Enter the world of WRLDBEAT...

WRLDBEAT, based in and around Amsterdam, is funk, latin, hip-hop, reggae & soul mixed and spiced in the melting pot of a multi-national musical collaboration. The eleven-piece band are an unusual mix of cultures and generations acting and playing as one.

One of the first live performances of "Untitled" from WRLDBEAT's latest album "Newborns Come Alive" ...

WRLDBEAT has a long and colourful history stretching back over the decades. Nico and Carl started playing together in the Dutch one hit wonder "What Fun!" and experienced a short burst of fame when the single "The Right Side Won" shot to the top of the charts. When "What Fun!" later reformed they met Jort, whose versatile bass playing meshed perfectly with Carl's latin-influenced beats.

They more or less stumbled over Stefanie and Larissa, whose voices blended in such a natural way that they seemed to be predestined to sing together. Funk-veteran Mick on tenor became the loudest member of the crew and Alan, a survivor of the nineties Manchester scene, was drafted in on keyboards. Then the WRLDBEAT sound was expanded in a new direction by the unpredictable lyrical rap captain Mr. Jahson.

"Himalaya" , a song from the "THE WRLD AS IT IS" album, live at a 2016 Liberation Day festival...

The WRLDBEAT story has been one of changes as the years have gone by. Originally the band operated as a nine-piece with an additional lead vocalist. During this time Milber and later Noud brought their individual vocal styles to WRLDBEAT, with Noud providing the vocal power on the earlier recordings such as "Graham's Number". You can still catch a glimpse of Noud in the videos from that time. In the current WRLDBEAT line up, Larissa is front and centre with her flowing lead vocal style, with Mr. Jahson leading the hip hop songs.

As the band started to play larger shows and expand their range, the rhythm section was expanded with Henk on percussion. Sarah performed as vocalist with WRLDBEAT for five years until early 2024, perforning the lead vocal on some of the recordings during that period such as "Liquid Like Lava".

Luke joined the band on guitar, adding another layer to the "Newborns Come Alive" album. Then finally (for now!) Daan joined in 2025 as the fourth vocalist to create the current eleven-piece line-up of WRLDBEAT as we know them today.

"Camouflage As Shadow", a song from the 2020 album "THE NEXT WRLD", played live at the 2019 Parckpop summer festival...

WRLDBEAT is a regular on the Dutch live music scene, racking up over 150 live shows and in the process outlasting a few of the famous venues where they have played. So far the band has been seen at Patronaat Haarlem, Ruigoord, Maloe Melo - the legenday backstreet rockcafé in Amsterdam, P3 Purmerend, Paradiso Amsterdam (as the afterparty for none other than Alpha Blondy!), P60 Amstelveen and the A'DAM Toren to name but a few.

The band is also no stranger to the festival scene and has featured at Parckpop Festival Ilpendam, Magneet Festival Amsterdam, Lunapop Festival Waerdse Tempel, Film By The Sea Vlissingen and Rollende Keukens Festival Amsterdam.

You never know when you're going to get "Hay Fever" ...

The energetic live sound of WRLDBEAT has been carefully distilled on the band’s latest album "Newborns Come Alive", recorded and mixed deep in the legendary basement of the Amsterdam Recording Company. After many days and long nights of intense recording, overdubbing and mixing, the tracks took on new forms, and the album was ready for release.

Wrldbeat perfoming "Mashed Potatoes" at the Parckpop 2017 summer festival....

The ten-piece doesn't follow the script when it comes to genre. The album flows between funk, soul, reggae and pop/rock but always underpinned by lain-influenced, percussion heavy beats. The new album can also be seen as building further on the ideas from their 2022 album "A STRANGE SUMMER".

"The Hardest Thing In Life" , a song from the "THE WRLD AS IT IS" album...

Their December 2019 single, “Dreamer” was an unplugged, stripped down, hip hop story that formed a prelude to the "THE NEXT WRLD" album. The band has also been known to play unplugged gigs, particular at the Sofar events, where they have performed in Amsterdam and Utrecht.

In a low key setting, WRLDBEAT playing unplugged in a 2017 Sofar Sounds event...

At the same time, this sure ain't art for art's sake. The band may embrace diverse styles, but they sure know how to fill the dance floor - they've been doing exactly that since 2010 in their dynamic, if sometimes chaotic, live shows. You only need to listen to "Donna Mic" from the Album "THE WRLD AS IT IS" , the instant hip hop classic that opens the album, to know that this is a band that isn't afraid of a groove.

A punchy, live performance of hip-hop stomper "Donna Mic" ...

Check out the back catalogue to hear some more angles the band have taken. "Some Of The True Kings Were Never Crowned" is a tribute to the city's invisible everyday heroes, while "Take The WRLD As It Is" tells a low-key yet powerful story about the confusions and contradictions of modern life.

Take the WRLD as it is...

Still, this is a band that always finishes on top. They are infamous for the raucous, Balkan-style set closer "What You Gonna Do?" when the whole crowd starts jumping. They know that when things go wrong, you've just got to turn that into positive energy and walk right on, straight down the road and never look back.

So you've just got to remember one important thing when you come down to a WRLDBEAT live show, or put an album on... you're supposed to dance!

WRLDBEAT closes the show as headliners on Stage 1 at the Amsterdam Rollende Keukens festival in 2014...

... WRLDBEAT is ready for the world.