 December 2023, AVROTROS announced that Klein had been selected as the Dutch representative for the contest.^[19] His entry, titled "Europapa", was released on 29 February 2024.^[20]