No artist likes that, and yet it happens to all of them: they get put in the music booth. Snell is trying to set his fourth record Twenty-eight To break away from his audience’s expectations of how he should sound.
“Mijn moeder noemde me niet voor niets Dwars Bos”, zegt Snelle, die eigenlijk Lars Bos heet, tegen NU.nl. “Ik word alleen maar erg dwars als mensen een bepaalde richting van me verwachten. Als me verteld wordt wat ik precies moet doen, doe ik het juist niet.”
Snelle, bekend van hits als Blijven Slapen en Smoorverliefd, begon zijn carrière als rapper en sommige fans vinden het moeilijk om die periode los te laten. Hij krijgt dan ook nog regelmatig te horen dat hij muziek “zoals vroeger” moet maken. “Maar dat was vroeger. Ik kan daar niet zoveel mee. Het is leuk dat ze het tof vinden wat ik toen deed, maar dat is niet wat ik nu wil doen.”
Hoe wil Snelle dan wél klinken op Achtentwintig? “Ik heb steeds meer schijt aan in welk hokje ik zou moeten passen. Mijn liedjes kenmerken zich door de songteksten en niet door een specifiek genre. Op deze plaat staat een trap/hiphopachtig nummer, rock, maar ook een pianoliedje.”
Vooral op vocaal gebied vindt de artiest zichzelf gegroeid sinds hij Vierentwintig uitbracht. “Ik ben nog steeds niet de beste zanger en dat zal ik ook nooit worden. Maar ik ben wel echt beter gaan zingen. Daar heb ik ook meer tijd in gestoken.”
3:03Snell and Thomas Akde – Rock and Roll in the Netherlands
“Songs taken from the life of a 28-year-old”
His songs are about everyday things. Just like Adele, Snell named his album after his second year. “Because the songs are taken from the life of a 28-year-old,” the singer explains.
“I think the things that make me happy aren’t that different from anything else in my 20s,” Snell says. “I’ve noticed that I’m going through the same things and I actually like it. Well, I’m known, so some things are easier for me and other things are more difficult. But it also depends on how much weight you put on it.”
Therefore, he is not concerned with how he is portrayed in the media or the image he has among the Dutch public. “I stopped googling myself a long time ago or searching for myself on social media. And then you can’t unconsciously form people’s opinions.”
You won’t soon hear Snelle singing a song about what it’s like to tour. He sings about the winter blues and how his life is bourgeois and not rock and roll. “Sometimes, as a band, we make something that’s fun for us, but not for the outside world, and then we don’t release it.”
“My mother shed a tear over the song.”
Previous reference 28 Snell is not shy about giving insight into his family life. The singer wrote the song In this Dan Especially for his mother. “Tupac also composed a song for his mother, so I had to do that too. Shameless,” laughs the singer. “By the way, Kranti Babi too, that might be a more apt comparison.”
The song was formed after the singer spent a weekend in Barcelona with his mother. “Just to celebrate that we are mother and son.” She was first allowed to hear the song the day before this interview. “I had her in my studio to play the entire album. As mothers do, of course I shed tears. I really loved it.”
3:27Fast – in this Dan
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