Born Jerreley Zanian John Slijer on 18 June 1986 in Helmond near Eindhoven in the Netherlands, the artist known professionally as Kempi is a Dutch rapper of Curaçaoan descent. Influenced by the likes of 2Pac, Lil Wayne and Dutch rapper Duvel, he turned to penning rhymes following a troubled start marked by behavioural problems and a criminal record. He first began exploring hip-hop with rap crew Drama before lighting up the Internet with his first solo mixtape Tsss Kempi in 2006. Another two mixtapes followed in 2007, Mixtape 2: Rap 'N Borie (Rap 'N Crack) and Mixtape 3.1, before his debut album Du Zoon (Tha Son) emerged in 2008. That same year, he was named Best Hip-Hop Artist in the Netherlands at the State Awards. Two more studio albums followed, Het Testament van Zanian Adamus (The Testament of Zanian Adamus) in 2011 and Oompie Keke in 2019. A further run of singles have since followed from 2022's "Banana" and "Op de Block" to "Tobi" and "Ik Heb Schijt" in 2023.
