◄◄ REWIND

In ‘07, AB launched a timeless series: ◄◄ REWIND. Central to this series are Belgian musicians who perform ‘their classic’. Call it a milestone in their career or go a step further: a key record for popular Belgian music. Often, but not always, we're talking about albums that are etched into collective memory. Let's just say: points of reference in the landscape of Belgian music. So each season a number of performers play their entire ‘pièce de résistance’. Entirely? That's right, in the exact order that they want to tell their story now or wanted to tell it at the time of its success.
With ◄◄ REWIND AB also contributes to the activation of Belgium's musical heritage. Those who have already passed in review: ‘Royalty In Exile’ (The Scabs), ‘Gorky’ (by Gorki), ‘1981-1984’ (The Neon Judgement), ‘The Kids’ (The Kids), ‘Nooit Meer Drinken’ (Raymond Van Het Groenewoud), ‘Op Zoek Naar Romantiek’ (Guido Belcanto) and also ‘Jonge Helden’ by Arbeid Adelt!
In the latest casting, De Mens present their brilliant debut ‘De Mens’ from ’92; Luc Van Acker returns to ‘The Ship’ from ’84; and Wim Mertens plays his under-rated album ‘Struggle For Pleasure’ (’83). To this we also add ‘Une Ball Dans La Tête’ (from ’95) by De Puta Madre, lets just say: the very first real hip-hop album to be released in Belgium.
Just as previous performers, they too will be honoured for their contribution to Belgian (pop) music with an official stone-laying in the Steenstraat, in front of the AB Café.

◄◄ REWIND: DE PUTA MADRE plays ‘Une Ball Dans La Tête’ (1995)

Rap crew from Brussels play their debut in its entirety.

ASSERTION 1: ‘Une Ball Dans La Tête’ by De Puta Madre is the first real hip-hop album ever to be released in Belgium. For that reason alone this album is already a pivotal point in Belgian music history. What's more, that the album still sounds relevant today only reinforces our praise. A little historical clarification: both the ’t Hof Van Commerce (‘En In Izzegem’) debut and the self-titled first Starflam album were released in ’98.
ASSERTION 2: Furthermore, De Puta Madre will be the first French-speaking act to appear in the ◄◄ REWIND series.
De Puta Madre hail from Schaarbeek and can be counted among the founders of Belgian hip-hop. The Spanish band-name only refers to the term 'son of a bitch' but it is also slang for ‘excellent’. The trio concealed the triumvirate MC Rayer, current Madrid-resident (graffiti artist and fashion designer) Pee Gonzalez, and DJ Smimooz. Their combination of French and Spanish raps was unique.
Their debut ‘Une ball dans la tête’, was released in 1995 and hit the Belgian hip-hop crowd like a bomb. It was not only the very first real hip-hop album to be released in Belgium, the fact that this album came straight from the underground only made the story stronger. De Puta Madre ran their own independent label, 9mm Recordz, on which the crew's solo projects would also appear. Also unique: De Puta Madre – crossing the language-border – worked with Flemish turntable-artist DJ Grazzhoppa too.
What was happening at the time? Internationally, there were many hip-hop classics released... by the likes of Nas (‘Illmatic’ – ‘94), Snoop Dogg (‘Doggystyle’ – ’93), A Tribe Called Quest (‘Midnight Marauders’ – ’93) and Wu-Tang Clan’s ‘36 Chambers’ (’93). In Belgium, Rhyme Cut Core had just released their first hip-hop maxi upon the world (‘Raw Break/At The Crossroads’). The Starflam and ’t Hof Van Commerce debuts would only be released several years later.
De Puta Madre also had fans in Flanders and even appeared on the bill of Pukkelpop twice (in ’96 and ’00). Second album ‘Technik Stonik’ was released in ’99 and sounded a lot rawer than their jazzy debut.