Happy hardcore, also known as 4-beat or happycore, is a subgenre of hardcore dance music or "hard dance". It emerged both from the UK breakbeat hardcore rave scene, and Belgian, German and Dutch hardcore techno scenes in the early 1990s. The thing that makes happy hardcore stand apart from gabber, is that happy hardcore tends to have breakbeats running alongside the 4/4 kick drum.
Antony de Vit was an English DJ and music producer. He is considered one of the most influential of his generation. He was credited with helping to take the "hard house" and fast "hard NRG" sounds out of the London and Birmingham gay scene into mainstream clubs. His single "Burning Up" reached number 25 on the UK Singles Chart in March 1995, with "To the Limit" making number 44 in September 1995. During that year, he won BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix of the Year Award, as voted by listeners of the show, and Music Week's re-mix of Year Award for Louise's "Naked". He remixed several UK top 40 hits during his career with artists such as Taylor Dayne and East 17. Between 1994 and 1998 his popularity with the clubbing public was rivaled by only Paul Oakenfold and Carl Cox. In September 2010, Mixmag UK announced the nominations of 35 DJs chosen by other big names in the world of dance music as those they considered the best DJs ever. A subsequent 15-month survey, which polled hundreds of thousands of global votes, asked who was the "greatest DJ of all time" and when the result was announced in January 2011, de Vit was ranked number 9.
Bouncy techno is a hardcore dance music rave style that developed in the early 1990s from Scotland and Northern England. Described as an accessible gabber-like form, it was popularised by Scottish DJ and music producer Scott Brown under numerous aliases and Ultra-Sonic who were formed in Ayrshire.
UK hard house or simply hard house is a style of electronic dance music that emerged in the early 1990s and is synonymous with its association to the Trade club and the associated DJs there that created the style. It often features a speedy tempo, offbeat bass stabs, hoovers and horns. It usually contains a break in the middle of the track where no drums are present. UK hard house often uses a long and sharp string note to create suspense. Most of the time, the drops are introduced by a drum roll.
DJ Sharkey is a British record producer, disc jockey and rapper. As of September 2011 he is semi-retired from music production and performance. Sharkey has performed in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Canada, and Japan.
Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and festivals. It is generally produced for playback by DJs who create seamless selections of tracks, called a DJ mix, by segueing from one recording to another. EDM producers also perform their music live in a concert or festival setting in what is sometimes called a live PA. Since its inception EDM has expanded to include a wide range of subgenres.
Matthew Nelson, better known as DJ Slipmatt, is a British electronic music producer and DJ. He was one half of breakbeat hardcore group SL2, who had a 1992 UK hit with "On a Ragga Tip".
DJ Dougal, is a British UK Hardcore and Happy Hardcore artist and DJ.
Don Pepijn Schipper, better known by his stage name Don Diablo, is a Dutch DJ, digital artist, record producer, musician and songwriter of electronic dance music. He is one of the pioneers of the future house genre and was ranked sixth in the Top 100 DJs – 2020 list by DJ Mag. He was also ranked number one Producer of the Year for 2018 by 1001Tracklists. In 2016, he was ranked the number one Future House Artist of the Year on Beatport.
Amber D is a British hard dance DJ from Staffordshire. She produces and DJs a variety of genres including Hard House, Trance, Hard Techno and Hard Trance. As Amber D’Amour she plays house, electro, fidget, and tech house.
Morten Breum, better known by his artist name Morten, is a Danish DJ and producer, together with David Guetta he developed and created the sound known as “future rave”.
Dowster or DJ Dowster, also known as David Thomas,, is a Welsh record producer, singer-songwriter and disc jockey from Cwmbran in South Wales. David has been involved in the rave scene since 1998 and his love of the music lead him to begin his DJ career in In 2001, Dowster was signed to Raver Baby Records by its owner DJ Hixxy to become part of the original Raver Baby Collective. This collective, known at the time as the RBC, included some of the UK Hardcore scene's leading DJs and MCs – Hixxy, Breeze, Darren Styles, UFO, MC Storm and MC Whizzkid. In addition to his DJ bookings and single releases within this period, Dowster's solo and collaborative studio projects can be found on certain volumes of the highly successful Bonkers series as well as other leading names in UK hardcore compilation albums. Three of his most popular tracks were "Starlight", "Steps Ahead" and "Here We Go".
Robbert van de Corput, known professionally as Hardwell, is a Dutch DJ and music producer from Breda. He was voted the world's number one DJ by DJ Mag in 2013 and again in 2014. In 2022, he was ranked at number 43 in the top 100 DJs poll by DJ Mag. He is best known for his sets at music festivals, including Ultra Music Festival, Sunburn and Tomorrowland.
Olivier "Oliver" J. L. Heldens is a Dutch DJ and electronic music producer from Rotterdam. He is regarded as a pioneer of the future house genre, propelling it to international attention and scoring numerous chart successes, including "Gecko (Overdrive)", "Last All Night (Koala)", "The Right Song", "Fire in My Soul", and "Turn Me On". He also produces techno songs under the alias HI-LO, which comes from "Oli H" in reversed form, runs the label Heldeep Records and later runs the label HILOMATIK. Through February 2021, he is the 460th-most-streamed artist on Spotify, with over a billion cumulative streams.
Corey Soljan, better known by his artistic name Code Black, is an Australian hardstyle-DJ and music producer.
Fracus & Darwin are a British DJ and production duo, known for producing a variety of electronic music styles. They have been guests on BBC Radio 1 and have performed at clubs and festivals across the world.
Rave Republic is a DJ duo, based out of Singapore. They are currently ranked number 92 on DJ Mag's Top 100 DJs. Rave Republic are best known for their pop-EDM crossover productions which have topped charts across the region. They are also known for performing on the main stage at major festivals such as Ultra Singapore and Electric Daisy Carnival, China. Rave Republic was signed to Warner Music Singapore and have released records on most major mainstream and electronic labels.
Hannah Laing is a Scottish disc jockey and electronic music producer from Dundee specialising in high energy trance, techno, and hard house. In 2023, she was nominated for a DJ Mag Best of Britain award. Laing has been regularly featured on BBC Radio 1, including performing a two-hour Essential Mix.
The Tidy Boys are a UK-based hard dance music duo formed of Andy Pickles and Amadeus Mozart. They are known for creating the Tidy Trax record label, and their hard house DJ and production work. Pickles and Mozart are also known as Hyperlogic, the Handbaggers, and Untidy Dubs.
