Major Lazer
| Major Lazer | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Major Lazer at Rock im Park 2016 |
|
| General information | |
| origin |
 United States
|
| Genre (s) | Electronic , trap , Moombahton , dancehall , reggae fusion |
| founding | 2008 |
| Website | majorlazer.com |
| Founding members | |
| Diplo (Wesley Pentz) | |
Producer, DJ |
Switch (Dave Taylor; until 2012) |
| Current occupation | |
Producer, DJ |
Diplo (Wesley Pentz) |
Producer, DJ |
Ape Drums (Eric Alberto-Lopez; since 2019) |
Producer, DJ |
Walshy Fire (Leighton Walsh; since 2012) |
| former members | |
Vocals in live performances |
Skerrit Bwoy (until 2012) |
Producer, DJ |
Jillionaire (Chris Leacock; until 2019) |
Major Lazer is an American music project in the field of electronic music . This was founded in 2008 by Wesley Pentz , also known as Diplo , together with Dave Taylor alias Switch . After Taylor left, DJs and producers Jillionaire and Walshy Fire joined the project. They celebrated great success in particular with the songs Lean On and Cold Water . In May 2019 Jillionaire left the trio, he was replaced by the producer and DJ Ape Drums .
biography
Until 2012: foundation and first successes
In 2008 Diplo teamed up with London DJ Dave Taylor, known as Switch, under the name Major Lazer. They had previously worked together as producers for MIA and Santigold, among others . A short time later, their debut album Guns Don't Kill People… Lazers Do was released . It also made her chart debut at number 169 in the US charts. In the electronic charts, it moved up to number 7. The singles extracted from it also brought their first successes. The song Keep It Goin 'Louder reached number 4 on the US dance charts. Just a year later, their EP Lazers Never Die and 2011 Original Don were released .
Later in 2011, Dave Taylor left the project due to different interests. Skerrit Bwoy, who supported the DJs on numerous appearances, also left the band for religious reasons. However, joint productions or the beginning of work on the upcoming studio album were not canceled.
With the singer Amber Coffman from the Dirty Projectors they recorded the song Get Free , which was released as a single in spring 2012. It was able to quickly gain popularity internationally thanks to its use as a Vodafone commercial , and in summer 2012 it was its first commercial success. So they moved into the official singles charts in several countries, including Belgium to number three and the Netherlands to number eight. The song is the first release of their upcoming studio album.
While Get Free is still based on a calm atmosphere, Major Lazer released a fusion of jungle, dancehall and dubstep on October 22nd, 2012 with Jah No Partial , a collaboration with Flux Pavilion. Jah No Partial was able to attract attention, especially in Belgium, and at the same time acted as the second pre-release of their second studio album.
2013: Change of group & Free the Universe
In 2013, the two DJs and producer Jillionaire and Walshy Fire joined Major Lazer. Performances as a trio followed and they also began working on their second studio album, Free the Universe . These were done with artists such as Wyclef Jean , Bruno Mars and Shaggy . The album was released in April 2013 and was able to place itself in the international charts. It reached number one on the dance charts in the United States and Australia. It was also able to achieve a placement in Germany.
On February 26, 2013 they released their first worldwide single chart success with Watch Out for This (Bumaye) . The song advanced to the top 100 in over 10 countries. The song is based on the 2011 song Bumaye by The Flexican and FS Green, each of which was featured as a featured. The original version dates from 2005. The vocals were contributed by the Jamaican reggae musician Busy Signal . A remix by the Belgian DJ duo Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike achieved great popularity at numerous festivals.
The successor Bubble Butt was released on May 24th, 2013. This was created in collaboration with Bruno Mars , 2 Chainz , Tyga and Mystic and, in contrast to its predecessor, could be classified more in the field of hip hop. The production of the song dates from the time Taylor was part of the project. While no success could be achieved in the German-speaking, the track moved up into the charts in the USA and especially in Belgium.
On August 19, 2013, the song Scare Me was released as the third single. Here they worked with the Canadian electroclash singer Peaches and reggae singer Timberlee. Other singles were the songs Jessica with Ezra Koenig of the indie rock band Vampire Weekend in September 2013, Jet Blue Jet with Leftside, GTA, Zia Benjamin, Razz and Biggy in October 2013 and Sweat with Laidback Luke and Ms. Dynamite in November Decoupled in 2013. However, except for Scare Me, none of these achieved great success.
2014: Apocalypse Soon
On February 14, 2014 the song Aerosol Can , a collaboration with Pharrell Williams, was released as the first pre-release single of a subsequent extended play. After the song reached the official singles charts in Belgium and Australia, the trio held a remix contest. In May 2014 it was announced that Peachey had won it. The remix was released as a single track on Beatport in June 2014.
On February 25, 2014 the trio released the EP Apocalypse Soon , on which collaborations with Pharrell Williams and Sean Paul, among others, could be found. The style of the tracks spanned genres and had both their typical Moombahton style and trap-like sounds. In the US, the EP made it into the official album charts.
On March 3, 2014, the song Come on to Me was released as a single from the EP. This was created in collaboration with the Jamaican rapper Sean Paul . The Moombahton song reached the Belgian, French and Dutch singles charts. Two music videos were produced for the track. While the first was animated and shows neither the band nor Sean Paul, in the second all musicians are involved. This was also the only one made available for television.
Together with the Polish DJ and producer PAFF, the trio produced a remix of the 2013 club hit Stampede , which was released as a single on March 10, 2014. The remix became part of the TomorrowWorld aftermovie and was particularly successful on Beatport.
2015: Peace Is the Mission
With the single Lean On , released in 2015 , which was co-created with DJ and producer DJ Snake and singer MØ , they released one of their greatest successes. In addition to reaching number 2 on the Spotify streaming charts with over 2 million streams daily, Lean On reached number 4 in Germany, number 1 in Australia , Denmark , the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Lean On acted both the first single release, as well as an announcement for their third album Peace Is the Mission .
The album Peace Is the Mission was released on June 1, 2015 . This included collaborations with Ariana Grande , 2 Chainz and Elliphant , among others . The commercial success was far greater than that of the predecessor, so they reached the top 10 in Australia, Belgium and all of Scandinavia. In Germany they were able to reach the upper half of the chart for the first time. An extended version of the album contained additional songs and a remix version contained the songs of the original in remix form.
Parallel to the album, the second single Powerful was released on June 1, 2015 , which they recorded together with Ellie Goulding and Tarrus Riley . The song reached the charts in 20 countries, including the top 10 in Australia, the Czech Republic and Poland. In contrast to Lean On , this song was stylistically more influenced by soul and R&B. The music video shows Goulding and Riley using telekinesis in a café . Lost , the second collaboration with MØ included on the album, was released on July 20, 2015. This did not follow the success of Lean On , but was able to advance to the top 100 in Germany.
Since October 2015, Major Lazer have been broadcasting their own two-hour radio show on Apple Music's radio station , Beats 1 . It bears the title “Lazer Sound” and is usually broadcast every three weeks, but there are often irregular programs. The programs usually consist of a one and a half hour DJ set with the group's favorite music and a half hour set by a guest musician.
In early November 2015, the single Light It Up was released , which includes a guest contribution by Nyla . For the first time she achieved high chart successes like Lean On . The single version is fundamentally different from that of the album; so the style of drum 'n' bass in Moombahton was redesigned and additional rap verses from Fuse ODG were added.
The last single from the album was released on November 27, 2015. This is called Boom and was only included on the extended version. The Dutch DJ and producer MOTi , who was originally active in the big room sector, took part in the production. Ty Dolla $ ign , Wizkid and Kranium contributed vocals . Particularly in Europe, especially in Scandinavia, great success was achieved.
2016: Cold Water & Believer
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On July 22, 2016, Major Lazer released the song Cold Water , a collaboration with MØ and Justin Bieber . Ed Sheeran and Benny Blanco were also involved in the creation . Cold Water is the lead single of the fourth studio album Music Is the Weapon and brought the trio into the top 10 of over 30 countries, including about 15 times at number one. Remixes contributed among others Lost Frequencies , Afrojack and Don Omar . Within six months, the song sold over five million times.
On September 30, 2016, their collaboration with the Dutch brothers duo Showtek with the title Believer , which is supposed to be a mixture of dance hall, trap and big room, was published. The song premiered in April 2016 and achieved great popularity. In Belgium, France and the Netherlands, Believer made it into the official singles charts. In addition, the song reached the top 20 of the US dance charts. In particular, the music video, which alludes to the European refugee crisis , received positive reviews.
2017: Music Is the Weapon
On January 26, 2017, the single Run Up was released , which was created together with the R&B singer PartyNextDoor and the rapper Nicki Minaj . Stargate and Philip Meckseper also worked on the production . The latter has already appeared on a number of previous songs. The song was able to achieve worldwide success again, including the upper half of the chart in over 20 countries. At the same time, they produced a remix for Ed Sheeran's world hit Shape of You . They also added vocals from Nyla and Kranium. Another remix was released on May 5, 2017 together with Moska for Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankees Despacito .
On June 1, 2017, the single Know No Better was released , which the crew recorded together with rappers Travis Scott , Quavo and singer Camila Cabello . It is the lead single of the EP of the same name, on which you can listen to five other songs, on which u. a. Sean Paul and J Balvin are featured.
Also in June 2017, Diplo stated in an interview with Billboard that he had set other goals from now on, as he assumed that albums would no longer really be sold. Nevertheless, music magazines such as " NME " reported that their fourth studio album, Music Is the Weapon, was planned for 2018. In January 2018, reports surfaced that the album would be released the following March, which did not materialize until late 2018. According to Forbes Magazine , all songs published to date should appear on the album. In an interview with Complex given in September 2018, Diplo said that he intends to release the album in 2019 as the last major Lazer album.
In May 2019, it was announced that longtime member Jillionaire had left Major Lazer. In its place came the producer Ape Drums , who had also worked closely with the group before. The group had already spoken of a new era on social media . In an interview published in June 2019, Walshy Fire denied rumors that the group would want to split that same year. Likewise, the upcoming album wouldn't be the last either.
Discography
Studio albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
US
|
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| 2009 | Guns Don't Kill People… Lazers Thu | - | - | - | - |
US169 (1 week) US |
First published: June 16, 2009
|
| 2013 | Free the Universe |
DE88 (1 week) DE |
AT53 (1 week) AT |
CH45 (2 weeks) CH |
UK34 (2 weeks) UK |
US34 (2 weeks) US |
First published: April 16, 2013
|
| 2015 | Peace is the mission |
DE40 (1 week) DE |
AT32 (2 weeks) AT |
CH11 (7 weeks) CH |
UK25th  (9 weeks)UK |
US12  (68 weeks)US |
First published: May 29, 2015
Sales: + 735,000 |
Web links
- official website (English)
- official SoundCloud page (English)
- Major Lazer at Allmusic (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alexander Iadarola: Major Lazer and Eric Prydz Are Doing Radio Shows on Beats 1. In: thump.vice.com. Retrieved April 20, 2017 .
- ↑ Jillionaire has left Major Lazer. June 4, 2019, accessed June 8, 2019 .
- ↑ Jillionaire Leaves Major Lazer, Replaced By Ape Drums. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
- ↑ Shirley Ju: Walshy Fire Talks ABENG, Major Lazer Disband Rumors [interview]. Retrieved June 23, 2019 .
- ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US