Published on 17 January 2025
5 years of Hip Hop Heritage at the Reinwardt Academy
Een interview met Marlous van Gastel
In the fall of 2024, lecturer Marlous van Gastel wrote an article for Cultuur+Educatie about the development and outcomes of the hip-hop module at the Reinwardt Academy. It all started five years ago with a performance by Fresku during a Heritage Arena. By now, the module has become a staple—last Friday, she kicked off the module for the fifth time. Hip Hop Heritage is a hit among third-year students. We spoke with her about the module and, of course, hip-hop.
Why do you think it’s so important that this module exists at the Reinwardt Academy?
Two reasons:
(1) Many young people today have a pluricultural background. I believe it’s important that the education at the Reinwardt Academy connects with these students. Hip-hop culture and pedagogy offer many opportunities for that. A question I often reflect on is: How can the Reinwardt curriculum better represent the heritage and culture of this group of young people? Cultural institutions must make space for the youth of today and tomorrow—and that starts with cultural education, our education.
And (2), Dutch heritage is constantly evolving. Heritage is made by people. It’s not a given, but a construct—something that comes into being when a label is attached to it. Right now, these heritage labels are being placed on hip-hop culture. That process—and everything that comes with it and is set in motion as a result—I find incredibly interesting to explore together with students and members of the hip-hop community.
What has been one of your absolute highlights during the past four years of Hip Hop Heritage?
I always experience a lot of joy when reviewing the students’ individual assignments, where they present self-research through hip-hop principles and Soortkill’s smibology—in their own way, in their own ‘language’. That’s where real progress is made! And all the guest lectures and excursions are always a celebration.
Which guest speaker is on your wish list for the hip-hop module?
I would really love to invite Dutch hip-hop legend Fresku back again, because he sparked the very first idea for the module during the Heritage Arena in 2020. Or KRS-One. He was in the Netherlands two years ago for a performance during the module’s run—I reached out to him back then, but unfortunately it didn’t work out.
I’m especially very happy—and proud—of all the people from the hip-hop community who have already contributed, such as Lee Stuart (then brand director at Patta), DJ Lyneé Denise, Brian Elstak, Kees de Koning, Mick La Rock, and many others.
Which 5 tracks absolutely need to be heard 100 years from now as a definition of hip-hop songs?
Which object is an absolute must in the first hip-hop museum in the Netherlands?
A lot of groundwork has already been done in Saul van Stapele’s book ‘20 Years of Hip-Hop in the Netherlands’. There is now a website that brings together hip-hop archives in the Netherlands—Culture Capsule. I would want to show the full scope of the culture: dance, film, DJ-ing, theatre, music, knowledge, and above all, many stories of lived experiences from the hip-hop community—its (taste)makers through the years.
Marlous' favorites
What was the first hip-hop album you bought?
I think something by Nas, Lost Tapes. Or Postmen.
The last one you bought?
Rapsody’s album Please Don’t Cry, on vinyl.
And your first hip-hop concert?
If it counts as hip-hop: Urban Dance Squad (a mix of dance, rock, reggae, and hip-hop) at pop venue Noorderlicht in Tilburg. I was 15 and did my first stage dive!
What do you think is the best hip-hop video of all time?
Apeshit by Beyoncé and Jay-Z—a powerful statement in which they “take over” established institutions like the Louvre, using art and dance to make a bold visual statement.
And finally, who do you think is the greatest hip-hop artist of all time?
That changes constantly—maybe Nas, or Missy Elliott, Queen Latifah, Lauryn Hill, Rapsody…
