DJ Snake

DJ Snake (2013)

William Grigahcine (born June 13, 1986 in Paris ), better known as DJ Snake , is a French DJ and music producer specializing in hip-hop and electronic music , especially trap and future bass .

Life

William grew up as the child of Algerian parents in a Paris ghetto. At first he tried his hand at rapper, but he said he was so bad that he gave up after a short time. At the age of 11 he saw the French film La Haine . In one scene, DJ Cut Killer is standing by his window, just about to scratch like crazy . William was very fascinated by this scene and he knew that he wanted to become a DJ later.

Career

Attention first upon himself he made in 2011 through his work as a musician and producer on the album Born This Way by Lady Gaga , which for a Grammy was nominated for album of the year. He was then signed to Diplo 's Mad Decent label . Three solo singles appeared in 2013. His collaboration with Lil Jon on the single Turn Down for What in December of the same year led to international success , which reached number one on the US dance charts and the top 5 of the official single charts and was awarded double platinum .

Together with Dillon Francis , DJ Snake produced the song Get Low , which was selected as the title track of Fast & Furious 7 and was already heard in the trailer. Overall, the song reached the single charts of, among others, Germany , Austria , Switzerland , Great Britain and the USA. At the same time, he celebrated worldwide success with the single Lean On , which was produced in collaboration with Diplo's project Major Lazer and the singer Mø , known from Aviciis Dear Boy . Overall, Lean On reached number one on the official singles charts in over 20 countries and sold over 4 million copies.

Just a few months later, DJ Snake followed up with the song You Know You Like It . This is a remix of the song of the same name by AlunaGeorge from 2011, but it also failed to match the success of Lean On . Together with the British musician Bipolar Sunshine, who was a member of the pop band Kid British , the love trap song Middle was released in October 2015 , which entered the French single charts after just one week. The song was also sold well in many other countries. It is also the first pre-release single from his debut studio album Encore .

The second release Propaganda was released on February 19, 2016 . The lead sound developed into a festival hit. In particular, the remixes by W&W and Nom De Strip & TJR were very successful at festivals. The last advance single Talk was released on June 3, 2016. The song was sung by George Maple and could only enter the single charts in France.

On August 5, 2016, his debut album Encore was released . At the same time, the lead single Let Me Love You was released, which exceeded the success of his Lean On . The Future Bass track was sung by Justin Bieber and reached number one in over 15 countries and has sold over 1.5 million times. The song has over a billion views on Spotify. In the form of a remix EP with 27 tracks, Ocho Cinco was the last single from the album. The song was created in collaboration with Yellow Claw and reached number 89 on the French singles chart.

Also with Yellow Claw, he released the song Good Day on February 24, 2017 . The Swedish singer Elliphant contributed vocals . While Ocho Cinco still appeared in hardstyle guise, Good Day was based much more on more commercial sounds.

Others

William worked as a graffiti sprayer in his youth. Whenever the police caught him doing it, however, he was able to flee. This gave him the nickname "Snake". When he later hung up in clubs, he simply adopted this nickname. He himself says the name annoys him these days, but nothing can be done about it now. His trademark is the dark sunglasses that he has been wearing since the beginning of his career. The reason for this is that he is a rather shy person. The sunglasses give him the necessary self-confidence on stage.

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)						Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US	FR
2016	Encore	DE73 (1 week) DE	AT42 (1 week) AT	CH14 (2 weeks) CH	UK46 (2 weeks) UK	US8th platinum (39 weeks)US	FR9 platinum (48 weeks)FR	First published: August 5, 2016
2019	Carte Blanche	DE99 (1 week) DE	AT69 (1 week) AT	CH27 (3 weeks) CH	-	US48 gold (6 weeks)US	FR5 gold (19 weeks)FR	First published: July 25, 2019

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)						Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US	FR
2013	Turn Down for What	DE31 (43 weeks) DE	AT35 (20 weeks) AT	CH36 (16 weeks) CH	UK23 gold (30 weeks)UK	US4th × 6 Six-fold platinum (37 weeks)US	FR19 (52 weeks) FR	First published: December 28, 2013 with Lil Jon
2014	Get Low Money Sucks, Friends Rule	DE79 (3 weeks) DE	AT55 (4 weeks) AT	-	UK88 (2 weeks) UK	US61 platinum (9 weeks)US	FR93 (15 weeks) FR	First published: February 11, 2014 with Dillon Francis
	You know you like it	DE27 gold (23 weeks)DE	AT36 (15 weeks) AT	CH24 (15 weeks) CH	UK67 silver (2 weeks)UK	US13 × 2 Double platinum (21 weeks)US	FR22 (26 weeks) FR	First published: October 20, 2014 with AlunaGeorge
2015	Lean On Peace Is the Mission	DE4th × 2 Double platinum (68 weeks)DE	AT3 platinum (58 weeks)AT	CH1 × 2 Double platinum (65 weeks)CH	UK2 × 3 Triple platinum (79 weeks)UK	US4th × 4 Quadruple platinum (48 weeks)US	FR2 (114 weeks) FR	First release: March 1st, 2015 with Major Lazer feat. MØ
	Middle Encore	DE49 gold (25 weeks)DE	AT48 (15 weeks) AT	CH42 (25 weeks) CH	UK10 platinum (28 weeks)UK	US20th × 2 Double platinum (21 weeks)US	FR12 platinum (45 weeks)FR	First published: October 15, 2015 feat. Bipolar Sunshine
2016	Talk Encore	-	-	-	-	-	FR39 (14 weeks) FR	First published: June 3, 2016 feat. George Maple
	Let Me Love You Encore	DE1 × 2 Double platinum (41 weeks)DE	AT4 (29 weeks) AT	CH1 (40 weeks) CH	UK2 × 2 Double platinum (34 weeks)UK	US4th × 4 Quadruple platinum (33 weeks)US	FR1 diamond (60 weeks)FR	First published: August 5th, 2016 feat. Justin Bieber
2017	A different way	-	-	CH63 (2 weeks) CH	UK85 (9 weeks) UK	US- gold US	FR57 platinum (28 weeks)FR	First published: September 22nd, 2017 feat. Lauv
2018	Magenta Riddim Carte Blanche	-	-	-	-	-	FR46 (19 weeks) FR	First published: February 23, 2018
	Taki taki carte blanche	DE8th gold (30 weeks)DE	AT13 gold (22 weeks)AT	CH3 (34 weeks) CH	UK15th gold (15 weeks)UK	US11 × 3 Triple platinum (26 weeks)US	FR2 diamond (56 weeks)FR	First published: September 28, 2018 feat. Selena Gomez , Ozuna & Cardi B
2019	Loco contigo Carte Blanche	DE3 gold (28 weeks)DE	AT13 (23 weeks) AT	CH2 (... weeks) CH	UK87 (3 weeks) UK	US95 (2 weeks) US	FR1 diamond (… Where.)FR	First release: June 14, 2019 with J Balvin feat. Tyga
The following songs did not appear as single, but were made available for download and streaming through the album and were thus able to achieve a placement:
2016	Ocho Cinco Encore	-	-	-	-	-	FR89 (1 week) FR	First published: July 23, 2016 with Yellow Claw
	The Half Encore	-	-	-	-	-	FR107 (1 week) FR	First published: August 13, 2016 with Jeremih , Young Thug & Swizz Beatz
2019	Butterfly Effect Carte Blanche	-	-	-	-	-	FR167 (1 week) FR	Chart entry: July 27, 2019
	Recognize Carte Blanche	-	-	-	-	-	FR176 (1 week) FR	Chart entry: July 27, 2019 feat. Majid Jordan
	Quiet Storm Carte Blanche	-	-	-	-	-	FR199 (1 week) FR	Chart entry: July 27, 2019 feat. Zomboy

As a guest musician

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)						Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US	FR
2018	Creep on Me	-	-	CH4th gold (23 weeks)CH	-	-	-	First published: August 17, 2018 Gashi feat. French Montana & DJ Snake
2019	Safety	-	-	CH92 (1 week) CH	-	-	-	First published: August 30, 2019 Gashi feat. DJ Snake

more publishments

2013:

• Bird machine
• Slow down
• Together

2014:

• Lunatic (with Mercer)

2016:

• propaganda

2017:

• The Half ( feat.Jeremih , Young Thug & Swizz Beatz )
• Good Day ( Yellow Claw feat.DJ Snake & Elliphant )
• Broken Summer (feat. Max Frost)

2018:

• Gassed Up (with Jauz)
• Public Enemy (with Yellow Claw)
• Let's Get Ill (with Mercer)
• Maradona Riddim (with Niniola)
• Made in China (with Higher Brothers)

2019:

• Try Me (with Plastic Toy)
• Southside (with Eptic)
• Enzo (with Sheck Wes feat. Offset , 21 Savage & Gucci Mane )
• Fuego (with Sean Paul & Anitta feat. Tainy )
• All This Lovin (Vlade Kay feat.DJ Snake)

2020:

• Safety 2020 (GASHI feat. Chris Brown , Afro B & DJ Snake)

Awards for music sales

→ Main article : DJ Snake / Music Sales Awards

Country / Region	silver	gold	platinum	diamond	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
Australia (ARIA)	-	2 × gold2	20 × platinum20th	-	1,470,000	aria.com.au
Belgium (BEA)	-	gold1	8 × platinum8th	-	275,000	ultratop.be
Brazil (PMB)	-	2 × gold2	9 × platinum9	diamond1	650,000	pro-musicabr.org.br
Denmark (IFPI)	-	2 × gold2	10 × platinum10	-	545,000	ifpi.dk
Germany (BVMI)	-	5 × gold5	4 × platinum4th	-	2,550,000	musikindustrie.de
France (SNEP)	-	gold1	3 × platinum3	3 × diamond3	1,399,999	snepmusique.com
Italy (FIMI)	-	2 × gold2	20 × platinum20th	-	1,030,000	fimi.it
Canada (MC)	-	2 × gold2	15 × platinum15th	-	1,280,000	musiccanada.com
Mexico (AMPROFON)	-	4 × gold4th	4 × platinum4th	diamond1	660,000	amprofon.com.mx
New Zealand (RMNZ)	-	3 × gold3	8 × platinum8th	-	180,000	nztop40.co.nz
Netherlands (NVPI)	-	-	platinum1	-	30,000	nvpi.nl
Norway (IFPI)	-	-	3 × platinum3	-	30,000	ifpi.no
Austria (IFPI)	-	gold1	platinum1	-	45,000	ifpi.at
Poland (ZPAV)	-	-	3 × platinum3	diamond1	160,000	bestsellery.zpav.pl
Portugal (AFP)	-	gold1	-	-	5,000	Individual evidence
Sweden (IFPI)	-	-	16 × platinum16	-	640,000	sverigetopplistan.se
Switzerland (IFPI)	-	gold1	2 × platinum2	-	70,000	hitparade.ch
Spain (Promusicae)	-	gold1	13 × platinum13	-	540,000	elportaldemusica.es
United States (RIAA)	-	2 × gold2	24 × platinum24	-	25,000,000	riaa.com
United Kingdom (BPI)	silver1	3 × gold3	6 × platinum6th	-	5,000,000	bpi.co.uk
All in all	silver1	33 × gold33	170 × platinum170	6 × diamond6th

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US FR

Web links

• rollingstone.com: 10 New Artists You Need to Know: February 2014 , accessed on June 9, 2014
• DJ Snake at Allmusic (English)
• DJ Snake at Discogs (English)