This year, Afrojack somewhat took the power back... again: his now 12-year-old label Wall Recordings started out as a sub-label of Spinnin’ Records, then went independent for a year, then became a sub-label to Armada Music, but in 2019 went independent again. 

That move no doubt gives the Dutch dance legend more creative freedom and control to do what he wants when he wants. As such, he has put out music from Slay, Chico Rose and Buzz Low, who has risen to prominence since winning the label’s first global remix competition last year. The second edition has just ended as we go to press and may well unearth the next Afrojack. 

The boss himself, who recently turned 32 and still spends much of his time traversing the planet on his own private jet, also put out new music this year. A collaboration with DubVision called ‘Back To Life’ is an unashamedly pop-leaning and stadium-pleasing house track, with sing-song chorus and maximal synths. Meanwhile, his ‘Bass Is Kicking’ track also landed as part of the second instalment of his ‘Press Play’ EP series which started last year, and it’s a colourful tune with rave synths that got road-tested at Tomorrowland and electrified the crowd. 

Amongst gigs everywhere from China and Japan to India and all across the United States, one of the other live standouts of his year was his performance at Ultra 2019, which was a visually explosive affair with plumes of fire going off while he dropped all manner of house, prog and electro, Cardi B edits, old school ’90s mash-ups and plenty more popping tunes in between. 

The best place to catch his latest sounds is on his Jack Radio show, on which he explores an even wider range of sounds than in the DJ booth. Whatever he is doing after all these years, Afrojack continues to connect with fans, who have kept him in the Top 20 of our poll since 2010, and the top 10 since 2016.