Sophie Straat

Sophie Straat
Sophie Straat and Wieger Hoogendorp in 2022
Sophie Straat and Wieger Hoogendorp in 2022
Background information
Born
Sophie Schwartz

(1994-07-28) July 28, 1994
Amsterdam
Genres
OccupationSinger

Sophie Schwartz (born July 28, 1994), known professionally as Sophie Straat, is a Dutch singer who is known for her levenslied and politically left-wing protest songs. Her stage name refers back to her childhood, during which she would often play on the street.[1]

Early life

Sophie Schwartz was born on July 28, 1994, the daughter of an American father and a British mother, and grew up in the De Pijp neighborhood of Amsterdam. She grew up in a Jewish family and went to a Jewish school every Sunday.[2] Schwartz studied at the Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten in The Hague.[3]

Career

For her graduation project at the Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten, which focused on the cargo bike as a symbol of the gentrification of Amsterdam, she recorded the old-fashioned "smartlap" Groen Amsterdam. Danny de Munk contributed as a guest vocalist to the song.[1][3][4]

Together with producer and musician Wieger Hoogendorp, she subsequently recorded the EP 't Is niet mijn schuld. With this release, Straat won an Edison Award in the Dutch-language category in March 2021. The jury praised the record for the way it highlighted current social issues. The songs cover topics including the Dutch housing crisis, racism, and sexism.[5]

Together with the Hague-based band Goldband, she created the song "Tweede Kamer" in 2021 for the 2021 Dutch general election, which called for voting for a woman.[6] In collaboration with Budweiser, she also wrote the song "Voor Ajax" that year, on the occasion of the football club AFC Ajax's 35th national championship.[7] In 2022, Straat produced the documentary Mijn club: een ode aan voetbal for VPRO Dorst together with Hilde Barwegen. The documentary deals with homophobia, racism, and sexism in football and was based in part on the filmmakers' own experiences in the sport.

In 2023, Straat was nominated for an Edison Pop award in the Dutch-language category with her singles from 2022.[8] Additionally, she was nominated for the 3FM Awards in the Best Indie Act category.[9]

That year, the album Smartlap is niet dood was released, combineint levenslied songs with protest music, citing the Zangeres Zonder Naam as an example. The album includes "Wat is het kut om agent te zijn", which sampled Fleetwood Mac's "Everywhere". The song "Nooit genoeg" deals with alcoholism and drug addiction.[1]

In February 2024, Straat was nominated for a 3FM Award in the category Best Collaboration for the song "Energie", which she released together with Chibi Ichigo.

In November 2025, the song "Vrijheid, gelijkheid, zusterschap", released in 2022, rose in the Dutch streaming charts. The activist group Dolle Mina had called for the song to be streamed as a protest against the AI-generated anti-asylum seeker center song "Wij zeggen nee, nee, nee, tegen een AZC".[10]

In June 2026, a controversy arose over a performance by Straat at the Best Kept Secret in Hilvarenbeek. Towards the end of the performance, she asked women, queer people, and people of color to come forward and requested white men to move to the back of the mosh pit.[11] She repeated this request in July 2026 during her performance at the Boomtown festival, part of the Gentse Feesten.[12] With these comments, she called upon the audience to create a punk-style FLINTA* mosh pit (Frauen, Lesben, Intergeschlechtliche, Nichtbinäre, Trans, Agender; German for 'Women, Lesbian, Intersex, Non-binary, Transgender, and Agender people').[13]

Following Straat's comments, several legal complaints were filed and the Belgian anti-discrimination organisation Unia was asked whether the statements violated Belgian anti-discrimination law.[14] Unia responded that it viewed the statement as a form of symbolic and artistic expression, and not as discrimination.[15] The Dutch discrimination hotline Discriminatie.nl, which received "many hundreds of complaints", also found that there was no discrimination in the performances.[16] In response to her request, Straat received a "wave of sexist, anti-Semitic hate messages and (death) threats."[13]

Discography

Albums

Year Title Peak positions Certification
NED
[17]
2023 Smartlap is niet dood 11
2025 Wie de fak is Sophie Straat 61

EPs

Year Title Peak positions
NED
[17]
2020 't Is niet mijn schuld -

Singles

Year Title Peak positions Certification
NED
[17]
2020 "Groen Amsterdam"
(with Danny de Munk)		 -
"Geluk" -
2021 "Tweede Kamer"
(with Goldband)		 -
"Voor Ajax" -
"Nooit genoeg" -
"Wat is het kut om agent te zijn" -
2022 "Vrijheid, gelijkheid, zusterschap" 8
"Mijn club" -
"Tweede Kamer (The Outsiders Remix)"
(with Goldband and Outsiders)		 -
"Mannen" -
2023 "Mooier als je lacht" -
"Geluk"
(with Chibi Ichigo)		 -
2024 "Gebroken Spiegels"
(with Metropole Orkest)		 -
"Energie - Parrish Smith Remix"
(with Chibi Ichigo and Parrish Smith)		 -
"Het outro" -
2025 "Vlinder" -
"Mannenbaby" -
"Hoe kan het"
(with Meetsysteem)		 -
"Dansen met de dood" -
"Liefdesliedjes"
(with Ploegendienst)		 -
"Let me tell you something 'bout my country" -

References

  1. 1 2 3 de Vrieze, Atze (2023-03-02). "Sophie Straat: het Trojaanse paard van de smartlap". VPRO 3voor12 (in Dutch). Retrieved 2026-08-05.
  2. ↑ Schipper, Nienke (2024-06-06). "'Ik ben tegen de genocide in Gaza', zegt Joodse protestzanger Sophie Straat". Trouw. Retrieved 2026-08-05.
  3. 1 2 Freriks, Kester. "Smartlapzangeres dankzij de bakfiets". NRC (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 2020-11-12. Retrieved 2026-08-05.
  4. ↑ Bosch, Saskia (2020-11-20). "Zangeres Sophie Straat (26): 'Met de smartlap kan ik schreeuwen wat ik denk'". Trouw (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 2022-07-05. Retrieved 2026-08-05.
  5. ↑ "Sophie Straat wint Edison voor album 'T Is Niet Mijn Schuld" (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 2024-03-16. Retrieved 2026-08-05.
  6. ↑ van Brummelen, Peter (2021-01-29). "Sophie Straat zingt het levenslied met een boodschap". Het Parool (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 2021-09-21. Retrieved 2026-08-05.
  7. ↑ "Sophie Straat en Bud brengen ode aan de 35e landstitel met nummer 'Voor Ajax'". www.ajax.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2026-08-05.
  8. ↑ "Genomineerden Edisons Pop 2023 bekend". Edison Pop. 2023-02-09. Retrieved 2026-08-05.
  9. ↑ "Dit zijn de genomineerden voor de 3FM Awards 2023". NPO 3FM (in Dutch). Retrieved 2026-08-05.
  10. ↑ "Politieke strijd in hitlijst: nummer Sophie Straat tegen AI-track over azc's". nos.nl (in Dutch). 2025-11-08. Retrieved 2026-08-05.
  11. ↑ "Best Kept Secret 2026: de acht beste acts van de zondag". VPRO 3voor12 (in Dutch). 2026-06-14. Retrieved 2026-08-05.
  12. ↑ de Ruyver, Max (2026-07-21). ""Alle witte mannen naar achteren": na ophef in Nederland herhaalt zangeres Sophie Straat beruchte oproep op de Gentse Feesten". hln.be. Retrieved 2026-08-05.
  13. 1 2 Schrik, Thijs (2026-07-23). "Sophie Straat maakt veel los met haar oproep voor een moshpit zonder witte mannen, maar volgt een lange punktraditie". NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 2026-08-05.
  14. ↑ "Al tientallen klachten over uitspraak Sophie Straat op Gentse Feesten, diversiteitsexpert Khalid Benhaddou: "Munitie voor extreemrechts" | VRT NWS Nieuws". VRTNWS (in Dutch). 2026-07-22. Retrieved 2026-08-05.
  15. ↑ ""Alle witte mannen naar achteren"-uitspraak van Sophie Straat op Gentse Feesten is geen discriminatie, oordeelt Unia | VRT NWS Nieuws". VRTNWS (in Dutch). 2026-07-23. Retrieved 2026-08-05.
  16. ↑ "'Witte mannen naar achteren' van Sophie Straat geen discriminatie, vinden meldpunten". nos.nl (in Dutch). 2026-07-23. Retrieved 2026-08-05.
  17. 1 2 3 "Sophie Straat discography". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2026-08-05.
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