DJ Paul Elstak

This article is about the Dutch DJ, rapper and producer. For the American DJ, rapper and producer, seeDJ Paul.

Paul Elstak
Elstak in 2011
Background information
Birth name	Paul Roger Elstak
Also known as	DJ Paul Elstak
Born	(1966-01-14)14 January 1966
Origin	The Hague,South Holland,Netherlands
Genres	Hardcore happy hardcore gabber mainstream hardcore
Occupation(s)	Producer, DJ
Years active	1987–present
Website	djpaulelstak.nl

Paul Roger Elstak(known professionally asDJ Paul Elstak;born 14 January 1966 inThe Hague) is a Dutchhardcore/gabberandhappy hardcoreDJand record producer ofSurinamesedescent.He used to use his full name to create happy hardcore and DJ Paul for hardcore gabber, but when he started Offensive Records in 2001, he started using both names for gabber.

Biography

During World War II Elstak's grandfather went fromSurinameto the Dutch East Indies to fight for the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (Dutch: Koninklijk Nederlands-Indisch Leger – KNIL), against Japan. His father was born in Jakarta. After independence, his family moved to the Netherlands, to The Hague.

In 1987 his career as a DJ started when he was hired as a DJ atRotterdamDiscothèque Bluetiek-Inn. Here he played with the Dutchhouse musicpioneerPeter Slaghuis.During this time, he collaborated with Rob Fabrie and Richard van Naamen to form Holy Noise, with whom he released a string of releases on the Hithouse record label (owned by Slaghuis). In 1991, Holy Noise had their biggest success with their release "James Brown Is Still Alive". This release was a reply to the song "James Brown Is Dead"byL.A. Style.

In 1992, Elstak created his own record label,Rotterdam Records(under the flag of Mid-Town Records) to releasehardcore techno,mostlygabberandhappy hardcore.The first release on this label was a Holy Noise release under the guise of De Euromasters, releasingAmsterdam Waar Lech Dat Dan?( "Amsterdam, Where Is That?"). This record was an implicit complaint about the Dutch media paying most attention to Amsterdam and not to Rotterdam.

In 1995, he released the first DJ Paul Elstak single, "Life Is Like a Dance". After this record, a few commercial releases followed. "Rainbow in the Sky"was the most successful of these, selling 50,000 copies in 1995. Several of his singles reached theDutch Top 40in the mid-1990s.After two years, Elstak decided to leave the commercial dance scene and devote his time releasinggabber.

In 2001, he left Mid-Town and Rotterdam Records to start a new record label at Rige Entertainment, called Offensive Records. To this day, Elstak still releases hardcore on this imprint in his own typical style.

Elstak co-wrote and co-produced the song "Europapa"by Dutch rapperJoost Klein,which came out on 29 February 2024 andrepresented the Netherlandsin theEurovision Song Contest 2024.

External links

• Discogs page