Lenzman was a DJ, producer, and the founder of The North Quarter. He passed away after battling cancer for years.
The drum and bass world has been shaken by the untimely death of Lenzman, following a battle with kidney cancer that cast a shadow over the last three and a half years of his life.
“Nothing can prepare you for a loss this great,” wrote the Dutch DJ, producer, and The North Quarter label boss’ wife, Ashanti, in a post from his Instagram account. She shared that he passed away on the afternoon of Saturday, July 11.
“For 3.5 years he fought with so much strength, courage, and love,” the post continued. “He showed us what true strength means, and I will forever be proud to have walked this life beside him.”
Lenzman (real name Teije van Vliet) was born in Leiden, Netherlands and grew interested in drum and bass in the mid-’90s. His initial forays into music production date back to 2002, but it wasn’t until 2008 when he released his breakthrough single, “Ever So Slightly,” on Integral Records.
In 2014, van Vliet released his debut album, Looking at the Stars, on Goldie‘s iconic Metalhedz imprint. He launched The North Quarter in 2016 with a mission to champion music that brought something new to the international conversation that is drum and bass.
At the same time, van Vliet was outspoken about the importance of acknowledging the genre’s originators. “Drum & bass started as black music and the audience and artists were extremely diverse when I got into it,” he told Beatportal in 2021. “So it saddens me that while the making music side of things is very accessible, the scene’s demographic has become so singular.”
As his wife indicated in her statement, van Vliet indeed overcame seemingly impossible odds to continue his musical pursuits amid his health struggle. He was first diagnosed with kidney cancer in January 2023 but initially kept it private. When he shared it publicly in July 2025, he revealed that he had had a kidney and part of his brain surgically removed — and although the disease was incurable, he resumed gigging and releasing music. In April, he and his family made the decision to discontinue his treatment.
Lenzman aka Teije van Vliet is survived by Ashanti and their two daughters, Riva and Nya. We here at EDM Identity offer our sincere condolences to everyone he touched throughout his life during what can only be a difficult time.
