Dennis Princewell Stehr, better known as Mr. Probz, is a Dutch producer and singer-songwriter with multiple global hits under his belt. Besides having global success, Mr. Probz has a history with a tremendous amount of ups-and-downs. Mr. Probz found music at young age, when he started listening to various genres, from Cypress Hill and Wu-Tang-Clan to Nirvana and David Axelrod. When he was about 15-years-old he started writing rhymes, “I didn’t really perform back then, but writing worked therapeutic at the time.
In late 2013 he woke up to find his entire house and recording studio engulfed in flames. All he had left was a box of papers, some clothes and, fortunately, his laptop, which contained most of his recordings.
A few days after the disaster, Mr. Probz appeared on prime-time national TV in The Netherlands to perform his original acoustic version of Waves, which would become one of the biggest hit songs in Dutch music history. Mr. Probz later gave away the independent digital album that was salvaged in the fire, The Treatment, to all of his fans for free as a thank you for their continued support.
Mr. Probz has experienced several unusual crossroads moments, including a serious car accident, being shot down in Amsterdam in 2010, the notorious fire and a burglary that resulted in the files for his first official album being stolen. Each life-changing event has made him a stronger, determined and even more philosophical artist, and with the burglary, he believed that the universe was sending a clear message to him that it just wasn’t the right time to release the record he was working on.
The rapper, singer, songwriter and producer initially commenced his career in the hip hop community with well-received independent collaborations in The Netherlands and United States. It was here he made his first impact on the music industry with his instantly recognisable vocals and emotive lyrics. To his surprise, his career gained international attention once his single Waves was released originally as a guitar ballad and later remixed by German DJ Robin Schulz. Both versions would become multi-platinum global successes, reaching number 1 in 51 countries across Europe, as well as Australia and the Middle East, peaking at number 14 on the U.S. Billboard chart and earning the number 1 spot on the European airplay chart.
The single earned Mr. Probz a Grammy nomination, he has since featured on collaborations with hip hop artists such as 50 Cent, T.I., Chris Brown as well as international dance artists including Hardwell and Armin van Buuren who have both held the number 1 position for the highly acclaimed DJ Magazine’s Top 100.
In 2015, Mr. Probz released his second multi-platinum follow-up single Nothing Really Matters worldwide, which featured EDM remixes from international DJs including Afrojack. He capped off the year by being named as one of Billboard Magazine’s Top 10 dance/electronic artists, featuring at number 8 alongside acclaimed acts such as David Guetta, DJ Snake, Calvin Harris, Major Lazer and Diplo.
Mr. Probz has spent much time touring globally, most recently performing as a special guest at acclaimed music festivals such as Belgium’s Tomorrowland, Japan’s Ultra, and Australia’s award-winning Stereosonic with Armin van Buuren. This has enabled him to also build a solid reputation and fan base in the dance music arena.
Whilst his musical composistions have included works across hip hop, pop and soul, he was honoured to be included with such elite dance music artists. After he played numerous dance events with Armin van Buuren he focused on solo records once again. Resulting in multiple single releases; ‘Fine Ass Mess’, ‘Till You’re Loved’, ‘Gone (with Anderson. Paak)’ and ‘Space For Two’. On the 18th of May 2017 his very own documentary ‘Against The Stream’ was released, showing both his life story and the road to global success and fame. The documentary was released with an official soundtrack that goes by the same name.
Mr. Probz can look back at successful years and many more to come. His inner entrepreneur knocked on the door in 2017. In 2018 he invested in a studio compound and started building his own label ‘Left Lane Recordings’, releasing both his own music as helping talented artists. “I want to give back and build on a home base for artists, providing the things that I didn’t have when I was struggling and trying to build my career as an artist”.
Wist je dat...
