ARTIST STORY
2 BROTHERS ON THE 4TH FLOOR.
First that bright melody. Then the beat, the rap and a voice that opens up the space. Dreams (Will Come Alive) brings back the feeling of a packed nineties dance floor in just a few seconds. Behind that shared enjoyment lies a very concrete origin: two brothers making music at home in Utrecht.
IMAGE CREDIT: Richard Broekhuijzen · D-Rock and Desray, Gouden Pijl in Emmen, 2014 · CC BY 3.0 · Responsively cropped.
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Open in Spotify ↗FOURTH FLOOR IN UTRECHT.
Bobby and Martin Boer experimented in a bedroom in their parents' flat in Zuilen. That is where the foundation of 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor was laid. In 1990, Can’t Help Myself was released, featuring rapper Da Smooth Baron MC and singer Peggy ‘The Duchess’. The name proved capable of becoming bigger than the room where the music began.
That early work has the direct energy of house: a recognizable rhythm, voices that encourage each other and a production that quickly makes it clear where the dance floor is. The brothers build their tracks so that every part has a function. A short melodic idea can be enough to make an entire song fall into place.
THE VOICES YOU RECOGNIZE IMMEDIATELY.
From Never Alone in 1993, the group acquired the sound many listeners associate with it. Désirée Manders, known as Desray, sings; René Phillips, alias D-Rock, raps. Bobby and Martin remain the creators behind the knobs. They are different roles within the same musical whole.
Desray gives the songs their height and openness. D-Rock provides contrast, movement and a voice that sits closer to the rhythm. The alternation makes room for anticipation: you feel the chorus coming and want it to get even bigger. That little tension between rap and singing is essential to the appeal of their eurodance.
DREAMS BECOMES EVERYONE'S.
In the summer of 1994, Dreams (Will Come Alive) spent four weeks at the top of the Dutch Top 40. On the album Dreams, that combination of driving production and big melody is given a longer life. Let Me Be Free also shows how light a voice can remain above a solid beat.
The cleverness lies in the accessibility. You don't have to be a regular club-goer to join in. The melodies are clear, the transitions invite you in and the chorus can be taken up by an entire room. The music connects the radio with the dance floor, without much explanation needed in between.
FASTER, LIGHTER, HIGHER.
With songs like Fly (Through the Starry Night), Come Take My Hand and Fairytales, the sound shifts towards happy hardcore. The tempo and the brightness of the synthesizers increase. The second studio album, simply called 2, was released in 1996 and gathered that next phase.
Place Never Alone next to Come Take My Hand. You can hear how the instrumental environment changes, while the recognizability of the voices remains intact. That makes the transition less drastic than the style names suggest. The goal remains the same: a rhythm that moves forward and a melody everyone can join in with.
A SHARED MEMORY.
Desray and D-Rock later brought the repertoire back to stages and nineties parties. Their long-standing collaboration comes to a close in 2026; they have chosen to stop these live shows together. Saying goodbye to the familiar stage formation is different from the music disappearing.
Whoever puts on Dreams today still hears why those songs come back so easily. The production tells what period they come from. The voices tell why people kept taking them along. That is a beautiful combination: a record can be very clearly from back then and yet immediately do something in the present.
ONE THING YOU DIDN’T KNOW.
The fourth floor from the group's name really existed. Bobby and Martin Boer started in their bedroom in the Utrecht neighborhood of Zuilen: a small, ordinary address that eventually ended up on records all over the world.
THE FACTS
Famous voices: Desray (Désirée Manders) and D-Rock (René Phillips)
ESSENTIAL DISCOGRAPHY
The two released studio albums. Standalone singles, remix releases and compilation albums are kept separate.
- 1994Dreams
- 19962
FAQ
Where does the name 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor come from?
The name refers to Bobby and Martin Boer, who started making music in a bedroom on the fourth floor of their parents' flat in the Utrecht neighborhood of Zuilen. That concrete place became the name of their dance project.
Who are the members of 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor?
Bobby and Martin Boer form the producing core of the group. From Never Alone, singer Desray, full name Désirée Manders, and rapper D-Rock, the stage name of René Phillips, were the recognizable voices and faces on stage for years.
With which song did 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor break through?
Can’t Help Myself gave the project its first success in 1990. The lineup with Desray and D-Rock broke through in 1993 with Never Alone; the follow-up Dreams (Will Come Alive) reached the first place in the Dutch Top 40 in 1994.
What musical style does 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor play?
The group is mainly known for eurodance: electronic dance music in which melodic singing and rap alternate over a solid beat. In the mid-nineties, the sound shifted towards happy hardcore on songs like Come Take My Hand and Fairytales.
Which albums has 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor released?
The group released two studio albums: Dreams in 1994 and 2 in 1996. In addition, standalone singles, remixes and compilation albums were released, but these do not count as additional studio albums.
Was Dreams by 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor released on vinyl?
Yes. Dreams was released on vinyl, including an extended double LP by Music On Vinyl. That edition also has numbered variants on colored vinyl; therefore, always check the year, label and catalog number when purchasing.
View the artist page of 2 BROTHERS ON THE 4TH FLOOR for vinyl releases and more to discover. Discover the musical context in EURODANCE..
THE FINAL WORD.
THE CHORUS STILL KNOWS THE WAY.
Start with Dreams, let Never Alone follow, and turn the volume up just a little bit more. With 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor, recognition is an invitation to join in again.
