walking upstream…
AFROJACK
Nick Leonardus van de Wall learned piano at five and was producing tracks at home in Spijkenisse by his early teens, years before the Dutch electro-house wave carried him to global festival stages under the name Afrojack. He broke through in 2010 with 'Take Over Control' and became one of the defining architects of the loud, distorted big-room sound of the early-2010s EDM boom, co-producing the beat-drop section of David Guetta and Sia's 'Titanium' and winning a Grammy for his remix of Madonna's 'Revolver.' His productions paired the widescreen euphoria of Dutch dance with the grit of electro house, helping push festival dance music toward the center of the American pop charts.
the sound in question
2010
Take Over ControlAFROJACK
walk the tributaries ↓
Tiësto2000s · Trance / Electronic dance music / Progressive house
Afrojack has named his fellow Dutch DJ Tiësto — the producer who turned trance into stadium-sized spectacle — among his influences, and his own anthems inherit that countryman's taste for a long, sky-reaching melodic build before the release.
listen: upstream & here
2005
Adagio for StringsTiësto
2014
Ten Feet TallAFROJACK
listen forThrow on Tiësto's trance rework of Barber's 'Adagio for Strings' and sit with its slow, string-driven swell, then cue the chorus lift of 'Ten Feet Tall' — hear how both delay the payoff, stacking a soaring, major-key melody until the drop finally opens up.
Daft Punk1990s–2000s · House / French house / Electronic / Disco
Afrojack cites Daft Punk as an influence and points newcomers to their 1997 album 'Homework' as proof of dance music's range; you can hear that French-house lineage in the way he loops and filters a single funk-derived phrase into a hypnotic hook.
listen: upstream & here
1997
Around the WorldDaft Punk
2012
Rock the HouseAFROJACK
listen forPlay Daft Punk's 'Around the World,' with its endlessly repeating, filter-swept groove and vocoded title phrase, then drop into 'Rock the House' — notice how Afrojack builds the track on the same trick, riding a tight, filtered loop and one chanted phrase rather than a conventional verse.
Swedish House Mafia2010s · Progressive house / EDM / Electro house
Afrojack has singled out the Swedish house producers behind Swedish House Mafia — Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso and Steve Angello — as a key early inspiration, saying their records sounded so 'fat' that they pushed him toward bigger, thicker productions of his own.
listen: upstream & here
2010
2011
No BeefAFROJACK
listen forCue the drop of Swedish House Mafia's 'One' and feel its huge, sawtooth-stacked chord stabs, then hit 'No Beef' — hear Afrojack chase that same wall-of-synths heft, trading melody for a fat, distorted lead built to level a festival crowd.