Van Helden was born in Boston on February 17, 1970 to a Dutch-Indonesian father and a French-Lebanese mother, but travelled around the world as a child spending time in the Netherlands, Turkey and Italy, as his father was a member of the US Air Force. At the age of thirteen, he bought a drum machine and started DJing two years later.
He returned to Boston in 1988 but also moonlighted as a DJ in Boston clubs. He attended Boston University. He quit his legal review job in 1989 to work as a remixer/producer for Mega-Mixx Productions DJ Remix Service (co-founded by his long time manager, Neil Petricone) where he reworked and re-edited a number of club records for the DJ-only service, including Shawn Christopher's "Another Sleepless Night." He also took up an occupancy at 'The Loft', Boston's leading nightclub.
Mega-Mixx's success was short lived. Mismanagement brought the company to a halt in early 1991. Later that year, he and Petricone, along with founding A&R coordinator, Tony Zeoli, launched X-Mix Productions, a similar DJ Remix service, which still exists today (http://www.xmix.com). Catching the attention of legendary Strictly Rhythm and Nervous Records A&R guru, Glady Pizarro, in 1992 Van Helden released his first official single "Stay On My Mind" under the psuedonym Deep Creed, through Nervous Records.
He released "Move It To the Left" (credited to Sultans of Swing) in 1992 on the Strictly Rhythm label, which became a moderate club hit. His first track to make the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart was "Witch Doktor" which made the top 5 in 1994.
The success of "Witch Doktor" led to opportunities to remix acts such as The Real McCoy ("Another Night", New Order ("Bizarre Love Triangle"), Blondie ("Atomic), Capella ("U Got To Know"), Lightning Seeds ("Jackie Lucky"), Deep Forest ("Marta's Song"), Jimmy Somerville ("Heartbeat"), Deee-Lite ("Dewdrops In The Garden") and Faithless ("Insomnia"). However, it was the "Professional Widow" remix that established him and became a dance hit around the world as well as a number one hit in the UK. Unfortunately, Van Helden did not receive a penny for this mix as he presented it uncommissioned, and thus was not entitled to compensation. However, it led to work remixing The Rolling Stones, Janet Jackson, Britney Spears and Puff Daddy as well as Daft Punk and the Sneaker Pimps, and adding to his reputation as one of the world's top house musicians.
Within dance music circles, Van Helden is widely credited for the introduction of the U.K. bred Speed Garage sound to the U.S. club scene with incredible set of remixes. The sound, identifiable by its deep bass subtones, long melodic breaks, and devestatingly hard hitting beats are exemplified in the following remixes beginning in 1995 with Jimmy Somerville "Heartbeat"; CJ Bolland's "Sugar Is Sweeter"; Faithless "Insomnia"; Tori Amos "Professional Widow"; Apollo 440 "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Dub"; and Sneaker Pimps "Spin, Spin, Sugar."
"Cha Cha" was another top ten dance hit from his first album Old School Junkies released in 1996, along with "The Funk Phenomena". A greatest hits album appeared the next year followed by a breakbeat album later in 1997. "U Don't Know Me," a collaboration with vocalist Duane Harden from the album, "2 Futur 4 U," was a number two hit on the Billboard dance chart, a Number one in the UK and a top 20 single on the pop charts in Australia and Canada.
In 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh, Armand Van Helden explained, "You Don't Know Me was a perfect example of putting 2 simple things together, the beats from Jaydee's Plastic Dreams and a disco loop from Carrie Lucas."
Van Helden released the Killing Puritans album in 2000 which contained the dance hit "Koochy". His single "Why Can't You Spend Some Time" made the number 34 in the UK in 2001. His New York: A Mix Odyssey album released in 2004 produced two hits:
* "Hear my Name" reached number 7 on the Billboard dance chart, was top 30 on world and internet charts, made number 34 in the UK, and reached the top 40 in Australia; and
* "My My My" reached number 4 on the world internet charts, number 5 in the Belgian and Dutch charts, number 6 in Australia, number 15 in the UK and top 30 in the world dance charts.
In 2010 Van Helden teamed with A-Trak to form the duo Duck Sauce. They had an international smash hit with "Barbra Streisand," which used an ingenious sample from Boney M.
You Don't Know Me
Armand van Helden Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You say that I'm not living right
You don't understand me
So why do you judge my life?
I don't ask for nothing
I'm always holding my own
Every time I turn around, there's something
And when I try to move on up
They're always pullin' me down
I'm tired and I had enough
It's my life, and I'm living it now
You don't even know me
You say that I'm not living right
You don't understand me
So why do you judge my life?
I always wonder why people try to hurt me
No happiness in their own lives
So they act out all their jealousy
Who are you to say that I'm living wrong?
Always telling me what to do
I decided that I gotta be strong
What makes you think that I needed you?
You don't know me
You don't even know me
You say that I'm not livin' right
You don't understand me
So why do you judge my life
You don't even know me
You say that I'm not living right
You don't understand me
So why do you judge my life?
Who are you?
You say I'm not livin' right
Anything I try to do
You haven't walked in my shoes
I'm gonna move on
It's my life, it's my life
It's my life, it's my life
It's my life, it's my life
Ah
You don't even know me
You say that I'm not living right
You don't understand me
So why do you judge my life?
You don't even know me
You say that I'm not living right
You don't understand me
So why do you judge my life?
You don't even know me
Armand van Helden's "You Don't Know Me" is a song that tackles the issue of being misunderstood and judged by others. The lyrics revolve around the singer's clueless accusers who criticize their lifestyle and choices despite not knowing them personally. The lines "You don't even know me, You say that I'm not living right, You don't understand me, so why do you judge my life?" highlight the frustration of being misjudged, and the disregard for other people's feelings.
The song captures the universal experience of dealing with negative criticisms and people's unsolicited opinions. The lyrics, "I'm always holding my own, Every time I turn around, there's something, People talking 'bout what they don't know," speak to the feeling of people always having something to say about the singer's life, making it hard to move forward. However, the character's drive to move on and build a life for themselves is admirable: "I decided that I gotta be strong, What makes you think that I needed you?"
In summary, "You Don't Know Me" is an anthem of empowerment, encouraging listeners to live their lives as they please without worrying about what others think.
Line by Line Meaning
You don't even know me
You have no real understanding of who I am and what I stand for.
You say that I'm not living right
You criticize my lifestyle and decisions without being familiar with the context of my life.
You don't understand me
You lack the knowledge and empathy to comprehend who I am and what I go through on a daily basis.
So why do you judge my life?
If you don't know me and my situation, why do you feel like you have the right to criticize and pass judgment?
I don't ask for nothing
I don't demand anything from anyone.
I'm always holding my own
I am self-sufficient and capable of dealing with my own problems.
Every time I turn around, there's something
Every time I face a challenge or difficulty, there is someone there to criticize and bring me down.
People talking 'bout what they don't know
People make assumptions and spread rumors about my life without actually knowing anything about it.
And when I try to move on up
When I try to improve my situation or advance in life,
They're always pullin' me down
there are always people trying to hold me back, prevent me from succeeding, and discourage me from pursuing my dreams.
I'm tired and I had enough
I'm exhausted and fed up with all the criticism and negativity directed at me.
It's my life, and I'm living it now
I am the one who controls my life and decisions, and I refuse to let anyone else dictate or judge them.
I always wonder why people try to hurt me
I'm always baffled by why some people feel the need to harm and attack me, both physically and emotionally.
No happiness in their own lives
Those who try to hurt me are often unhappy with their own lives and seek to spread their misery to others.
So they act out all their jealousy
They express their envy and resentment towards me in harmful ways.
Who are you to say that I'm living wrong?
Why should I care about your opinion on how I choose to live my life when you don't know or understand anything about it?
Always telling me what to do
You always feel the need to give me unsolicited advice and try to control my decisions.
I decided that I gotta be strong
I realized that I need to be resilient and stand up for myself in the face of criticism and adversity.
What makes you think that I needed you?
I don't need your approval or validation to live my life and make my own decisions.
Anything I try to do
Whenever I attempt to make changes or move forward in life,
You haven't walked in my shoes
You haven't experienced the same challenges, obstacles, and experiences in life that I have, so you can't judge or criticize my actions.
I'm gonna move on
I'm going to leave behind the negativity and criticism and focus on moving forward in life.
It's my life, it's my life
I am the one who has the power and agency to make choices and decisions about my own life.
Lyrics © Ultra Tunes, BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Kossi Gardner, Armand Van Helden, Duane Harden
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Jesse
dope remix michael, doing the original proud like we all want, youre the only guy who could pull out a awesome remix like this
NiKtHeB0Ss
The beat has been enhanced quite a bit, good job mate. When I first heard this song I always thought it deserved a stronger beat and you nailed it Bro.
However I don't really like the long intermissions where it's just been filled with EDM. You should have minimised the changes and just focused on making the beat sound better. The reason is, it kills the vibe slightly and takes me out of the zone. It basically throws me off my floating cloud in a wonder world of bliss and lands me a barren wasteland within the nether regions.
For that reason I'll give you a 5/10 for this remix.
Lennart Beat
Bring it back to Spotify pls
Aerotek Music
hooooly shit this is amazing. I need to play this live.
Punch Booking
Classics remix i like it 💕
Calvin Do
sickest remix of my favorite song!
mogs tomos
I was writing a comment and got lost waiting for the drop lol, pretty awesome remix of a tune that is one of the best floor filler anthems ever and hardly needs any improvement, but dang, you did.
Made me wish I was back in a cool night club taking in it's full effect to appreciate the thing more, nice one DJ LETS AV IT lol ;-)
Bjorn Moll
Nice remix!!!
Mari Land
wonderful!!!
roberto manzani
MASTER REMIX