- published: 24 Jul 2013
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Welkom is a city in the Free State province of South Africa, located 160 kilometres northeast of Bloemfontein, the provincial capital. Welkom received municipal status in 1961 and was declared a city in 1968 on the 14th of February. In the years of segregation the township of Thabong was established for blacks and the township of Bronville for colored people.
The city is the hub of the Free State gold fields, serving several gold and uranium mines. In addition to mineral ore, Welkom produces such goods as steel, lumber, and beef. The city has a technical college and a technological institute. Welkom is served by a small airport and a branch of the main railway between Johannesburg and Cape Town. The city is internationally known for the Grand Prix racing circuit located at its edge.
The city grew after gold was discovered on the farm of St Helena. The word welkom is Afrikaans and Dutch for welcome. It is now the second largest city in the Free State.
In the 2001 census, Welkom (including the adjacent areas of Thabong and Riebeeckstad) had a population of 191,341 people in an area of 90 square kilometres (35 sq mi). 84% of the inhabitants described themselves as "Black African", 12% as "White" and 4% as "Coloured". 59% spoke Sotho as first language, 16% spoke Xhosa, and 14% spoke Afrikaans. English, Zulu and Tswana were each spoken by 3% of the population, and 1% spoke Tsonga.
The Opposites are a Dutch rap duo. The duo consists of the rappers Willem de Bruijn (Willy) and Twan van Steenhoven (Big2). The two rappers started rapping when Willem de Bruijn had to make a rap for his teacher as a punishment. Willem noticed he had a talent for rapping and decided to go on with rapping, together with his pall Twan van Steenhoven they became addicted to Hiphop so they say. The name The Opposites comes from the fact that Willem is black and small and Twan big and white.
Via a demo contest on internet the duo gets in touch with Mastermind Records which wants to make a follow up on the very populair album: Streetremixes from D-men. The duo has a part in both Streetremixes 2 and 3 along with other later famous Dutch rappers like: Yes-r, Brace, Lange frans and Baas B. The debute album is called "Youngsters" and is rapped in English but the duo doesn't like that and after "youngsters" they decide to rap in their native language: Dutch. The duo makes a mixtape "Vuur" which can be downloaded on internet for free, this mixtape even reaches the Dutch radio. The Opposites want to make a studio album and to do this they switch to the record label TopNotch. The same year the duo makes real name with their coöperation on the hitsingle Wat Wil Je Doen from The Partysquad and their own single Fok Jou from their then still unreleased album De Fik Erin. Their album De Fik Erin is released in late 2005 and the second single from this albumis released in early 2006: Slaap. Slaap is The Opposites first big hit it reaches number one on the Dutch popcharts.