After the previous edition in 2020 at a sold-out AB Club, it finally returns: the Fake Label Night, where the label from Ghent provides a sampling of the talent in its ranks. On 27 April, the AB will welcome the best of our national hip-hop, ready to prove that the genre has reached maturity in these parts too. No fewer than four acts will be dished up to the audience and those who attended last time won’t think twice before doing so again!

We gladly kick off the line-up with Simon, who almost embodies the evolution hip-hop has made in our country. Grew up as rapper with Antwerp collective Roedel but, for a few years now, he has been making a steep upward climb as an indie-pop artist. Successfully too. His just recently released debut album ‘Zoveel Nog Te Doen’ rammed open the doors to a wider audience, as evidenced by the reception of singles like ‘Al Lang Voorbij’ and ‘Parklaan’. Amazing, come see, so that you can say the same afterwards!

Also hugely worth discovering: GIJS, the Antwerp-Dutch enigma, predestined to claw his way to the very top. Both his first EP ‘Eitje’ and successor ‘CISMAN’ let you hear that his young man is not second to any act in the Benelux and we really don’t dare speculate where his limits lie anymore. Live, GIJS is unparalleled: sometimes funny, sometimes disarming or moving, but at any given moment he keeps a tight rein.

On stage that night too: Uberdope, bearing a brand new album. Already the fourth studio album from the Ghent flagship and, if we can take the gents at their word, they sound hungrier than ever. Anyone who has seen this well-oiled machine at work in recent years is already marking their calendar with the thickest marker they can find, because history might well be written here.

Just as typical of Ghent and destined to take the crown in the foreseeable future: Alois & VLB. A listen to their 2021 EP Geloven is enough to understand why. Rich productions, introspective lyrics and melodious refrains that linger for days: the twosome has class to spare. Just don’t be blinded by the young age of Alois & VLB. Both Ghent natives sound like old pros who never did anything but this in their lives.