Martin Garrix’s first release “Keygen” turns 5 years old

Five years ago, Martin Garrix was just starting out, completely unaware of the impact he was about to make within the dance music scene. At the end of the summer 2012 season, the Dutchman was only 16 years of age, and had already inked a deal with Spinnin’ Records, where he would begin to release some of the biggest tracks the industry had ever seen. His first official release under the imprint titled ‘Keygen‘, came almost a year before his breakthrough hit ‘Animals‘ the following summer. ‘Keygen’ is celebrating its fifth birthday this week and we wanted to relive one of the tracks that was produced long before Martin Garrix became a household name.

The track received major support early on from names such as Gareth Emery, Cedric Gervais and Sander Van Doorn,  whom he would later collaborate with on smash hit ‘Gold Skies’. ‘Keygen’ is in a completely different realm in comparison with the music being released by Martin Garrix today, but you can still clearly hear his signature production techniques throughout the song. An uplifting melody that leads into a synth-filled progressive drop is very reminiscent of the style of dance music back in 2012. The simple fact that a 16-year old was behind this masterpiece is absolutely mind-blowing, truly showing his natural talent as a music producer.

While ‘Keygen’ may not have been Martin Garrix’s claim to fame, it set the stage for him to become one of music’s most talked about artists, and the world’s number one DJ according to the DJ Mag top 100 list last year. Following the release, he went on to collaborate with Sidney Samson, Jay Hardway and many more artists, before the release of his multi-platinum record ‘Animals’.

Relive the iconic track below.