Ronnie Flex

Rapper, singer, and producer Ronnie Flex maintains strong hip-hop credentials with mainstream appeal as one of the Netherlands' most popular rap artists. De nacht is nog jong, net als wij voor altijd (2014), his highly collaborative debut album, set the tone for his career with nimble verses and bright hooks over productions that ranged from trap to dance-pop to drum'n'bass. He soon scored his first number one hit in his home country with the <a href="spotify:artist:3AlRiyjMywTVNzTcHbf9QT">Lil Kleine</a> collaboration "Drank & Drugs" (2015), and from that point on, he has been a regular presence in the upper reaches of the Dutch Top 40. His full-lengths have made similar impact, with projects such as Rémi (2017), Nori (2018), Altijd samen (2021), and SDL 0.5 (2024) topping or nearly topping the album chart. In 2024, the year he topped the singles chart again with "Gaan we weg?," Stichting Nederlandse Top 40 (the Dutch Top 40 Foundation) declared that Ronnie had become the survey's most successful rapper. The next year, he released SDL9 1, and subsequently hit the Top Ten again with the breezy non-album single "Beneden," recorded with <a href="spotify:artist:5GIcOzVFTNnzArytjmTkW8">Bizzey</a> and Russo.

Born in South Holland, specifically Capelle aan den IJssel, Ronell Langston Plasschaert was a youngster when he began following in the footsteps of his father, producer Edo Plasschaert. In 2012, the year he turned 20, Ronnie made his Dutch Top 40 debut with "Nooit meer slapen," a dubstep-flavored collaboration with <a href="spotify:artist:47z7ZrgFoBvVpCnElCE3Zh">Yellow Claw</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1n34ZpZX4OCwbuyo9mnfU8">MocroManiac</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7jp5R1aY7kmwBYX3jIu9yk">Jebroer</a>. The album De nacht is nog jong, net als wij voor altijd followed in 2014 and yielded the number 25 hit "Zusje," priming him for a greater breakout in 2015 with "Drank & Drugs," the standout track from the compilation New Wave, titled after the collective of the same name. Ronnie then topped the album chart with Rémi and Nori, consecutive LPs issued respectively in 2017 in 2018. By the end of the decade, Ronnie had amassed 18 Top 40 singles as a lead or supporting artist, with "Energie," "Come Again," and "Blijf bij mij" nearly reaching the same height as "Drank & Drugs."

Ronnie remained prominent throughout the first half of the 2020s. Featured on <a href="spotify:artist:3E31HqA00iCX9nRhesw6LD">Snelle</a>'s number 12 hit "In de schuur" in 2020, he kept rolling the next year by partnering with <a href="spotify:artist:5wV3FoaNbDB6X9INuQvs1K">Bilal Wahib</a> ("501") and with <a href="spotify:artist:4LcUpNlXFEleaLlelmkv2R">Kriss Kross Amsterdam</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3898xesz6JuQkpz7Kiu4uM">Emma Heesters</a> ("Alles wat ik mis") on another pair of Top Ten entries. The latter appeared on Altijd samen, an album that also included the number 11 single "Uhuh," an uptempo house track on which Ronnie was joined by <a href="spotify:artist:1uUuCEXmWpKN2YLl5xSoT2">$hirak</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3AlRiyjMywTVNzTcHbf9QT">Lil Kleine</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0o1hCS1PDOc1UtVrcXB9s8">Yssi SB</a>. Ronnie teamed up again <a href="spotify:artist:4LcUpNlXFEleaLlelmkv2R">Kriss Kross Amsterdam</a> in 2022 for "Adrenaline," a single that also featured <a href="spotify:artist:5fg02ZNJViLdPyxJnRdcsi">Zoë Tauran</a> and peaked at number six. SDL 0.5, issued in 2024 and containing the chart-topping "Gaan we weg?" -- a house-oriented track with emergent singer Roxy Dekker -- foreshadowed the March 2025 arrival of SDL 1. Within a couple months, Ronnie was back on the chart with "Beneden." ~ Andy Kellman