Set to become the summer anthem of 2023, R3HAB has joined forces with INNA and SASH! for the absolutely incredibly addicting single “Rock My Body” which, in fact, samples the latter artist’s 1997 hit “Ecuador” which featured Rodriguez. This is the follow-up to R3HAB’s single release of the Arcando remix of “Run Till Dark” in collaboration with Now United, INNA’s EP titled “Just Dance #DQH2“, and SASH!’s feature on Miroslav Zaalberg’s “Not Enough” alongside 71 Digits and Wasback.
R3HAB, real name Fadil El Ghoul, is a multi-platinum DJ and producer with many hits to his name. He has remixed songs from some of the biggest artists in the world including Rihanna, Drake, Taylor Swift, and Calvin Harris, released tracks that have been global successes such as “All Around the World (La La La)” which was a collaboration with A Touch of Class and “Revolution” which was a collaboration with NERVO and Ummet Ozcan, and has worked with a number of stars from the likes of Sofia Carson and Zayn to Luis Fonsi and EXO. His work has collected over 9 billion streams to date, including 1.1 billion in 2022 alone. He has performed all over the world including EDC, Ultra Music Festival, Tomorrowland, Balaton Sound, Coachella, Summer Sonic Festival, and DWP Jakarta, and he is within the top 15 DJs in the world according to DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs chart. He is a household name in the EDM world, and it’s no surprise since he has excellent artistry. We expect he’ll have a few more global hits in the coming years.
As for INNA, real name is Elena Apostoleanu, she is one of the biggest Romanian female artists around at the moment, having gone on to have international success with her early singles such as “Hot”, “Amazing”, and “Sun Is Up”. She continued her success with a variety of singles that have hit over 100 million views on YouTube including “Ruleta“, “Gimme Gimme“, and “Heaven“. She has collaborated with some of the biggest artists and DJs including Flo Rida, Pitbull, Sean Paul, J Balvin, Daddy Yankee, Stefflon Don, Alexandra Stan, Timmy Trumpet, Martin Solveig, Sak Noel, and Dannic, to name a few. She’s recently been announced as the biggest Eastern-European artist, going on to reach over 1 billion YouTube views, and in 2022 she reached a huge milestone, hitting 10 billion views and streams across all platforms. Recently, she dropped her third season of Dance Queens House where her team all stay in a lavish property and make an album within a month, hence the release of her two EPs “Just Dance #DQH1” and “Just Dance #DQH2“. She went viral again in 2021 with her release of “Up” which later saw Sean Paul jump on the track as a feature, the song of which charted all over Europe, hitting number one in Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine. Most recently, she did the same with her 2022 song “Yummy”, bringing British rapper Stefflon Don and Albanian superstar Dhurata Dora on the track. She’s also not afraid of using a sample, dropping the absolutely awesome single “My Crystal Nails” which saw her tackle Edvard Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King”, turning it into an unforgettable dance treasure! INNA continues to prove, year after year, that she truly is the queen of the clubs, ruling dancefloors around the world and turning us all into loyal club rockers.
Then there’s SASH! who are a German dance trio consisting of Sascha Lappessen, Ralf Kappmeier, and Thomas Ludke. They formed the group in 1995; and, 28 years later, they are still going strong, touring and performing at festivals all around the world and they currently have made 26 million international sales. They had absolute smash hits back in the ’90s, taking the charts by storm with the likes of “Encore Une Fois” featuring Sabine Ohmes (a track that later got revived in the UK back in 2008 under the new title “Raindrops (Encore Une Fois)” featuring Stunt, where it charted at number nine), “Ecquador” featuring Rodriguez, “Stay” featuring La Trec, “La Primavera”, “Mysterious Times” featuring Tina Cousins, “Move Mania” featuring Shannon, and “Adelante” featuring Peter Faulhammer & Rodriguez. These heavyweight club hits transformed mainstream pop and dance in the ’90s and ’00s, making SASH! an iconic producing trio. More recently, they’ve collaborated with the likes of Sarah Brightman, Shayne Ward, and Christina Novelli. SASH! will always be prominent in the EDM industry and will go down in history as a superstar DJ and producing trio.
Watch the official lyric video to “Rock My Body” by R3HAB, INNA & SASH! here:
Talking about the track, R3HAB said: “‘Ecuador’ was one of those records that cut through the noise and redefine a genre. Now, 26 years later, it’s an honor to work with SASH! and INNA on ‘Rock My Body’. The iconic melody deeply taps into my childhood memories, and 11-year-old me would have never expected this collaboration would happen. This record came together naturally — I had an idea for its energetic dance-pop production and couldn’t sleep until I figured it out in detail. Both INNA and SASH! have long track records of bringing innovative change to the global dance music scene, and it’s been a pleasure creating ‘Rock My Body’ together.”
Written by Erik Smaaland, Fadil El Ghoul, Galeyn Tenhaeff, Kristoffer Tømmerbakke, Ralf Kappmeier, Sascha Lappessen, Shannon Hilversum, and Thomas Luedke, whilst it has been produced by Erik Smaaland, Kristoffer Tømmerbakke, and R3HAB, “Rock My Body” is eurodance at its best, switched up with a modern twist with INNA shining like the complete star that she is with her absolutely incredible vocals. INNA, being the queen she is and the ultimate club rocker, brings full-on dance energy mixed with her sexy, sultry undertone to her angelic voice – this is one of those sensual moments that bring the spark energy. R3HAB brings the fire from the very first beat, lifting up the production, by starting off subtly before progressing rhythmically. He adds flavour by giving us multiple drops throughout, that just get bigger and bigger, but incredibly he allows the focus to be on INNA’s superb vocals. Not only does she shine throughout but she adds her own twist by becoming a part of the drop, upping her vocals and strengthening her emotion – INNA wants you until morning, and when she sings like this, how can any of us deny her? Addicting to no end, “Rock Your Body” is definitely going to be our summer track of the year, and we can so see DJs picking it up for their sets at festivals around the world.
The track samples SASH!’s epic ’90s club hit “Ecuador” which featured Rodriguez. The track was a Euro-dance smash charting all over the world, hitting number one in Belgium, Romania, and Scotland, as well as grabbing the top spot on Canada’s Dance/Urban chart and the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. It also hit number two in the UK, number three in Denmark, Finland, and on Europe’s Eurochart Hot 100. It also hit the top 10 in Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland. It’s been 26 years since the original sample was released so R3HAB and INNA have really brought a brilliant nostalgic feeling to ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s babies, whilst also bringing this fresh reinvention club track to new listeners who may not have heard the original. This also isn’t the first time “Ecuador” has been sampled or reinvented, many tracks have gone on to sample the track, most famously Italobrothers with their 2013 track “This Is Nightlife”, which charted across Europe. Other tracks that sample the track include “Mondial” by Tal (which charted at number 19 in France), “Keep On Moving” by Starstylers featuring Michy, “Quechua” by Quintino & Thomas Gold, and “Home Now” by Yves V featuring Alida, amongst many more.
Spinnin’ Records drops the official music video:
Instantly drawing parallels with the music video for “10 Minutes” by INNA mainly because we watch INNA walk into a club before she starts dancing away with her friends, this awesome visual just shows that even 13 years later INNA is at home in the middle of a club’s dancefloor. A pure performance music video, directed by Jimachez, which sees R3HAB as the behind-the-scenes DJ for the club, using a launchpad to add beats into the atmosphere, while his second monitor shows the guests coming through the door. INNA shows off her star power as she walks around the club in a nude mesh diamante bra, with cheetah print panties under a dark wash denim green-grey mini-skirt, paired with some thigh-high white socks and black high-heel school-like shoes. The club scenes are intercut with INNA performing the song on a small club stage wearing a gorgeous sleek black dress that we certainly don’t see enough of.
There also seems to be a narrative, of some sort, where we watch actors Ana Maria Guran and Vlad Linta get stopped at the entrance to the club as the bouncer can’t find them on the guest list, but they end up slipping him something to gain entry. They live it up on the dancefloor before a security guard comes after them. They disappear into the bathroom, but the security guard knows they’re in there as he starts to check the stalls. The one stall that they are in, he realises and starts to bang on the door. They decide to swap clothes, leaving the stall without any problem from security, and they continue to live it up on the dancefloor. We reckon there was more to this narrative but it got scrapped during editing. Regardless, R3HAB and INNA completely shine in this visual, making it the perfect club anthem that needs to go down in history. Summer 2023 better have this track playing in clubs across the world and amongst various festival sets.
Stream the summer anthem on Spotify here:
“Rock My Body”, by R3HAB, INNA & SASH! is available to download and stream, right now, across all platforms, via Spinnin’ Records. This is fully set to become the summer 2023 anthem, with it blowing up on the electronic festival scene, hitting hard all across Ibiza and Miami, bound to pack dancefloors around the world, and set to become the one track we need to hear when out clubbing.