The Story Of Laidback Luke And GLOWINTHEDARK’s Lost Track ‘Young Rebels’!

Today, I chose to write about a mystical ID that so many of us have never heard about. This is a collaborative effort between the influential Dutch producer Laidback Luke and GLOWINTHEDARK, an exceptional duo from Haarlem. 

Laidback Luke has been on the scene for the last two decades. He was first introduced in the mid-90s when he met another underrated duo, Chocolate Puma, which inspired him with house and techno music. He then went on to collaborate with legendary icons like David Guetta, Steve Aoki, Swedish House Mafia; remixing for fabled artists like Knife Party & Avicii himself. He was the founder of Mixmash, where he created a forum to assist the upcoming artists with their dance music creativity. GLOWINTHEDARK was a duo made up of Albert Harvey and Kevin Ramos. They both originated from Latin and Dutch music backgrounds. They both had partnered with Chuckie, Alvaro, Tommie Sunshine, and of course, David Guetta, where you guys may recognize them from the huge hit ‘Ain’t A Party’.

Back in March 2014, the first version of ‘Young Rebels’ was first played in SLAM!. The intro starts with the electric guitar’s rhythm, as it sounded similar to that of ‘Ain’t A Party’. Followed by the vocals of heavy metal, and then straight to the aggressive buildup before hitting the drop. As the pre-drop vocal yelled, the drop blasted in full with high energy. The drop was crafted by Luke and the duo together. Few months later, they played it again, this time a second version. For the second version, the structure of the track remained the same but the drop has been modified. The kick sounded too intense and if you pay attention to the bass they made, they added some Dirty Dutch influence.

Unfortunately, the collaboration won’t see the light of day. Two years ago, I had a chance to ask what happened to ‘Young Rebels’ to them during ADE Q/A session on Instagram. They replied that “Young Rebels will remain as an ID and won’t be released in the future.” The original duo was active in the scene until 2018, when Albert left and was replaced by Mr. V, a Dutch MC from Amsterdam. Albert became a sound engineer and mentor for younger producers while Kevin and Mr. V have changed the style and shifted focus to the Dutch hip hop scene. ‘Young Rebels’ is a truly remarkable track from them and it could become the next big thing after ‘Ain’t A Party’, if it were to be released.

Written by Devanesh Raj / Delacour Agency