Armand Van Helden

• Genre: House
• Hometown: NYC
• Armand Van Helden Website

About

Dubbed a "serious contender for meanest-looking DJ in the world" by Muzik magazine, Armand Van Helden repeatedly scores high on the likability meter among global dance music audiences. One of House music's top producers -- with a style rooted in '80s hip-hop, '70s Disco, and such successive dance categories as techno, trance, tribal house, and jungle/drum 'n' bass -- this fierce player is also the Pop musician's choice of remixer. A pioneer of the speed Garage sound, he is best known for his lethal, bass-heavy reworkings of the Sneaker Pimps' "Spin Spin Sugar," Ace of Base's "Living in Danger," and CJ Bolland's "Sugar is Sweeter." Firing off New York-focused, progressive house beats like missiles targeting international clubbing centers, Van Helden reigns over the worldwide house movement with the force of a dictator.

- Melissa Piazza