“If you believe in it, you will be able to do it.”

Credits: Bowie van Loon (text) | Daniëlo Sillé (photo)

Opium Lotus is the epitome of Rotterdam street. He has been a legend in Rotterdam’s hip-hop scene for years. As he descends, the listener gets an unfiltered view of the street and takes you into his world. While behind bars he saw how the Dutch hip-hop industry rose to the top, in a way he had never imagined before. “Everybody suddenly started making songs, singing choruses. I’m proof that bars are important again. Conversations full of hip-hop memories. About broken phones, Method Man who lost his shoe in Rotterdam and how suddenly he ended up at 101 Barz.

In the evening it’s lively around the Lounge, a space in Rotterdam-West that lives up to its name. As I lean on the facade waiting for Opium Lotus to arrive, everyone greets me; an elderly husband and wife walking in the evening, men returning home with bags from work many days and a teenage girl walking her dog. The Living Room’s neon logo attracts attention. “Workshop, podcast studio, gaming, cooking,” the window stickers read. But most importantly: “Social clubs, daytime activities, personal guidance.” As soon as Opium Lotus appears, he confirms: “This project was born out of love for the neighborhood. The owner is small, but he wants to give something back. I really appreciate that.”

Van West products

It’s a place where Rotterdam’s MC likes to come. “I can always come here to sort out my shit. Meetings, interviews. It’s also a popular place for hip-hop.” He takes me to the back of the building, where the music studio and the podcast studio are built. “This was WOW POW. This is where I got to watch U-Niq, Winne and Hef record. I recorded here for the first time with U-Niq, and all of Ecktuh Ecktuh in particular. This makes it a real mockery of history. When it closed it was a loss big for us. We missed a central place to gather. Fortunately, the current owner wanted to keep the studio working. You can do whatever you want here.”

Opium Lotus (34) is a product of Rotterdam-West. Hip-hop runs as a common thread in his life. “I’m from the West-Kruiskade side street, and I lived opposite the primary school. The older boys from the neighborhood were chilling in the hall. It was a very different time in Rotterdam; if you were from Middelland, you had Middelland Boys. If you were from Kruiskade, you had The spoilers. They already had motorcycles with radios, for example. I didn’t even know what they looked like, but I couldn’t speak English well, but it was a lukewarm realization that there could be six, seven or eight people on one song. We could do that too!”

“Everyone was shocked!” – about Method Man in Erasmus Park

He also remembers the concert he attended with his father. “I also saw them later at Erasmus Park. I don’t even remember what kind of concert it was, but I remember that Method Man closed the whole show because someone stole his shoe. It looked like he was angry, but when he brought Wu Loc back, he signed it and threw it away in the crowd. Everyone was shocked!”

Heap in the Body

The Wu-Tang Clan is one of the catalysts for his desire to rap. Like Opium Lotus – and sometimes like Lotto – it stood on important products from the Port City, such as Small Gear (Kevin), The way out (Pearl), Winning Without Fighting (Winne) and the Ship Law (U-Niq). He also added a lot himself. In the first half of the last decade he released his own records three years in a row; Voice of the Street, Voice of the Street 2 in Pray for them. He then collaborated with no less than other Members: Sjaf and Mella from Broederliefde, Hef and Rasskulz. However, because he ended up in prison, things were quiet. But in recent months he has been making a lot of noise. Instagram Reels are her weapon of choice. He appeared frequently under his pseudonym @stacksinaflesh on our timeline, and hard rock bars.

“It was 2024 and I felt like making music again. I’ve been hearing the producers making a lot of noise for about two years now, so I decided to check them out. But I haven’t been on social media or in the studio in recent years, which makes it difficult to reach people. I have to make music to get access. When I was released, with the ankle bracelet, I had a great session that I did a lot with Whiteboy and Moksie Meppie.” When he checked in recently to pick up the thread, the producer said: “What do you think; what do you think? That I’m going to record with you while we still have so much fire?” “But I couldn’t realize that because I lost all my music in iCloud. My phone broke, I broke my ankle and I decided to start living instead of making music. I didn’t want to anymore.”

“It had to come out. Otherwise I would have jumped a chapter.”

So it’s material from 2021, which we’ve been presented with EP ‘5’. “Meppie told me that if I didn’t do anything with those songs, he wouldn’t want to work with me again. When he sent me those songs I realized we had made a timeless masterpiece. I can totally hear the hunger, the frustration. I was a hungry underdog again, I had to prove myself again. When I listen to it now, I can already hear a big change in five songs. But it had to come out. Plus; Crazy Luck we released it as a first years ago. It wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t release this first. Now we can continue.”

From Lotto through Opium and Lotus to Opium Lotus

His life took a turn for the worse when he was released. “I had to change my priorities. I was locked up for six years, so I had to keep my children and my family close. That was the focus. I am happy and proud that I still have my regular listeners after all these years. First of all, I’m a fan myself: I watch everything that comes out. My conclusion: everyone makes songs, few rappers rap sixty bars for the game. Only Lijpe from mainstream artists can just rap the whole song without chorus and leave it as a single.

“It’s brutal that Jonna Fraser scored his first number,” he continues. “But we all know where he comes from. That’s rapping, bro. I know he can do it, he knows he can do it. So why doesn’t it happen? This world should not revolve around numbers. I’m glad I don’t rap for money. Now I have arranged my life in such a way that I can do what I want as an artist. Now it’s just a bar. It could just be that I suddenly came up with love songs and the next project. Or with songs,” laughs Opium Lotus.

He got that stage name when he was singing as part of Ecktuh Ecktuh. “I was as active on the road as Lotto,” he recalls. “But I was already singing. Every moment I felt eyes piercing my back and I didn’t know if it was because they knew me from my music, or they needed something from me. That confused me.” So it was fitting that Crimitov and Lexcouper started calling him ‘Opium’ and ‘Lotus’ respectively. “I put it together as a stage name. Now I could tell the difference; when people called me Lotto I knew they knew me from the street. They called me Opium Lotus, did they know me from my music.”

Boys from his neighborhood

And what made him famous was the 101 Barz episode of Midwest Pirates. “And to think I shouldn’t have been there, right? I actually just went to back up Double N because Ricks was stuck and Assassin couldn’t. Eventually, Dubbel N let me rap a line too. In the car he showed me the instrument he was going to use and I put the line down. In the end, I wasn’t even a Pirate of the Midwest, even a rapper, but eventually everyone on the street yelled at me: “I’m sorry! Don’t worry about the street stuff!”

Finally it was clip of Rotterdam Remix who made him realize that this was possible: “When I saw all those boys from our street, West-Kruiskade. They have known me since childhood, I saw them passing by my street! I grew up with them. I started copying their poems, recording their words on other instruments. Eventually that turned into freestyling my stuff. The only thing I thought when I saw it while I was sitting inside; “When I get out, I’ll rap with them!” I started planning and in the end it brought me a lot. I’m on U-Niq’s album, I’m on Winne’s album. I was able to tour with the men and perform my lines in front of large crowds. If you believe in it, you will definitely be able to achieve it.”

Music from his new EP featuring old material, 5, it speaks for itself. So we don’t have to go into the matter in too much detail. On the record you hear a man who, according to himself, is going through a “magical transition”. He calls it a journey from criminal to artist. And so we decided to make her into the top 5 a few more times to get to know her better.

5 rappers who can match you in terms of skills?

“Give it to Hef, Kevin, Feis and Eves. Eves is amazing to me, he is a very good rapper. Why? Because he speaks the truth. That’s how I started; writing lyrics and memorizing a cappella. That’s the basics. My best songs are written that way.

5 things an MC must have?

“Believability of 1. Street credibility when you rap about the streets. Back in the day it was still checked G. Now anyone can rap whatever they want in a balaclava, without us being able to check if it’s all true. Plus: content. Time. Bars. And flow . Yes, time flies. Yes, these are the basics that a rapper must have.”

5 words that describe you as a person?

“Father. Son. Brother. Cousin. Friend. Father is the most important role I play. I don’t even mention ‘rapper’. When you come to my page, the first thing you see is: ‘More than a rapper’. I am a family man first. If there is something wrong there, I can’t make music. Now all those things are fine, and I can also be a rapper.”

5 bars you wish you could write yourself?

“I don’t have to think about this for a long time; take a random picture from Introduction from D-Double and I’m cool. That’s a song I can play and relate to at any time of the day. “You think I’m sleeping on rap when I’ve got gold records like Tutankhamun rapping /Don’t trust a single bitch, never put my clothes on sma / And never tell them where I stay and hide my weapon…” Pfff, come on man, what is that man doing with a bar?! I don’t need a choir, I don’t need to sing along or anything. D-Double, Lijpe, MocroManiac, they make sure you can rap with the whole group instead of singing.”

5 things that are necessary in your life?

“My children, my parents, my brothers, my family and music. Family, a few mates and music and I’m safe. The whole world can explode; If I’m sure I have that with me, I’m good. I don’t need nuthin’ else.”

5 best pokos ever?

“Jay-Z— Can’t Knock the Hustle. Us – Ether. Wu-Tang Clan – CREAM Benny the Butcher – ’97 Hov. And then my favorite Dutch song ever: Rotterdam Remix. If it wasn’t there, I wouldn’t rap. If I hadn’t seen them in The Box, in the confusing image I had inside, we probably wouldn’t be here. With Wu-Tang I didn’t know what they looked like, but with this group I did, and they were also from my neighborhood. Ecktuh Ecktuh is my Wu-Tang Clan!”

Stream the Opium Lotus & Moksi Meppie EP, featuring Crooks, below.

Installed by bowie on February 22, 2024