The Freedom City Festival is an opportunity for the hip-hop scene to move from underground to the big stage. The programme for the 9th edition includes dance battles, music, and a new Freedom City Anthem. ‘It’s all about partnership and community spirit.’
STAPELGANG
In the scene known as J. Jackson, artists DUIMALOT and Kiddy join dancer and music producer Jeffrey Loewenicht to form the collective STAPELGANG (pronounced ‘stapelgeng’). They’ll be making their debut as a group at the festival, with a set that includes a new Freedom City Anthem.
Jeffrey: ‘As a dancer, you’re automatically involved with music. You listen to the various layers and translate them into movement. The passion for this has progressed into a passion for making my own music, which reflects echoes of the dance culture. You hear it in the melodies and rhythms, or the kicks that are that tiny bit harder. Our tracks are really made for dancing.
The Anthem is part of our first EP and includes the music that we’ve been philosophising about for years. It has elements of hip-hop subgenres, such as new school or trap. It eventually comes down to the rawest, almost sinister type of hip-hop. The music might be coarse, but the lyrics are never insulting. This way, we’re easily accessible, hopefully with a degree of subtlety. Think of us as tough guys wearing hoods, but our hoods are pink.
The anthem is called FC Stapel. The FC stands for Freedom City, but it’s also a reference to the football world. We see dancing as a team sport. There’s camaraderie and you all fight to the very last minute, just like in football. Another similarity: hip-hop teaches you to stay motivated and keep fighting for your place.’
Battle of the New Schools
According to Raymond Ramdihal, founder of Freedom City, you are formed by your teenage years. So during this year’s festival, he’s introducing the Battle of the New Schools: a breakdance contest, in which secondary school pupils battle it out.
Raymond: ‘Teenagers can be difficult to reach; you notice it in every cultural project. However, they’re a really important target group. Puberty is a time when you’re trying to work out who you are and what you want in life. Dance and other types of art can help you to form your identity. It isn’t just about the steps, but also about the values of hip-hop. Hip-hop means partnership and community spirit, but without trying to copy each other. Your age, colour and name are irrelevant; it’s all about dance and my style doesn’t need to be like yours. We try to stop teenagers compartmentalising each other, which is what young people tend to do. It’s a huge challenge, but with huge rewards if it works.
I was a difficult teenager myself, and I truly believe that a community can help keep youngsters on the right track. That they can use dance and community to vent their feelings about the problems they’re facing, like their parents splitting up. I came into contact with projects like this at that age and they were a great help.
We started giving series of breakdance classes in schools recently in order to reach teenagers. We’re scaling this up next year, and hope that twice as many schools will join in.’
Freedom City will be held from 19 to 21 June 2026 at various locations in Utrecht.
You can watch the Battle of the New Schools and STAPELGANG on 21 June 2026 in TivoliVredenburg.
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Over dit artikel
text:
Sophie Manusov
images:
Megan Jane, Fabviews
Publication date:
8 June 2026
Magazine edition:
UITagenda Utrecht juni 2026
