Trust Your Ear — How R3hab Introduced Me to Zedd Before the World Knew His Name

In June 2011 I received a casual email from a Dutch DJ named R3hab.

It said —

"I think Zedd you probably know him would be cool for a mix. I told him about you. This is his email if you are interested."

I didn't know Zedd.

But I reached out anyway.

And what happened next became one of the most meaningful chapters of my 35 year career in music.

How It Started — Houston 2011

A few weeks earlier I had met R3hab in Houston during a radio promo tour. He was DJing somewhere in the city. We connected. He gave me his personal email.

I invited him to guest mix on Adrenaline — my show on SiriusXM BPM that aired every Saturday night right before Dave Aude, Bob Sinclar, David Guetta, and Kaskade.

R3hab said yes immediately.

He came on twice that year and again in 2012. Each time he brought exclusive mixes with unreleased music that nobody else had. He trusted me with music before it was released anywhere else.

That's the kind of relationship you build when you treat artists with respect and give them a real platform.

Then on June 2nd 2011 he sent me that email about Zedd.

The Introduction

I wrote to Anton Zaslavski the same day R3hab sent me his email.

"I got your email from R3hab. I'm DJ Riddler and have a radio show heard across North America on SiriusXM BPM. It would be an honor to have you on as a guest DJ. I'm sure all the EDM fans across North America would love to hear a set from you."

Zedd replied within hours.

"Hey man. Sounds cool. Let's do this. I'll prepare a guest mix for you ASAP and send you everything over. I have a shitload to announce haha. Thanks a lot!! Glad you like the mix!!"

He was 21 years old. Unknown outside of Europe. Working on music he described as having "a shitload to announce."

I had no idea what he was about to announce.

The First Mix

On June 29th 2011 Anton Zaslavski sent me his guest mix for SiriusXM BPM.

Along with it he sent his credentials —

Remixes for Lady Gaga, Black Eyed Peas, P Diddy, Skrillex, and Swedish House Mafia.

His latest original Dovregubben was sitting at #1 on Beatport Electro House for over two weeks and had charted #33 on Billboard's Un-Charted Charts.

He was also on the OWSLA tour with Skrillex and Porter Robinson.

His manager Tim Smith added one more note at the bottom of the email.

"Can also mention you'll be doing some major tours in the Fall of this year too. But we can't announce what yet."

Those unannounced major tours in Fall 2011 were the beginning of Zedd becoming one of the biggest artists in electronic music history.

I put that mix on SiriusXM BPM.

First time on North American radio.

Two Years Later

In October 2013 I was opening for Zedd at House of Blues Houston for the Hot 95.7 Boo Bomb show.

My name was on the official promotional flyer right under his.

Opening Set by Riddler. October 30 2013. House of Blues Houston. Live Nation.

I emailed him before the show.

"I don't know if you remember me or not. I was the First DJ to put you on BPM back in 2011 on my show SiriusXM back in June of 2011. We were introduced by R3hab a long time ago. Anyways I will be opening up for you in Houston this coming Wednesday night at the House of Blues for the Hot 95.7 Boo Bomb show. I just wanted to reach out and hope to see you there. Congrats on all the success you've had. I've enjoyed supporting your music over the years."

He had won a Grammy by then.

Clarity with Foxes had taken over the world.

His reply came back the next day.

"Cheers dude!! See ya tomorrow!!!"

Sent from his iPhone.

Simple. Warm. Exactly who he had always been in every email exchange we'd had.

Four Years Later

In 2015 I saw Zedd again.

This time backstage at Z100 Jingle Ball in New York — one of the biggest and most prestigious radio events in the country.

We took a photo together.

Same guy. Bigger stage.

From sending me a guest mix from Germany in 2011 to headlining Z100 Jingle Ball four years later.

The growth was extraordinary. The person was exactly the same.

The Relationship With R3hab

The connection with R3hab that started everything didn't end with that introduction email.

Over the years I've seen him multiple times in Houston — at Clé nightclub where we took photos together, at dinners with my team from Hot 95.7, at shows where I was part of the lineup.

A casual meeting at a DJ gig in Houston in 2011 turned into a genuine long term friendship built on mutual respect for the music.

That's how this industry works at its best.

Not transactions. Relationships.

What This Story Is Really About

I didn't discover Zedd. R3hab did.

I didn't make Zedd famous. His music did that.

What I did was say yes when a Dutch DJ sent me a casual email about an unknown producer from Germany.

What I did was trust my ear when the music was good before the world agreed.

What I did was use the platform I had built — 20 hours of weekly mixshow programming across Z100, KTU, Hot 95.7 Houston, and SiriusXM BPM — to shine a light on music I believed in before anyone else in North America was paying attention.

That's the job.

Not just playing what's popular.

Playing what's next.

I have all the emails saved. Timestamped. June 2011 through October 2013. The complete documented paper trail of how a 21 year old unknown producer from Germany got his first North American radio play on my show.

History doesn't always announce itself.

Sometimes it arrives as a three line email from a Dutch DJ at 6:24 in the morning.

35 years in this industry. One lesson above all others.

Trust your ear.

The data catches up eventually.