Frans Christiaan Frederiks (born 12 November 1980 in Amsterdam), known by his stage name Lange Frans, is a Dutch rapper and television presenter. From 1997 to 2004 he was a member of the band D-Men. Between 2004 and 2008 he was part of the Lange Frans & Baas B duo before starting a solo career.
Starting in 2008, Lange Frans worked for the Dutch television station Veronica presenting programs including "My Best Friends", "Veronica Poker", "Telsell", "Lange Frans stelt Kamervragen", "Fobiac" and "Face It!".
Kraantje pappie untitled shirt en lange frans de week in rap en roer
In D-Men
In 1997, Lange Frans was a founding member of a band alongside his brother and fellow rapper Brutus Frederiks and childhood friend Bart Zeilstra better known as Baas B. After a freestyle session on a basketball court in Diemen-Zuid, they created hiphop band D-Men. The Englishpronunciation of "D-Men" is similar to the Dutch pronunciation of the name of their home town. As D-Men they released their first single entitled "Zoveel Mensen" ("So Many People"). In 2001, D-men won a talent contest that was organised by Stichting Grap ("Joke Foundation") in 2001. In later years, many artists joined D-Men, including Brace, Yes-R & Soesi B, Negativ and DJ MBA.
In Lange Frans & Baas B
In 2004, Frans and Bart Zeilstra, already part of D-Men formed the duo Lange Frans & Baas B and had a successful career lasting more than 4 years with three albums: Supervisie (2004), Het land van (2005) and Verder (2008). They also released a number of singles, the most successful of which were "Moppie", "Zinloos" (both in 2004) and "Mee naar Diemen-Zuid" in 2005. After the murder of Max Poncin on 2 November 2004 the single "Zinloos" was adapted and some of the lyrics amended to mourn his death. The duo split up in March 2009.
The duo were criticized for the over-commercialization of their music by D-Men colleague Negativ and by other Dutch rappers Def P, Remi Schouwenaars and Kimo.
Solo music and radio/TV career
Lange Frans continued his solo career with varied success. His biggest commercial success was the single "Zing voor me" featuring Thé Lau. It reached #5 on the Dutch Singles Chart.
Lange Frans has a 2-hour radio program named Lange Frans Goes Wild on WILD FM broadcast on prime time between 7 and 9 pm. Together with his brother Brutus, he also had a weekly radio show at hip-hop station Lijn5 until the latter's demise.
Personal life
Lange Frans is the younger brother of Dutch rapper Brutus (full name Thijs Frederiks)
Before taking the stage name Lange Frans, he used the name Akela
On 24 March 2006, Lange Frans hit a school student during a performance. Someone had thrown an ice cube at Lange Frans's head to protest some of the lyrics he had used on stage. Lange Frans jumped from the stage and hit a student. The victim turned out not to have thrown the ice cube. Due to this incident, Lange Frans was not allowed to perform at a Liberation Day music festival in Haarlem.
In November 2006 he took part in the charity single "De leipe Bauer flavour" with Frans Bauer and Ali B, about victims of landmines.
Lange Frans married former horse rider Daniëlle van Aalderen on 9 June 2008. They have one child, a son named Hendrikus Frederick William French born 21 August 2008.
Lange Frans took part in a number of television programs including:
