This week’s TBT features a rising star in the progressive and electro house industry. Robbert Van De Corput was born on January 7, 1988, and spent his 25th birthday a couple of months ago recovering from his sold out New Years Eve show White Wonderland that took place in Anaheim, California, as he performed with Avicii, Sebastian Ingrosso, and Above & Beyond. Unlike previous years, Hardwell set the tone of the 2013 calendar year by being one of the headliners of the sold out show of White Wonderland as people came to see him along with Avicii, Ingrosoo, and A&B instead of him just being an “opening act”. At the young age of 25, Hardwell has seen himself become one of the young and upcoming Dutch Dj’s/producers to go along with many others in his country. He has began to follow in the footsteps of all the top dj’s by starting a weekly podcast called “Hardwell On Air” which has had very successful critical acclaim and has helped build up an immense following of loyal fans that help account for 458,000 followers on Twitter and 786,000 likes on his Facebook page. The 3 songs in this article are “Move it 2 the Drum”, “Encoded”, and “Zero 76.” 

Move it 2 the Drum (Feat. Chuckie) – 

This is a collaboration that was done in 2010 with Dj Chuckie who always brings a lot of fire and passion to every song he is involved in. The young career of Harwell which officially began in 2006 has always had him produce the same style of music which is that very distinct Dutch Electro House and even a little Progressive house from time to time. The distinction with Dutch productions and the rest of the world is those horn-like sounds that are present in the climax of the drops of the songs and a perfect example is in this production by Hardwell and Chuckie. 

Encoded – 

The beauty of some Hardwell songs, including this one is the fast paced tempo to go along with the diversity of drops in his productions. The fast paced tempo means that there seems to not be that much of a buildup like what you might hear in a trance song, and less buildup means more time for the drop. The drop of a song is essentially the most important part of the song because it is what a listener identifies when separating good and bad music.. Hardwell burst onto the EDM scene by creating unique drops in songs, but the difference between him and many other producers is that he actually uses multiple and different drops in a song, meaning that the first drop of the song is actually completely different from the second drop. Encoded is a perfect example of diverse drops and fast paced tempo as the 1st and 3rd drops are completely different from the 2nd and 4th drops plus there isn’t that long of a waiting period in between drops as there is a short buildup. In conclusion, Hardwell has the skill and talent to  produce a very compact, 6 minute song filled with different loops and drops that garner the attention and respect of many listeners who eventually gravitate to his style of creating music and thus making him one of the hottest 25 year olds in the industry.

Zero 76 – 

This song is a collaboration done with Tiësto and gave Hardwell some validity that he was here to stay long term even though he was already a dominating  force by the time this song was officially released on February 25, 2011. The date of this release is important because 2011 was the unofficial break out year for the young Dutchman, starting with this collaboration with the Dutch legend Tiësto, and followed by his two other chart toppers in Encoded and Cobra. It was only one month after the release of this song that Hardwell began his podcast in March of 2011. Hardwell On Air, which is broadcasted on more than 25 international radio stations, including Holland’s top dance station, SLAM! FM, Sirius XM in the US, and Radio FG in France and Belgium. Additionally, the podcast has a solid spot in the iTunes Top 10 Podcasts in more than 30 countries. It is easy to now see why his collaboration with Tiësto was so important since this paramount of success soon followed him and deservedly as there is no producer who is more passionate and dedicated in becoming an all around better person and dj than Robert Van De Corput.