Brainpower

Brainpower was the performance moniker of one Gertjan Mulder, a Belgian born (Antwerp, 1975) rapper who made his base in Amsterdam, Netherlands. His first forays into writing rap came about in 1989, and began to blossom after 1994, when he had moved to Amsterdam to attend college. He began by MC-ing at parties in the city, and by 1998 had made a serious name for himself by winning the best R&B/Hip-Hop award at the Grand Prix of the Netherlands talent show. His first recorded appearance, backing up Dutch rapper Extince, came about in 1999, and in 2000, Brainpower released his own debut single, "Door Merg & Brain." (Translated to Through Bone and Brain in English.) The single lead to a debut album in 2001, which was also named Door Merg & Brain, and Brainpower's momentum landed him a spot on that year's Pinkpop Festival roster. 2002 saw the re-release of the debut full-length, as well as his winning numerous music awards and occupying both the Belgian and Dutch chart top spots. He would continue to push forward, releasing a single with American rapper Nas, and in 2005 Brainpower released his third album, Even Stil.