Malk De Koijn

The Danish rap group, Malk de Koijn, is quite an unusual rap group as not many rappers come out of the land of Denmark and rap in the Danish language, but their sound is as true to hip-hop as one could ask for. They were a highly innovational rap group when they first landed on the scene in the early ‘90s, as rap was still an impressionable genre and was especially not as common in Denmark as it was in the United States.
Their music follows the standards of hip-hop that make it such a fun genre to listen to. The samples that they place in their music is taken from various musical genres, but most of their samples are jazz based, allowing for their tracks to have a smooth, vintage quality to them. Jazzy saxophone solos can be heard in the sonic soundscape accompanied by colorful piano riffs played on the Fender Rhodes electronic piano that help build up a catchy backdrop for Malk de Koijn to rap over. The drums and the bass are presented at a steady beat that creates a great tempo for Malk de Koijn to rhythmically rap to.
Malk de Koijn also have followed the pattern of many great rap groups by being a three piece group like Beastie Boys and Run D.M.C. Their use of the Danish language is also a unique approach on their creation of rap music. The Dutch language’s strong use of consonantal phonetics is a very appropriate sound for rap as it can be used for a harsh, rhythmic delivery. Malk de Koijn are very competent live performers and have great chemistry with one another. Their rhythmic timing is impeccable and they appropriately know how to juxtapose their rap parts with one another to create interesting sounds.
During their performances they dress like true old school rappers with backward hats and baggy pants. They also add to the vintage flavor of hip-hop by having a large boom-box radio on stage as a prop. They are highly energetic performers and their audience is incredibly engrossed in their performance, rapping along with the group to their songs. Malk de Koijn knows how to replicate the most important styles of hip-hop, but add a new spin on it to keep it original and unique.