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Afrojack — is a Dutch DJ, music producer and songwriter whose real name is Nick Leonardus van de Wall. He was born on 9 September 1987 in Spijkenisse, South Holland. He gained widespread recognition around the turn of the 2000s and 2010s thanks to his distinctive electro house and dirty Dutch sound, and later became one of the prominent figures of the international EDM boom. His discography includes Take Over Control, Can't Stop Me, Ten Feet Tall, The Spark, No Beef, Turn Up the Speakers and numerous collaborations with David Guetta, Pitbull, Steve Aoki, Martin Garrix and other artists.
Early years
Nick van de Wall began playing piano at around the age of five. At 11, he became interested in making music on a computer and experimented with FastTracker, Magix Music Maker, Sound Forge and other software before moving to Fruity Loops, later renamed FL Studio. The programme became one of his main production tools.
As a teenager, van de Wall became familiar with Rotterdam’s club scene and began securing his first small DJ bookings. In 2006, he spent around five months in Crete, where he regularly played in clubs while continuing to work on his own music.
After returning to the Netherlands, his material attracted the attention of the Digidance label with support from Sidney Samson and Laidback Luke.
Afrojack’s first releases
One of the first notable recordings released under the Afrojack name was In Your Face. The track appeared in 2006 and reached number 60 on the Dutch Single Top 100.
Afrojack subsequently developed a hard-edged club house sound built around sharp synthesiser parts, distinctive rhythmic breaks and elements of the style that became known as dirty Dutch.
Early recordings from this period include Drop Down (Do My Dance) with The Partysquad, Pacha on Acid, Bangduck, Polkadots and other club releases.
WALL Recordings
In 2007, Afrojack founded WALL Recordings. The label initially served as a platform for his own music but gradually developed into a full-scale music brand and a platform for other electronic producers.
Artists associated with WALL at various stages have included R3HAB, Quintino, Shermanology and other representatives of the Dutch club scene. The brand later expanded into artist development and educational initiatives for producers.
Take Over Control
Afrojack’s international breakthrough came in 2010 with the release of Take Over Control featuring Dutch singer Eva Simons.
The track combined Afrojack’s electro house production with a vocal pop hook and became one of the most recognisable EDM recordings of the early decade. In the United States, Take Over Control reached number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent six weeks at number one on Dance/Mix Show Airplay. In the United Kingdom, the single entered the Top 40.
The success of the track coincided with growing international interest in the Dutch festival house scene and significantly expanded Afrojack’s audience beyond club-oriented electronic music.
Grammy and collaboration with David Guetta
During the same period, Afrojack began working closely with David Guetta.
One of their most important projects was the Madonna remix Revolver (David Guetta's One Love Club Remix). At the 53rd Grammy Awards in 2011, David Guetta and Afrojack won Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical for the track. It remains Afrojack’s only Grammy win; the Recording Academy lists four nominations in total for his career.
Afrojack continued working with Guetta repeatedly in the following years. Their shared discography includes Lunar, Another Life, Hero and other recordings.
Hero, released by David Guetta and Afrojack in 2021, was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Dance/Electronic Recording category.
Give Me Everything and work with pop artists
In 2011, Afrojack served as a co-writer and producer on Give Me Everything — the single by Pitbull featuring Ne-Yo and Nayer.
The track became a major international pop hit. In the United Kingdom, it spent three weeks at number one on the official singles chart, while in the United States it also topped the Billboard Hot 100.
His work on Give Me Everything demonstrated that Afrojack’s production style could be applied not only to club instrumentals but also to large-scale pop productions.
During this period, he also worked with Madonna, Beyoncé, Chris Brown, Leona Lewis, Snoop Dogg and other artists.
Afrojack was also among the writers of Chris Brown’s Look at Me Now. The track received a Grammy nomination in 2012 for Best Rap Song.
No Beef, Can't Stop Me and festival EDM
At the same time, Afrojack continued releasing club-oriented material.
In 2011, he teamed up with Steve Aoki for No Beef. The track reached number 26 on the UK chart and became one of the characteristic electro house productions of the early international EDM boom.
In 2012, Afrojack and Shermanology released Can't Stop Me, which entered the Top 10 of the Dutch chart.
Other recordings from this period include Rock the House, As Your Friend featuring Chris Brown and additional releases.
In 2014, Afrojack teamed up with Martin Garrix to create Turn Up the Speakers — one of the best-known festival collaborations in both producers’ catalogues.
Forget the World
In May 2014, Afrojack released his debut studio album Forget the World.
The record represented an attempt to translate his club production style into a full-length artist album and included both EDM tracks and material with a more pronounced pop structure.
Key singles included The Spark featuring Spree Wilson and Ten Feet Tall featuring Wrabel. The album also featured contributions from Sting, Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Matthew Koma and other performers.
In the United States, Forget the World debuted at number 32 on the Billboard 200. Reviews from the music press were mixed, so describing the album as universally “critically acclaimed” would be inaccurate.
Music after Forget the World
After his debut album, Afrojack returned primarily to a singles-based release strategy.
Over the following years, he released SummerThing!, Gone, Used to Have It All, Another Life, Dirty Sexy Money, All Night, Hero and other tracks.
In 2018, he released the EP Press Play, once again placing greater emphasis on club production and harder electronic music.
In the years that followed, Afrojack continued to combine major vocal collaborations with music created specifically for DJ sets.
NLW and Kapuchon
In addition to his main Afrojack identity, Nick van de Wall uses several alternative projects.
Under the alias NLW, derived from his surname van de Wall, he releases more club-oriented electronic music. The project remains active: in 2026, Afrojack presented, among other material, the new NLW track Tropic Thunder on JACKED Radio.
Kapuchon represents a separate musical direction. Under this name, van de Wall explores deeper house, tech house and techno sounds that differ considerably from Afrojack’s festival sets.
In 2024, Kapuchon released Work with Sven Fields on SB Recordings, while Afrojack also used the alias for special performances, including at Ultra Music Festival Miami.
For this reason, it would be inaccurate to reduce Afrojack’s experimental side solely to NLW: NLW and Kapuchon are separate creative projects.
JACKED Radio
In 2011, Afrojack launched JACKED Radio — a weekly radio show featuring new electronic music, his own releases and material from other producers.
The earliest episodes date back to the summer of 2011, and the programme continues to air more than a decade later. In February 2026, Afrojack’s official channel published, for example, episode number 746.
Every Wednesday at 20:00, JACKED Radio airs on Minatrix.FM.
Musical style
Afrojack’s early sound is primarily associated with electro house and dirty Dutch — a Dutch form of club house characterised by sharp synthesiser parts, syncopated rhythms and a minimalist yet aggressive structure.
In the early 2010s, the producer adapted this approach to a larger-scale festival EDM aesthetic while simultaneously working increasingly with pop, hip-hop and R&B artists. Apple Music links his early work specifically with dirty Dutch and his later career with the expansion of that sound into international EDM and pop production.
His range later expanded to include progressive house, big room, bass house, tech house and techno. The NLW and Kapuchon projects allow Afrojack to release more club-focused material separately from his main pop and festival catalogue.
Recognition
Afrojack won a Grammy Award in 2011 for the Madonna Revolver remix created with David Guetta. To date, his career includes one Grammy win and four nominations.
In 2012, he received the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Dutch Act.
Afrojack has also maintained high positions in the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs for many years. He ranked seventh in 2024 and finished at number 8 in the 2025 ranking.
His touring history includes performances at Tomorrowland, Ultra Music Festival, Electric Daisy Carnival and other major electronic music festivals.
Current phase
Afrojack continues to develop his main artist project alongside WALL Recordings, NLW and Kapuchon.
In 2024, DJ Mag highlighted his return to more underground-oriented Kapuchon sets as well as the development of the educational initiative WALL PRO Academy.
In 2025, Afrojack remained in the Top 10 of the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs while continuing to release both festival-oriented music and more club-focused material.
In April 2026, Afrojack, David Guetta and Sia released Awake Tonight, continuing their long-running studio collaboration.
