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R3HAB (real name Fadil El Ghoul; born 2 April 1986 in Breda, Netherlands) is a Dutch-Moroccan DJ, music producer and remixer. Beginning his career during the rise of electro house and Dutch festival EDM in the late 2000s, he moved through big room, future house and future bounce before developing a more melodic dance-pop sound and a catalogue of global crossover collaborations. R3HAB is also the founder of his own label, CYB3RPVNK.
Breda, Moroccan roots and the origin of the name R3HAB
Fadil El Ghoul was born in the Netherlands to a family of Moroccan origin. The musician has emphasised that both sides of his background influenced the way he thinks about music: the electronic culture of the Netherlands shaped his interest in production and dance music, while his Moroccan heritage influenced his perception of rhythm and melody. This connection became especially clear much later, when part of his third album was created in Marrakech.
His stage name has an unexpectedly non-musical origin. In an interview with Beatportal, R3HAB explained that R3HAB was originally his username in StarCraft. Over time, the gaming nickname became his artist name and remained with him throughout his professional career.
R3HAB’s birth and the beginning of his career are closely connected with Breda, a city that produced several notable figures from the Dutch electronic music scene. His own path, however, developed primarily through studio work: even before reaching international festivals, El Ghoul had already gained recognition as a producer and creator of aggressive club remixes.
Mrkrstft and the first steps
One of R3HAB’s earliest recordings was Mrkrstft, which appeared around 2007–2008. The track received a remix from Hardwell, who was also at the beginning of his international career at the time. This period is generally regarded as the starting point of R3HAB’s professional activity.
The next important stage was associated with Afrojack and his Wall Recordings label. In 2011, R3HAB and Afrojack released the collaborative single Prutataaa — a characteristic blend of Dutch house and electro house driven by the hard festival energy of the era. Working with Afrojack helped R3HAB establish himself among the producers who would soon become central figures in the global EDM boom.
The “Chainsaw” era and his career as a remixer
Before R3HAB’s own singles began accumulating hundreds of millions of streams, a significant part of his international reputation was built through remixes.
In the early 2010s, he reworked tracks by Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Calvin Harris, David Guetta, Jennifer Lopez and other pop and dance artists. The hard-edged synthesiser sound of his early productions became so recognisable that it came to be associated with the terms “Chainsaw” and “Chainsaw Madness”, wording that was also used in the titles of some official remixes.
The years 2011–2012 were particularly productive. Notable works from this period included remixes of We Found Love by Rihanna and Calvin Harris, Marry the Night by Lady Gaga, The One That Got Away by Katy Perry, Without You by David Guetta and Usher, and Calling (Lose My Mind) by Sebastian Ingrosso and Alesso. It was his remix work that opened R3HAB up to a much broader audience than his early club releases had reached.
From Revolution to How We Party: festival EDM
By 2013–2015, R3HAB had become a prominent figure in the era of large-scale festival EDM. His music during this period was centred on electro house and big room: massive drops, short melodic hooks and arrangements designed for major stages.
In 2013, he released Revolution with NERVO and Ummet Ozcan. It was followed by Samurai (Go Hard), Flashlight with Deorro and one of the most characteristic records of the period, How We Party with VINAI, released by Spinnin’ Records in August 2014. The label itself described the track directly as big room.
During the same period, R3HAB collaborated with KSHMR, Headhunterz, Calvin Harris, Bassjackers and other producers. However, he did not permanently tie his career to the big room formula. As the dance market evolved, his music became more melodic, more concise and increasingly centred on vocal compositions.
Trouble — the move into an independent album career
His first full-length studio album, Trouble, was released on 15 September 2017. It contained 17 tracks and was issued independently through R3HAB MUSIC. The album included Trouble with VÉRITÉ, I Just Can't with Quintino, Icarus, You Could Be with Khrebto and other recordings.
Trouble marked an important change. Rather than building the album entirely around festival instrumentals, R3HAB made vocals a central part of his musical language. His production became less dependent on the characteristic aggression of early electro house and incorporated more future house, future bass and dance-pop.
The album reached No. 9 on Billboard’s Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart, confirming that R3HAB could operate not only as a producer of individual EDM singles and remixes.
The Wave and the definitive turn towards dance-pop
Just one year later, on 24 August 2018, R3HAB released his second studio album, The Wave. It consisted of 16 tracks and pushed his music even further towards melodic crossover dance.
The album included Lullaby with Mike Williams, The Wave with Lia Marie Johnson, Hold on Tight with Conor Maynard, Ain't That Why with Krewella, Radio Silence with Jocelyn Alice and Rumors with Sofia Carson. The Wave reached No. 10 on Billboard’s Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart.
This period fundamentally changed R3HAB’s position within the scene. He retained the ability to release harder festival tracks while simultaneously becoming a producer who could work naturally with pop vocalists and shorter radio-oriented formats.
All Around The World, Flames and a global dance approach
After two albums, R3HAB returned primarily to a singles-driven model. One of the biggest successes of this period was All Around The World (La La La), a modern reworking of A Touch of Class’s Around the World (La La La La La). The track received platinum certifications and became one of the most popular recordings in R3HAB’s catalogue.
Another notable crossover release was Flames, recorded with ZAYN and Jungleboi. In the following years, R3HAB increasingly built his career around international collaborations, working with artists far beyond the traditional EDM environment.
This approach gradually became one of the defining features of his discography. R3HAB worked with Ava Max, Jonas Blue, Luis Fonsi, Sean Paul, Armin van Buuren, Jason Derulo, INNA, Amy Shark, Sofia Carson, CHUNG HA and artists from Asian and Middle Eastern markets. His music could range from festival EDM and bass house to dance-pop, future bounce and softer vocal house.
CYB3RPVNK — R3HAB’s independent platform
His own label CYB3RPVNK played an important role in giving him this freedom. According to its current official history, R3HAB launched the imprint in 2016. It was created not as a platform for one narrow genre, but as independent infrastructure for his own music and releases by other electronic artists.
CYB3RPVNK subsequently allowed R3HAB to release a substantial part of his catalogue independently while still working with major companies on selected projects. By the mid-2020s, the imprint’s catalogue itself had accumulated billions of streams.
The brand is also associated with CYB3RPVNK Radio, R3HAB’s weekly show featuring his own music and new dance releases. The radio format has a longer history: before CYB3RPVNK, he hosted the programme I NEED R3HAB, while in 2018 a separate version of the show began airing on Billboard Radio China.
From Sad Boy to Rock My Body
During the first half of the 2020s, R3HAB’s catalogue became especially international.
In 2021, he joined Jonas Blue, Ava Max and Kylie Cantrall on Sad Boy. In 2022, this was followed by Sway My Way with Australian singer Amy Shark, Call Me with Gabry Ponte and Timmy Trumpet, and Worlds on Fire with Afrojack and Au/Ra.
In 2023, R3HAB and Afrojack continued their collaboration with Shockwave, while R3HAB also released Rock My Body with INNA and Sash!, based on musical material from the classic Sash! dance hit Ecuador.
Later releases included Run Free (Countdown) with Tiësto, Sleep Tonight (This Is the Life) with Switch Disco and Sam Feldt, Electricity with FAST BOY and Animal with Jason Derulo. These tracks demonstrate how far the mature R3HAB sound had moved beyond a single big room EDM formula.
Return to the album format
After The Wave, R3HAB went almost eight years without releasing another studio album. Instead, he focused on a constant stream of singles and international collaborations.
A new album phase began to take shape during sessions in Thailand and Marrakech. According to R3HAB, travelling directly influenced the material, while working in Morocco gave him an opportunity to connect the electronic influences of his Dutch upbringing more consciously with melodic and rhythmic elements rooted in his Moroccan heritage.
The result was his third studio album, Dream inside a dream…, released on 31 July 2026 through CYB3RPVNK and Island Berlin in association with Universal Music Germany. The record contains 12 tracks and became a considerably more personal work than his previous albums.
Guest contributors include Izzy Bizu, Rhodes and Orem, while the voice of meditation specialist Jason Stephenson appears at the beginning and end of the album. One particularly notable moment is the track Right here…, on which R3HAB performs vocals himself for the first time.
Musically, Dream inside a dream… moves away from the need to constantly deliver festival drops. The album centres on melodic house, vocal electronic music and more cinematic production, while its broader themes include success, identity, doubt and the attempt to preserve a sense of the present after achieving goals the artist had pursued for many years.
International stage and DJ Mag
R3HAB became a regular presence at the world’s largest dance festivals and over the course of his career has performed at Tomorrowland, Ultra Music Festival, EDC, Coachella, Summer Sonic, Balaton Sound and other major international events. He has built an especially strong audience outside Europe, including in China, Japan and other parts of Asia.
In the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs ranking, his highest position has been No. 12, which he reached in both 2018 and 2021. His positions have changed along with the development of the scene: for example, he ranked No. 18 in 2024 and No. 28 in 2025. As with other artists, the ranking reflects the results of an annual public vote rather than a professional assessment of musical quality.
How R3HAB’s sound evolved
R3HAB’s career can conveniently be viewed as a sequence of distinct musical periods.
At the beginning, Dutch house and electro house dominated, with hard synthesiser sounds and the characteristic “chainsaw” aesthetic. During the festival boom of the first half of the 2010s, big room house and mainstage EDM became central. His production then shifted towards future house, future bounce and future bass, while the release of Trouble and The Wave greatly increased the role of vocals and dance-pop.
At the same time, R3HAB never abandoned club-oriented material. Big room and bass house continue to coexist in his catalogue alongside pop-oriented singles and calmer melodic electronic music. For this reason, describing R3HAB exclusively as a progressive house or future house DJ is too narrow: his catalogue represents several successive eras of commercial electronic music.
R3HAB discography
Studio albums
- 2017 — Trouble — debut studio album; 17 tracks, R3HAB MUSIC.
- 2018 — The Wave — second studio album; 16 tracks, CYB3RPVNK.
- 2026 — Dream inside a dream… — third studio album; 12 tracks, CYB3RPVNK / Island Berlin.
Selected singles and collaborations
- 2008 — Mrkrstft
- 2011 — Prutataaa — with Afrojack
- 2013 — Revolution — with NERVO and Ummet Ozcan
- 2014 — Samurai (Go Hard)
- 2014 — How We Party — with VINAI
- 2014 — Burnin' — with Calvin Harris
- 2015 — Karate — with KSHMR
- 2015 — Strong — with KSHMR
- 2017 — Trouble — with VÉRITÉ
- 2018 — Lullaby — with Mike Williams
- 2018 — The Wave — with Lia Marie Johnson
- 2019 — All Around The World (La La La) — with A Touch of Class
- 2019 — Flames — with ZAYN and Jungleboi
- 2020 — Creep — with GATTÜSO
- 2021 — Sad Boy — with Jonas Blue, Ava Max and Kylie Cantrall
- 2022 — Sway My Way — with Amy Shark
- 2022 — Worlds on Fire — with Afrojack and Au/Ra
- 2023 — Shockwave — with Afrojack
- 2023 — Rock My Body — with INNA and Sash!
- 2024 — Run Free (Countdown) — with Tiësto
- 2024 — Sleep Tonight (This Is the Life) — with Switch Disco and Sam Feldt
- 2024 — Electricity — with FAST BOY
- 2024 — Animal — with Jason Derulo
- 2025 — I'll Be Waiting — with INNA
- 2025 — All My Life
- 2025 — Sunny — with Boney M.
- 2025 — Voodoo — with Martin Garrix and Skytech
- 2026 — I had a dream… — with Izzy Bizu
- 2026 — Right here…
R3HAB’s catalogue is significantly larger than this list and includes a substantial number of standalone singles, remixes and international collaborations.
R3HAB’s place in contemporary dance music
R3HAB belongs to the generation of Dutch producers who reached the international stage immediately before the global EDM explosion of the early 2010s. However, the longevity of his career is not explained by preserving a single signature technique, but rather by the opposite: a constant evolution of his musical language.
He moved from hard electro house remixes and big room festivals to independent albums, vocal dance-pop, international pop collaborations and his own label infrastructure. At the same time, R3HAB retained the ability to return to club and mainstage sounds without turning the more melodic phase of his career into a complete rejection of EDM.
The album Dream inside a dream… added another dimension to that story: after years of intensive single releases, R3HAB once again used the full-length album as a self-contained artistic statement and, for the first time, connected his music directly with his Dutch-Moroccan background. His catalogue today therefore represents not one specific EDM genre, but several successive eras of electronic dance music through which he has moved while maintaining the recognisability of the R3HAB name.
