Nick Leonardus van de Wall (; born 9 September 1987), better known as Afrojack, is a Dutch DJ, music producer and remixer from
Spijkenisse,
South Holland. In 2007, he founded the record label Wall Recordings; his debut album ''
Forget the World'' was released in 2014. Afrojack regularly features as one of the ten best artists in the Top 100 DJs published by ''
DJ Mag
''DJ Magazine'' (also known as ''DJ Mag'') is a British monthly magazine dedicated to electronic dance music and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Lat ...
''.
He is also the CEO of
LDH Europe.
Early life
Van de Wall was born and raised in
Spijkenisse,
South Holland, to a Dutch mother and a
Surinamese father. He developed an interest in music at an early age and learned to play the piano at the age of five.
From a single-parent household, his mother Debbie owned a local gym. After leaving school, Van de Wall studied graphic design at th
Grafisch Lyceum Rotterdamin
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...
for a year before embarking on a career as a DJ/producer.
At the age of 11, he started producing his own tracks from home for "five hours a day," and it took him a good seven years to produce his first release, "In Your Face."
Musical career
At the age of 14, Van de Wall started DJing at local pubs and clubs and earning additional income by designing websites for fellow musicians.
In 2007, he released "In Your Face", the first recording under the Afrojack name. He received international success with the song "
Take Over Control" featuring
Eva Simons, which charted in 10 countries. He took part in Episode 2 of 'Behind The Speedo', which is a comedy series by
Redfoo.
His 2010 entry into the poll at number 19 was the highest new entry of that year's list. Afrojack was listed as number 7 on the ''DJ Mag'' Top 100 DJs of 2011. He ranked at number 9 on ''DJ Mag's'' Top 100 DJs of 2012. In 2013, he ranked at number 9 again.
[Top 100 DJs 2013 search](_blank)
. DJ Mag. Retrieved on 20 October 2013.
In July 2010, Afrojack created an
Essential Mix
The ''Essential Mix'' is a weekly radio show on BBC Radio 1 currently broadcast between 0:00 and 2:00 a.m. UK time on Saturday morning. Originally broadcast on 30 October 1993, the ''Essential Mix'' features contemporary DJs and music produce ...
for
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
. He released the ''Lost & Found'' EP on 22 December 2010. In 2011, he was featured on Pitbull's number 1 hit single "
Give Me Everything" along with
Ne-Yo
Shaffer Chimere Smith (born October 18, 1979), known professionally as Ne-Yo, is an American singer, songwriter, actor, dancer, and record producer. He gained fame for his songwriting abilities when he penned Mario's 2004 hit " Let Me Love You ...
and
Nayer. He also contributed to the single "
Run the World (Girls)" by
Beyoncé. In January 2012 Afrojack received a
European Border Breakers Award
The European Border Breakers Award (EBBA) was an annual prize awarded to recognise the success of ten emerging artists or groups who reached audiences outside their own countries with their first internationally released album in the past year. ...
. Afrojack's newest single "The Spark" featuring Spree Wilson has so far hit number 3 in Australia and New Zealand, and top 10 in over 7 more countries. In 2013, Afrojack was the 7th highest-earning DJ in the world, according to ''Forbes'' magazine.
In 2011, Afrojack co-produced music with many artists including
David Guetta
Pierre David Guetta ( , ; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and music producer. He has over 10 million album and 65 million single sales globally, with more than 10 billion streams. In 2011, 2020 and 2021, Guetta was voted the number one D ...
, Mike Brown and
Madonna. In 2012, he was a headliner at a number of
electronic dance music festivals, including
Tomorrowland
Tomorrowland is one of the many themed lands featured at all of the Magic Kingdom styled Disney theme parks around the world owned or licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Each version of the land is different and features numerous attractions t ...
,
Ultra Music Festival
Ultra Music Festival (UMF) is an annual outdoor electronic music festival that takes place during March in Miami, Florida, United States. The festival was founded in 1999 by Russell Faibisch and Alex Omes.
It was first held on Miami Beach, ...
, and
Coachella Coachella may refer to:
* Coachella, California
* Coachella Canal, in California
* Coachella (festival), an annual music and arts festival in California
* "Coachella – Woodstock in My Mind", a 2017 song by Lana del Rey
See also
* Coachell ...
.
His debut album, ''
Forget the World'', was released on 19 May 2014 to mixed reviews.
On 17 March 2015, Afrojack was featured in
David Guetta
Pierre David Guetta ( , ; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and music producer. He has over 10 million album and 65 million single sales globally, with more than 10 billion streams. In 2011, 2020 and 2021, Guetta was voted the number one D ...
's single "
Hey Mama" in which he co-produced with Guetta. The song featured him along with
Nicki Minaj and
Bebe Rexha
Bleta Rexha (; born August 30, 1989), known professionally as Bebe Rexha ( ), is an American pop singer and songwriter. After signing with Warner Records in 2013, Rexha received songwriting credits on Eminem's single " The Monster" (which lat ...
. On 27 July 2017, he released the ''NLW EP'' under the alias NLW. This marked the launch of his new alias NLW under which he would go on to produce more underground style tracks.
In 2016, one of his songs, "Braver", was featured on the game ''
Final Fantasy XV
is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix. The fifteenth main installment of the ''Final Fantasy'' series, it was released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2016, Microsoft Windows in 2018, and as a launch title ...
''. He appeared in the 2016 documentary film about American DJ and producer
Steve Aoki, titled ''
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead'', which was subsequently nominated for a
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
.
On 28 April 2017, he released a new single "
Another Life" collaborating with fellow DJ
David Guetta
Pierre David Guetta ( , ; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and music producer. He has over 10 million album and 65 million single sales globally, with more than 10 billion streams. In 2011, 2020 and 2021, Guetta was voted the number one D ...
featuring
Ester Dean
Esther Renay Dean (born April 15, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, music producer and actress. Dean has also written songs for many artists, with numerous Top 10 hits, including No. 1 hits for Rihanna and Katy Perry, earning the name " ...
. On 7 September 2017, he released the single "No Tomorrow" featuring
Belly,
O.T. Genasis, and Ricky Breaker.
On 14 February 2018, he released his track "Bed of Roses" featuring
Stanaj, which was played as an ID during his set at
Ultra Music Festival
Ultra Music Festival (UMF) is an annual outdoor electronic music festival that takes place during March in Miami, Florida, United States. The festival was founded in 1999 by Russell Faibisch and Alex Omes.
It was first held on Miami Beach, ...
2017 in Miami. In July 2018, at
Tomorrowland
Tomorrowland is one of the many themed lands featured at all of the Magic Kingdom styled Disney theme parks around the world owned or licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Each version of the land is different and features numerous attractions t ...
in Boom, Belgium, he debuted many of his new tracks such as "Bassride", "Step Back", which are all included in his ''Press Play'' EP, releasing on 31 August 2018.
In March 2020, Afrojack announced that he would perform at the
Eurovision Song Contest 2020, in
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...
alongside
Glennis Grace
Glenda Hulita Elisabeth Batta (born 19 June 1978), known professionally as Glennis Grace, is a Dutch singer. In 2005, she represented the Netherlands in the 50th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, and in 2018 she appeared on the 13th seas ...
, however, the contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He performed at the contest
the following year, in the same city.
In March 2022, Afrojack released a new track along with
David Gueta called "Trampoline." The song also features featuring
Missy Elliott,
Bia and
Doechii.
In September 2022, Afrojack announced "Jack to the Future" US tour. The tour includes fifteen cities.
Wall Recordings
Since 2007, Afrojack runs his own label, Wall Recordings, which represents
producers
Producer or producers may refer to:
Occupations
*Producer (agriculture), a farm operator
*A stakeholder of economic production
*Film producer, supervises the making of films
**Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...
including KIIDA, Apster,
D-Wayne,
D.O.D, Karim Mika, and others. The label used to operate as a sub-label to
Spinnin' Records
Spinnin' Records is a Dutch electronic music record label founded in 1999 by Eelko van Kooten and Roger de Graaf. In September 2017, Warner Music Group acquired Spinnin' Records for over $100 million.
Background
Van Kooten is the son of former ...
until late January 2016. Tom & Jame's Burn Down marked the last release of Wall Recordings as a sub-label. After going independent for a while, it became a sub-label to Armada Music in 2017, until it became independent again in 2019.
Personal life
Afrojack and
Paris Hilton
Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American media personality, businesswoman, socialite, model, and entertainer. Born in New York City, and raised there and in Beverly Hills, California, she is a great-granddaughter of Conrad ...
dated for six months while he was producing her second album.
In 2019, Afrojack and Italian singer
Elettra Lamborghini made their engagement public.
The two were married on 26 September 2020 at
Lake Como,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
.
Discography
*''
Forget the World'' (2014)
Awards and nominations
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
s
MTV Europe Music Awards
The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an a ...
DJ Mag
''DJ Magazine'' (also known as ''DJ Mag'') is a British monthly magazine dedicated to electronic dance music and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Lat ...
azine top 100 DJs
References
External links
*
*
*
{{Authority control
1987 births
Dutch DJs
Living people
Electro house musicians
Electronic dance music DJs
Remixers
Dutch people of Surinamese descent
Grammy Award winners
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Spinnin' Records artists
People from Spijkenisse
Music of the African diaspora
Progressive house musicians
Dutch electronic musicians
Dutch record producers
Dutch house musicians
Revealed Recordings artists
FL Studio users