Audien, a 22-year-old EDM producer and DJ from Mystic, Conn., has already met a host of famous people, including Armin Van Buuren, Tiesto, Nicky Romero and Hardwell. “They’re all my friends,” he says.

But this year, he got his biggest dose of celebrity yet. Sort of. He was asked to remix Slave to the Rhythm, a track off Michael Jackson’s posthumous album Xscape.

“I’ve always been a huge fan of him. He’s the king of pop,” says Audien, whose real name is Nate Rathbun. “When I first heard the song, it sounded really cool and fresh. I had ideas about it instantly. It took me about a month to remix it. I had to do it twice because the first version didn’t go over so well.”
Audien premieres the Slave to the Rhythm remix exclusively with USA TODAY.

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