DJ Jean
Biography
DJ Jean, born Johannus Jan Engelaar, began his career in 1988 as a hip-hop DJ and won the national mixing championship.
He then worked for Rams Horn Records, handling disco and Hi-NRG record licensing for the European market.
In the early 1990s he made a major stylistic shift to commercial house and became a resident at the iT club in Amsterdam.
Known for his technical skill and versatility, he plays groovy club sets as well as trance and hardstyle.
His DJ career has taken him to more than twenty countries: clubs, major festivals and Dutch ID&T events such as Sensation, Innercity, Mysteryland and Dance Valley (each gathering over 40,000 people). He has also played festivals of similar scale in Australia, Poland, the United States, Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom, South Africa and elsewhere.
On the production side he gained worldwide fame with his anthem The Launch, which sold over one million copies globally.
He has won six “Best DJ” awards and been nominated more than fifteen times for honors such as the Silver Star Dance Awards (UK), the TMF Awards and the Basic Groove Dutch Dance Awards.
In recent years he has maintained several club residencies across the Netherlands, hosts a radio show every Friday evening on Radio 538 and continues to receive many national and international bookings.
Known for his energy and closeness to the audience, DJ Jean often dances among the crowd after his set.