Background and career
Joost Klein (Dutch pronunciation: [joːst klɛin]; born 10 November 1997), also known mononymously as Joost or eenhoornjoost (lit. Unicorn 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, hyperpop, and gabber. He has released ten 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 the songs "Wachtmuziek" (2022), "Friesenjung" (2023, with Ski Aggu and Otto Waalkes), and "Europapa" (2024). "Europapa" was selected to represent the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 and subsequently became Klein's first song to top both the Dutch Top 40 and Single Top 100. Having qualified in second place from the second semi-final, he was scheduled to perform fifth in the final, but was abruptly disqualified from the competition by the European Broadcasting Union due to allegations of misconduct.
These were investigated by Swedish prosecutors, who dropped the case in August 2024 after concluding that they could not prove any criminal conduct. Klein has continued releasing music following the success of "Europapa", joined the tenth season of The Voice van Vlaanderen as a coach, and is embarking on his first international concert tour in 2026.
Joost Klein was born on 10 November 1997 in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, and grew up in the nearby village of Britsum. In 2010, he started a YouTube channel under the name EenhoornJoost (lit. 'UnicornJoost'). He did not complete the curriculum at his secondary school. When he was thirteen, his father died of cancer, and a year later, in 2011, his mother died of cardiac arrest. Following the death of his parents, Klein was looked after by his older brother and his sister.
2016–2022: First releases While active as a YouTuber, Klein published videos ranging from sketches to mini-documentaries. In 2016, he released his debut EP Dakloos (transl. 'Homeless'), after which he began focusing on a career in music. "Bitches", produced by Mick Spek, was his first music video to reach one million views on YouTube. He was briefly signed to TopNotch in 2017 and 2018, but eventually decided to set up his own record label, Albino Sports. 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 together with Dutch rapper Donnie. To promote the album, the duo organised a one-time concert titled Viraal in Carré in the Royal Theater Carré in Amsterdam. Klein published a small book of poems titled Albino 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.
How Joost Klein makes money
He was briefly signed to TopNotch in 2017 and 2018, but eventually decided to set up his own record label, Albino Sports.
