1982 Was when Jaap van der Doelen shot his way out his mom dukes. A few years later he was already singing along to songs wholly inappropriate for his age. A father himself since 2019, he now shares his passion for those same tracks with his daughter Sam. Jaap is married to the lovely Femke and lives in The Netherlands, where he writes about beats, rhymes and life.
You can find his writing in renowned publications such as Mass Appeal, Wax Poetics, Complex, DJBooth, Passion of the Weiss, SAM (Street And More) and Hiphop in je Smoel. He also reports on culture for Dutch newspapers Algemeen Dagblad, Eindhovens Dagblad and Brabants Dagblad. For three years, he wrote a weekly column in the latter's Saturday edition.
He is a contributing author to Ietsjes Meer Dan 25 Jaar Popronde (A Little Over 25 Years Of Popronde), the book commemorating the traveling music festival's 25th anniversary, and the writer of coffee table book PICTURE THIS: Rotterdam Street Art Photography And The People Behind Its Lens (longlisted for the Mr. J. Dutilh Award in 2024).
In the summer of 2024, Jaap published Al Wat Ik Weet Is Wat Ik Doe, a collection of interviews and essays in Dutch, in support of the Delia Arts Foundation.
In december of 2024, his next major work KILL YOUR MASTERS: Run The Jewels and the World That Made Them, was published by UGA Press. It garnered favourable reviews in publications like The Wire and GoodReads. On the GPB podcast Narrative Edge, host Peter Biello noted how "this book is as much about Run The Jewels as it is about the other half of its subtitle" and lauded the author's skill as a writer and ability at "reminding people of the context."