Afrojack

Nick van de Wall (Dutch: [ˈnɪk fɑn də ˈʋɑl];[1] born 9 September 1987), better known as Afrojack,[2] is a Dutch-Surinamese DJ, record producer, and remixer from Spijkenisse. 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.[3] He is also the CEO of LDH Europe.[4]

In this Dutch name, the family name is Van de Wall, not Wall.
Afrojack
Afrojack in 2015
Background information
Birth nameNick Leonardus van de Wall
Also known asAfrojack, NLW, Kapuchon
Born (1987-09-09) 9 September 1987
Spijkenisse, South Holland, Netherlands
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • DJ
  • record producer
  • remixer
InstrumentsFL Studio
Years active2003–present
Labels
Associated acts
Websitewww.afrojack.com

Early life

Van de Wall was born and raised in Spijkenisse, Netherlands. His mother is Dutch and his father is Surinamese. He developed an interest in music at an early age and learned to play the piano at the age of five.[5] From a single-parent household, his mother Debbie owned a local gym. After leaving school, Van de Wall studied graphic design at the Grafisch Lyceum Rotterdam in Rotterdam for a year before embarking on a career as a DJ/producer.[5]

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.[5] 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 different countries.[6] 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.[7] Afrojack was listed as number 7 on the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs of 2011.[8] He ranked at number 9 on DJ Mag's Top 100 DJs of 2012.[9] In 2013, he ranked at number 9 again.[3]

In July 2010, Afrojack created an Essential Mix for BBC Radio 1.[10] 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 and Nayer. He also contributed to the single "Run the World (Girls)" by Beyoncé.[11] In January 2012 Afrojack received a European Border Breakers Award.[12] 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.[13]

In 2011, Afrojack co-produced music with many artists including David Guetta, Mike Brown and Madonna. In 2012, he was a headliner at a number of electronic dance music festivals, including Tomorrowland, Ultra Music Festival, and Coachella.[14]

His debut album, Forget the World, was released on 19 May 2014 to mixed reviews.[15]

On 17 March 2015, Afrojack was featured in David Guetta's single "Hey Mama" in which he co-produced with Guetta. The song featured him along with Nicki Minaj, and Bebe Rexha.[16] On 27 July 2017, he released the NLW EP[17] under the alias NLW.[18] 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. 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.[19]

On 28 April 2017, he released a new single "Another Life" collaborating with fellow DJ David Guetta featuring Ester Dean. On 7 September 2017, he released the single "No Tomorrow" featuring Belly, O.T. Genasis, and Ricky Breaker.[20]

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 2017 in Miami. In July 2018, at Tomorrowland in Boom, Belgium, he debuted many of his new tracks suck 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 will perform at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 In Rotterdam alongside Glennis Grace, however, the contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wall Recordings

Since 2007, Afrojack runs his own label, Wall Recordings, which represents producers including KIIDA, Apster, D-Wayne, D.O.D, Karim Mika, and others.[21] The label used to operate as a sub-label to Spinnin' Records 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 dated for six months while he was producing her second album.[22] He has a daughter, Vegas, from a previous relationship with Dutch model Amanda Balk.[23]

In 2019, Afrojack and Italian singer Elettra Lamborghini made their engagement public.[24]

Discography
Main article: Afrojack discography

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards
Year Category Nominee / work Result Ref.
2011 Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical "Revolver (David Guetta's One Love Club Remix)" Won [25]
2012 "Collide (Afrojack Remix)" Nominated
Best Rap Song "Look at Me Now" Nominated

MTV Europe Music Awards
Year Category Nominee / work Result Ref.
2011 Best Dutch Act Afrojack Nominated [26]
2012 Won [27]
Best European Act Nominated
2013 Best Electronic Nominated [28]
Best Dutch Act Nominated
2014 Best Electronic Nominated [29]
Best World Stage Performance WS Live in Amsterdam 2013 Nominated
2015 WS Live in Amsterdam 2015 Nominated [30]
2016 Best Electronic Afrojack Nominated [31]

DJ Magazine top 100 DJs
Year Position Notes Ref.
2010 19 New Entry [32]
2011 7 Up 12
2012 9 Down 2
2013 9 No Change
2014 12 Down 3
2015 8 Up 4
2016 10 Down 2
2017 8 Up 2
2018 8 No Change
2019 9 Down 1
gollark: You would also need a battery.
gollark: Meh, that's just* a hardware problem.
gollark: It would *utterly* fit in a coin, at least.
gollark: Really basic tiny embedded systems?
gollark: Maybe you could use advanced 3D stacking™ technology and solder it on top.

References
  1. In isolation, van is pronounced [vɑn].
  2. RA: Afrojack. Residentadvisor.net. Retrieved on 2011-01-06.
  3. Top 100 DJs 2013 search Archived 2013-01-08 at the Wayback Machine. DJ Mag. Retrieved on 2013-10-20.
  4. "LDH EUROPE | LDH - LOVE + DREAM + HAPPINESS TO THE WORLD -". LDH - LOVE + DREAM + HAPPINESS TO THE WORLD - (in Japanese). Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  5. van Rossum, Maarten (19 February 2013). "Interview: Afrojack". Maarten! (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 2014-11-29.
  6. "Afrojack Bio, Music, News & Shows". DJZ.com. Archived from the original on March 29, 2013. Retrieved March 6, 2013.
  7. Music Interview: DJ Afrojack. Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved on 2011-01-06.
  8. Top 100 DJs 2011 search Archived 2013-01-08 at the Wayback Machine. DJ Mag. Retrieved on 2011-01-06.
  9. Top 100 DJs 2012 search Archived 2013-01-08 at the Wayback Machine. DJ Mag. Retrieved on 2013-01-06.
  10. Radio 1 Programmes – BBC Radio 1's Essential Mix, Afrojack. BBC (2010-07-10). Retrieved on 2011-01-06.
  11. IMO Records. "Afrojack Biography", IMO Records, London, Retrieved on 25 January 2012.
  12. "Dutch dj Afrojack wins EBBA" Archived 2012-07-02 at the Wayback Machine, Sica.nl. Retrieved October 7, 2011
  13. "7. Afrojack - $18 million". Forbes.com.
  14. "Biography". Archived from the original on 2014-10-06.
  15. Metacritic score of 49, (accessed 19 November 2014).
  16. "Bebe Rexha Explains Why She Isn't (Officially) Featured on David Guetta's 'Hey Mama'". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  17. "NLW EP from Wall Recordings". Beatport.com. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  18. Lisander. "NLW, the new alias of the DJ Afrojack". Miami Global Radio. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  19. "Steve Aoki 'I'll Sleep When I'm Dead' Documentary Hits Netflix | The Nocturnal Times". thenocturnaltimes.com. Retrieved 2017-07-27.
  20. Billboard. "Afrojack's 'No Tomorrow' With Belly, O.T. Genasis, & Ricky Breaker: Listen". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  21. "Wall Recordings Releases & Artists on Beatport". Beatport.com.
  22. Steinman, Alex (May 30, 2012). "Paris Hilton dumped by DJ Afrojack". NY Daily News.
  23. Coulehan, Erin (October 9, 2013). "'March of the Afrojack' Includes Time to Reflect". Rolling Stone.
  24. "Elettra Lamborghini, Sanremo e il matrimonio. "Io e la mia canzone non vi deluderemo"". Il Resto del Carlino (in Italian). 2 January 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  25. "Afrojack". Grammy.com. The Recording Academy. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  26. "Voor het eerst Dutch MTV Award in Amsterdam". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 2018-11-14.
  27. "Afrojack wint MTV Best Dutch Act Award 2012". NPO 3FM (in Dutch). Retrieved 2018-11-14.
  28. "MTV EMA 2012 :: 11.11.2012 :: Frankfurt :: The 2013 MTV EMA Host City Is…AMSTERDAM!". Web.archive.org. 2013-01-26. Archived from the original on 2013-02-18. Retrieved 2018-03-15.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  29. Billboard (2014-11-09). "MTV EMA 2014: See the Full Winners List". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  30. "MTV EMAs 2015: Beste momenten" (in Dutch). 2015-10-26. Retrieved 2018-11-14.
  31. "Justin Bieber & Beyoncé Lead The 2016 MTV EMA Nominations – See The Full List! | MTV UK". Mtv.co.uk. 2016-09-27. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  32. "Poll 2018: Afrojack". DJMag.com!. Retrieved 2018-11-14.
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