Adding to the recent string of DJ performances at the Mullins Center this fall is Nick van de Wall, more widely recognized as Afrojack. The 24-year-old Netherlands native burst onto the mainstream American music scene in 2010 after being featured with well-known artists.
Though Afrojack’s American popularity came last year, the DJ has been a big part of the European club scene since 2006 when he began producing his own mixes. His first independent release “Afrojack – In Your Face” landed at No. 60 in the Dutch Top 100 and No. 3 in the Dutch dance Top 30.
The following year, he continued production and at the age of 19 began to earn recognition from other popular European DJs such as Josh Wink, Dave Clarke, Laidback Luke and Benny Rodrigues.
By 2008, Afrojack’s original singles “Math” and “Do My Dance” earned sufficient praise to secure him an appearance at some of the long-running and popular European music festivals such as Mystery Land, Tomorrowland and Sensation.
In 2009, artist and fellow DJ David Guetta decided to collaborate with Afrojack. From this collaboration came a remix of Guetta’s smash hit “Sexy Bitch” and “Toyfriend.” After this original meeting, the pair would go on to later release singles “Louder Than Words” and “Lunar.” Earlier this year, the team was awarded an American Grammy Award for their production of Madonna’s recently recorded song “Revolver.”
Afrojack had already established himself as one of Europe’s leading DJs before he came across the pond. Last year he was invited to play at some of the world’s biggest dance and electric festivals including Pache Ibiza, Miami Ultra Music Festival and Electric Daisy Carnival in Los Angelos. In the past year, Afrojack has also worked with many mainstream artists such as Steve Aoki, Kid Cudi and Black Eyed Peas.
Arguably, Afrojack’s most famous appearance has been alongside Pitbull in this year’s smash hit “Give Me Everything,” which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 this past summer. Some of his remixes have included “Make Her Say” originally by Kanye West and Kid Cudi, “Boom Boom Pow” originally by the Black Eyed Peas and “La La La” originally by LMFAO, among others.
Afrojack is also a producer and has been featured in the production work of some huge hits this year. He was a featured producer and writer of Chris Brown’s “Look At Me Now” which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. He also co-wrote Beyonce’s single “Run The World (Girls)” which peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Recently, Afrojack was nominated for Holland’s Edison Pop Award for his single featuring Dutch songstress Eva Simons titled “Take Over Control.” The electro-dance tune is currently popular among American listeners as well, holding steady at No. 43 on the Billboard Hot 100. The track flew up the European charts upon its release in the summer of 2010, peaking at No. 1 on the Hungary Dance Top 40, the Poland Dance Top 50, U.S. Hot Dance Airplay and the U.S. Heatseekers Songs. The song reached the Top 50 lists in other European countries such as Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Scotland as well.
Appearing at the Mullins Center will be a stop on Afrojack’s tour that spans the United States and Europe. Playing the Mullins Center will be a different type of venue for the DJ, considering most of his appearances tend to be at clubs or festivals. Afrojack’s Halloween rolls into the Mullins Center on Tuesday, Oct. 25. Ticket prices range from $38.00 to $47.00.
Ashley Berger can be reached at [email protected].
