Luan Kolgjini: I knew the Mirano from its great years. It was the place everyone dreamed of getting into. It was truly the cult spot of nightlife. I went there as a customer… But as the owner of the place, it was something else.
Laura Beyne: I have older brothers and sisters who were already going there back then. And then, when I was old enough to go out, I thought: "Why not, just once, go see what everyone is talking about?"
Romain Garcin: When I arrived in Brussels, I worked in small bars where I remember the cooks were old-timers who told us about their nights at the Mirano. They were fifteen or sixteen at the time and nearly sixty when they told us about it.
Beba Storm: When I see the Mirano, so many images come back. So many nights I relive, as a customer or when we performed there.
Zoey Hasselbank: It's a magnificent club. It's big. I don't know how to explain it, it's an experience.
Luan Kolgjini: When the opportunity came to take over the Mirano, it was a great opportunity. Especially since the Mirano has a history. Madonna, Prince passed through there. It was a new challenge for me. First, I surrounded myself with people who were already in the nightlife scene: DJs, artistic directors, people who master social media. That universe, that identity, well, it wasn't mine. Over the years, I evolved, I learned about everything. And here I am today, well established in the nightlife scene.
Laura Beyne: When I had been elected Miss Belgium, I was invited and so I arrived in front of the club. I was truly welcomed like a princess. Really, I had two bodyguards who took me up to the VIP area. It was quite impressive because I was nineteen and we had a truly memorable evening.
Luan Kolgjini: Having a date there is never simple for a DJ. I lost many litres of water that day because I really tried to give it my all.
Zoey Hasselbank: I mixed there two or three years ago. A good DJ, to me, is someone who knows how to make people dance. Man or woman, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter at all.
Luan Kolgjini: For me it's the number one club in Belgium today. Even if it has faded a bit lately, it remains number one. It was hard to sell it. We did it. We left through the back door. But it was a great experience. A very, very great one.
Luan Kolgjini: It's a club that gave momentum to other clubs. It's one of the first clubs that really brought hip-hop in. They opened a lane for other people.
Luan Kolgjini: I saw this evolution happening, how it was going. And we really told ourselves there was something to play for. And that's why we went for another musical colour, towards hip-hop.
Laura Beyne: A few years ago, listening to hip-hop was a bit frowned upon.
Beba Storm: There was something forbidden about it because those were, for me, the first albums where I saw written: "Parental advisory required".
Romain Garcin: It was hyper codified as being aimed at a male audience. Now it has taken another turn and we've arrived at something that appeals to the widest audience.
Zoey Hasselbank: From the start, I took risks. I just bought my equipment and jumped in because I love music too much. I feel like the hip-hop scene in Belgium is starting to exist. Everyone is starting to support each other and we're rising together.
Beba Storm: We were also able to show that it's a coming together. It makes me happy to see Whites, Blacks, Rebeux all together. They all dance together, they sing the same lyrics. There's good and less good, as in all music, but it's a music that is respected today and fully belongs in clubs.
Romain Garcin: An art that is popular is, precisely, destined to spread through all social classes.
Luan Kolgjini: The first artist I booked was Drake. I did Wiz Khalifa, A$AP Rocky, at the Birdy and the Spirito. And that's when I saw this enthusiasm, this demand. I think I've really done all the French elite: Booba, Gims, Lacrim, Kaaris… And so many others. And it was also a success.
Romain Garcin: We work with quite a few artists, mainly rappers, in order to develop their album covers, to start with, and their image as well. With the arrival of streaming, what has completely changed is that the physical album format exists less and less. We have this square format which is much wider and much more conducive to creation, because we're not limited by track placement, with a marketing aspect that is completely different now.
Luan Kolgjini: It's not just music, it's a lifestyle, it's a fashion universe. So you see certain footballers playing on the same team as the artists. There, that's a strong message.
Zoey Hasselbank: I'll give the example of Lil Pump. He drops a track, "Gucci Gang", and everyone is like: "Gucci, Gucci". Just because a track came out, everyone follows.
Laura Beyne: When you see, for example, houses like Balmain asking Kanye West, a rapper, to be their face, you can really see that hip-hop is current at every level.
Luan Kolgjini: It's the movement of the present. Clearly. For me, it's the music that will blow up even more in the years to come.
Romain Garcin: Besides, today rappers are rock stars. You see it during concerts, during interviews, in their personality, in the risks they take. They are the new rock stars.
Zoey Hasselbank: Hip-hop is the future.