Alesso

With over 3.5million followers online, YouTube views in the millions, and fans including Sebastian Ingrosso, Calvin Harris, Pete Tong, Avicii and Swedish House Mafia, Grammy nominated producer Alesso already has a huge following thanks to his hugely popular remixes and sold-out shows around the globe. His new single, ‘Tear The Roof Up, and forthcoming debut album, are set to be the tipping point that takes Alesso from dancefloor hero to household name. 

Beginning his career five years ago as a self-taught 18 year-old bedroom producer in Stockholm, Sweden, Alessandro Lindblad’strajectory to the forefront of the global dancefloor is truly incredible. He began by tinkering with other people’s songs, creating his own edits, adding piano riffs and melody ideas, and uploading his versions to Beatport. Alesso’s efforts reached Swedish House Mafia’s Sebastian Ingrosso, who swiftly took the teen under his wing, becoming his mentor, and signing him to his management and label. Alesso made an impressiveentrance with the ‘Taking It Back’ remix of Avicii’s ‘Alcoholic’, but it was his addition of a classic house drop to Nadia Ali’s ‘Pressure’ that helped the single become one of the most played dance tracks of 2011. Swiftly unleashing a barrage of brilliant remixes for Swedish House Mafia, Devolution and LFMAO, the then teenager was named EDM Artist To Watch by MTV. 

In 2012, he teamed up with Ingrosso and OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder for ‘Calling (Lose My Mind)’, which went to No.1 on the Billboard Dance chart and has since been streamed over 33.5m times on Spotify. That same year, he was invited to open for Madonna on her MDMA tour, before releasing a volley of commercially and critically celebrated remixes including David Guetta ‘Titanium’, Keane’s ‘Silenced By The Night’ and OneRepublic’s ‘If I Lose Myself’. Since then, he has played to sold-out crowds all over the world, landed a Las Vegas residency, and became a festival favourite at Coachella, Electric Daisy and Ultra. During his first headline tour in 2013, he released ‘Under Control’ with Calvin Harris and Theo Hurts, which topped the Hypemachine charts, was named Pete Tong’s ‘Essential New Tune’ and hit 1m YouTube views in just 24 hours. He rounded the year out by producing Example’s ‘Queen Of Your Dreams’ and, alongside Swedish House Mafia, ‘Numb’ for R&B megastar Usher. At the end of 2013, Alesso received a Grammy nomination for Best Dance Remix for ‘If I Lose Myself’, another Billboard Dance No.1 with over 40m streams on Spotify to date.

Over the course of the last five years, Alesso has amassed 2.5m Facebook Likes, 900k Twitter followers and 370k Instagram followers, while on YouTube he’s hit over 100m plays to date. 

Taught to play the piano as a young child, Alesso grew up on pop idols including Michael Jackson, before discovering Hip Hop via Nelly, Pharrell and Timbaland. But it was hearing his first House track as a young teenager that really opened Alesso’s eyes to the possibilities and power of music. “We would go to underage parties when I was 13, 14 years-old,” he remembers.“It was the cheesier end of Dance music, but I immediately gained a new perspective of what music is. I had never felt that kind of feeling - I still get it today - that rush and excitement. I want to be alive, explore the world, show love and spread love. House music makes me feel like nothing is impossible. I can conquer the world.”

He quickly immersed himself in as much House as he could find; a friend made him a mix CD and it was here that he discoveredDaft Punk, Erick Morillo, Steve Angello, Daft Punk and Axwell. Throwing himself fully into making music at the age of 18, part of Alesso’s success is down to his diverse influences and huge appetite for life which riddle his infectious creations with an energy that is palpable. Alesso’s debut album proves the Swede won’t be limited by genre or niche. There’s soul, melody and adventure in his compositions; there’s never merely one tempo or type of terrain. “Every song I make is House at its core, but because I’ve listened to so much Hip Hop, I think you hear an element of ruggedness in my music. I like to mix it up a little bit - not keep the same beat all the time. I’m not in any way making Hip Hop music, but I’m very influenced and interested in bringing different grooves into my songs.”

The recently turned 23 year-old’s debut single with Def Jam US/Virgin EMI UK, ‘Tear The Roof Up’ is an unadulterated slice of sonic euphoria. Since creating the track in his hometown of Sweden earlier this year, ‘Tear The Roof Up’ has proven itself to be an explosive opening to Alesso’s live set. Brilliantly building from a tautly wound intro of anarchic beats into an all-out 4-to-the-floor rave smash, ‘Tear The Roof Up’ is a joyous ode to living life to the full. “I wanted to make a massive song that would literally make people want to tear off the roof,” says Alesso. “I didn’t want to just make just another ‘club song’. I wanted to create a moment in time.” 

“Monstrous,” raved Zane Lowe who premiered the single on his hugely influential BBC Radio 1 show. “I didn't make it to Coachella this year but I was streaming it like so many millions of people from around the world…I clicked on Alesso's set and he started his set with this song. It was the most ridiculous, most unifying response from about 20,000 people streaming out of this huge aircraft hangar whilst the sun was beaming down on his face, and I was like ‘This is what songs like this are designed to do’.”

Heroes is similarly uplifting. Opening with a gliding guitar riff, the vocal takes the listener on a journey through tempo and over-arching nostalgia before ending up in as hands-in-the-air sonic soul searcher. “It’s about believing in yourself and going for your goals. The song gives me the feeling that something might be over, but it’s ok, we’re still here together after it. This might be the last time we’ll be in that moment, but we can create new ones afterwards.”

A man clearly in love with music and life, Alesso’s ethos is all about living in the moment. He’s an impassioned producer seeking out life’s highs while defying genre, expectation and convention.

“I don’t ever want to make just another club song,” Alesso insists. “‘Electronic music’ sometimes feels like it’s all about the money; I can say one hundred per cent that I didn’t start doing this to make money. The main reason why I make music is to bring a message; I want to uplift people though music, I want to inject emotion into dance music. I want people to scream, jump, feel happiness. Explosive happiness. The best thing about music is it has no rules; I love the idea of breaking the rules.”

Chromeo

World leaders, powerful CEOs, and assorted other fat cats could learn myriad lessons from Chromeo, but the number one tip that Dave 1 and P-Thugg have is this: Know thyself, know thy vibe, and stay thy course. The rest of the population will catch up. What this means is that Chromeo is really good at being Chromeo. The mission, the package, the vision—it’s been a straight shot of pure intentionality from the jump. These Chromeo dudes? They have the whole being-these-Chromeo-dudes thing totally wired.

And with the benefit of blessed hindsight, we can all see now that Chromeo stuck to it with the natural doggedness of the soulful heirs that they are. Funk a game plan—these guys had a ten-year battle strategy. When they released their first album in 2004, Rick James was still the Antichrist to all but the enlightened. Fast forward to today, and ‘80s funk—which makes up a major part of Chromeo’s DNA—is all over the charts.

So it’s the perfect time for a fresh dose of the real stuff and—lo and behold—Pee (still looking a smooth criminal in a Coogi) and Dave (ever the Semitic/Gallic heartthrob in tight pants) are back. We are officially on the cusp of the Canadian funk lords’ fourth album’s release. It’s called White Women and it’s a doozy. As a work of cultural theory, it posits that we are living in a post-nostalgia age. All previous genres and styles of music now coexist within a singularity of moves and gestures. (Ouch, sorry, got possessed by a cultural studies prof. for a second there… but the foregoing is true of Chromeo, just FYI.) More importantly, as pure entertainment, White Women perpetuates and elevates Chromeo’s existing blueprint: sexy funk, ass-targeting beats, melodic honey, and smart lyrics about the foibles of contemporary love.

Dave 1’s words continue to turn urban music clichés on their heads. On “Jealous (I Ain’t With It)”, a Chromeo crossover comet if there ever was one, our arch antihero witnesses his ex in the arms of other guys… wearing the jacket that he bought her. Conversely, the pristinely produced “Over Your Shoulder” is a paean to the insecure. You’re all beautiful, ladies, is the message; don’t even sweat that body-image noise. And “Sexy Socialite” is a warning to the highhanded party girls of the early twenty-teens. Check yourself, sayeth Chromeo.

White Women is the band at its most ambitious, with both the pop and the muso elements of Chromeo pushed into the red. On the hooky side, we’ve got instant classics like the soaring “Come Alive” and the pulsating “Frequent Flyer” which offer moments that would make Hall & Oates and Wham green with envy. On the crate-digger side, Dave and Pee employ an unprecedented analog arsenal that would make Kraftwerk drool. Mtume’s female vocalist croons on more than half the album. Steely Dan’s string conductor pops up on the progressive album closer “Fall Back 2U.” Try all that on for size, nerds.

But for all that 80’ talk, White Women, more so than any other Chrome-opus, is firmly grounded in pop’s present. It features some stellar cameos, too. Solange belts it out with Dave 1 on “Lost On The Way Home,” Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend contributes the piano-led, heartstring-pulling intermezzo “Ezra’s Interlude,” and Toro y Moi dives into the undiluted electro-funk of the aforementioned “Come Alive.”

Pretty Lights Live

Pretty Lights (Derek Vincent Smith) had yet another year steeped in a retro-future landscape. Centered around a heavy focus in the studio,the result surfaced in 2016 with the release of “Only Yesterday.” On the back of the original single, Pretty Lights introduced ‘ An Episodic Festival,’  a series of multi-day events in select U.S. cities that featured a new band, Pretty Lights Live. 

Wiz Khalifa

Multi-platinum selling, Grammy and Golden Globe nominated recording artist Wiz Khalifa burst onto the scene with mainstream success with the release of his first major label debut, Rolling Papers‎ in 2011. ‎Rolling Papers spawned the hugely successful hits “Black and Yellow,” “Roll Up” and “No Sleep” and gave Wiz the platform to win the award for Best New Artist at the 2011 BET Awards and Top New Artist at the 2012 Billboard Music Awards. His sophomore studio album, Blacc Hollywood, ‎debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Top 200 album chart and featured the hit single "We Dem Boyz." Soon after Khalifa's track,‎ “See You Again,” off the FURIOUS 7 soundtrack, catapulted to the top of the charts across 95 countries. Holding the #1 spot for 12 consecutive weeks, “See You Again” broke records by being Spotify’s most-streamed track in a single day in the United States and in a single week in 26 countries. In addition to winning 3 Teen Choice Awards in 2015, “See You Again” continued its success by winning a Critics’ Choice Award in the category Best Song, winning two Billboard Music Awards in the categories Top Hot 100 Song and Top Rap Song, earning three Grammy Award nominations in the categories Song of the Year, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Best Song Written for Visual Media, and a Golden Globe nomination in the category Best Original Song – Motion Picture. Wiz released his album Khalifa in February of 2016 as a thank you to fans which includes the tracks “Bake Sale” featuring Travis Scott, “Zoney” and “Elevated.” On June 3 Wiz released TGOD Mafia Presents: Rude Awakening with his TGOD Mafia collaborator Juicy J. Wiz recently co-headlined The High Road Summer Tour with Snoop Dogg this past July. For more information please visit www.wizkhalifa.com.

Young Thug

Jeffery Williams, better known by his stage name Young Thug, and was briefly known as "Jeffery", is an American rapper from Atlanta, Georgia who is signed to Gucci Mane's 1017 Brick Squad Records, Asylum Records and Atlantic Records. Thug grew to prominence in 2013 after releasing his mixtape 1017 Thug to positive critical reception. He has collaborated with artists such as Gucci Mane, Young Scooter, Rich Homie Quan and Waka Flocka Flame.

Thug was born amongst the masses eliminating any doubt that he wouldn’t be special. The second youngest child of 11 children developed a skill for standing out amongst many, early. Young Thug moved to Jonesboro, an impoverished suburb of Georgia where his lifestyle was engrossed by the crime, drug addiction and violence that surrounded him. It was there that he developed an insatiable appetite to succeed his current situation. After discovering and acknowledging his talent and creativity for music in 2010, Thug started a new hustle that would soon mature as one of the most promising music careers in the South.

Eyeballing the throne of Hip hop royalty, Young Thug began to create a sound and style that would inevitably place him on top. Young Thug’s catchy verses and raw lyrical talent distinguished noise from art, clearly being the latter his creations are the best that remain of Southern hip hop. He is the embodiment of the evolution of Southern hip-hop. Young Thug is the representative for a generation that doesn't see hip-hop as a hobby but a lifestyle. Keeping true to himself, his art, and his home Young Thug will stand alone as the one true savior of the Southern movement.

Zeds Dead

Born of radical sonic possibilities and limitless permutations, Electronic music has always been a fluid genre where innovation is prized. Having been at the forefront of the sprawling genre since 2009, Dylan Mamid (DC) and Zachary Rapp-Rovan (Hooks), aka Zeds Dead, are acutely aware of how vital new ideas are. That's why when the Toronto-based producer/DJs finally took time off from headlining festivals, they crafted a debut album full of dynamic, forward-thinking songs that defy categorization and disrupt musical foundations.

The products of two musically-inclined households, DC and Hooks played piano before moving onto the guitar. As teens, they became enamored with the beats of ‘90s hip-hop producers (e.g. DJ Premier, Pete Rock) and formed production duo Mass Productions (MP). Like DJ Shadow or RJD2, they explored the boundless potential of hip-hop based instrumental music.

This insatiable appetite for sonic exploration has been the guiding principal of their career. In college, DC and Hooks became entranced by the rhythms of drum & bass, dubstep, and electro. Changing their name to Zeds Dead, the pair founded one of Canada’s most storied club nights: Bassmentality. Initially held in the tiny basement of 751, around-the-block crowds prompted a relocation to Toronto’s Wrongbar, where the duo booked artists like Skrillex, Borgore, and Nero.

Zeds Dead haven’t stopped their ascent since Bassmentality, touring the world, performing to thousands at music festivals such as Coachella, Lollapalooza, Osheaga, HARD, Ultra, Tomorrowland Belgium, plus the biggest stages in India, Asia, & South America. Zeds Dead have also launched their own events, notably their annual Deadrocks event at Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheater, which they most recently sold out in June of 2016, and their first annual Deadbeats Toronto event at Echo beach in August 2016.

The group’s compelling, high-intensity live shows double as a showcase for their ever-expanding catalog. To date, Zeds Dead has released projects with electronic music titans like Ultra (The Living Dead) and Mad Decent. The duo considers their 2014 EP, Somewhere Else (Mad Decent), a significant artistic milestone. With features from Twin Shadow and Perry Farrel, among others, Hooks and DC seamlessly fused the sonic hallmarks of contemporary hip-hop with brain-melting bass, poignant piano keys, and more.

“The way Somewhere Else came together, the concept behind it, and the way we worked with other people – it was closer to my main vision for Zeds Dead,” says DC.

Zeds Dead fully realizes this vision on their forthcoming album, Northern Lights. Released via the group’s DeadBeats imprint, it is the culmination of two musical journeys, of years of collaboration, touring, and recording. As such, the album encompasses much of life’s emotional complexities. Some songs evoke the wistfulness of nostalgia, others the uncertainty of the present. While others still brim with bright-eyed hope for the future.

“It’s music that works best at night. The northern lights are something beautiful and vibrant coming out of the night sky,” explains DC. “That contrast provided the framework for the album.”

The Disco Biscuits

The Disco Biscuits are an entirely different band today than they were when they first broke out of Philadelphia in the mid-90s. That’s not to say that they’ve abandoned their foundation, switched gears or set sail for distant shores. The Disco Biscuits are still very much the pioneers of “trancefusion,” bridging the gap between electronic music and jam bands. They still remain rock pioneers whose soul belongs as much to marathon dance parties as it does to live improvisational journeys. They still employ emerging technologies to help them create music that is 100 percent human although, perhaps, not entirely of this earth.

The Floozies

Just outside the jazz mecca of Kansas City springs liberal oasis Lawrence, Kansas -- separated only by the waves of wheat from the epicenter of the electronic music revolution in Colorado. From Lawrence, it would logically follow that an act could rise to prominence fueled by the swing of Basie, the birth of Charlie Parker's bebop, and the wild frontier of electronica. Born in funk and bred in the digital age, live electronic duo The Floozies have burst onto the scene at a time when the industry needed them the most. 

Brothers Matt and Mark Hill share the stage just as easily as they share a musical brain. Without a setlist, and without a word between them, Matt's guitar is in lockstep with the thud of Mark's kick. Endless looping and production builds the raw scenery upon which palm muted chugs, searing solos, and wobbling bass paint their dazzling array of colors. 

Well versed in everything from Chris Cornell to Kavinsky, the sonic vision shared by the brothers eschews contemporary electronic influences in favor of broader, deeper tastes including Zapp & Roger, Lettuce, and Amon Tobin. That wide-angle view of a century of popular music allows the Hills to remix Toto and The Dead -- in the music you can hear reverence for the giants of the past, all the while producing wildly futuristic tunes for the masses to dig now. 

When the pendulum swung as far as it could away from live instrumentation to laptops, The Floozies rose up to the challenge, swinging as hard as they could in the other direction with neck-snapping, knee-breaking funk so dirty that the gatekeepers stood up, wiped themselves off, and took notice. A bold live show full of sonic exploration and unbreakably deep pocket grooves has landed the brothers on stage with luminaries of the jam world Umphrey's McGee as readily as electronic elites STS9 and Big Gigantic. Sold out shows across the Country, huge festival appearances at Bonnaroo, Electric Forest, High Sierra, Summercamp, Wakarusa, Camp Bisco, Summerset, Bumbershoot, and a sold out Red Rocks show with Griz have continued to cement the duo's ascent. 

The Floozies are bringing the funk back, and they're right on time.

Knife Party

2012 saw the birth of dance duet Knife Party, having rocketed from an unknown entity, to one of the most renowned dance acts in the world with a barely a moment to catch their breath. The groups first EP ‘100% No Modern Talking’ racked up over half a million downloads and was backed up by their second EP ‘Rage Valley’ achieving top 10’s in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia iTunes charts and debut at #1 and #2 in both the Beatport and Trackitdown dubstep charts. They have amassed over 2.3 million Facebook fans, achieved over 20 million plays of ‘Internet Friends’ on YouTube alone, and have headlined shows and festivals to tens of thousands of fans the world over. Remixing Porter Robinson, Labrinth and Nero to name a few, Knife Party also collaborated with Swedish House Mafia on the phenomenal worldwide smash ‘Antidote’. November 2014 saw the release of a debut ‘Abandon Ship’ which saw the profile of the group continue to grow internationally. The opening single ‘resistance’ was released as an instant grat track and was impressively streamed over 20 thousand times in the first 24 hours. 2015 saw the bands profile expand further with various headline slots around the world, including Global Gathering and Tomorrowland as well as touring their sell out Haunted House tour to arenas throughout America. The group also played a number of festivals throughout the summer, these include the Earstorm stage at the Future Music Festival and the main stage at Ultra in Miami. Q4 for the guys also sees the release of their latest EP along with headline shows at both Warehouse Project and a huge Halloween show in Brixton Academy, where they will be unveiling their incredible new show to which will soon be played to a global stage. The Knife Party movement is both a viral and a global one, and this will come as no surprise to anyone that has witnessed their performances or heard their music!

Moby

Often tagged the king of techno —as well as the first face of techno —Moby is notable among the hordes of anonymous DJs merely because he has stepped out from behind his turntable to seek the attention typically awarded only to rock stars. Yet his music —a symphonic combination of disco beats, punk-rock speed, and anthemic lyrics —withstands the focus. Conveniently, Richard Melville Hall's nickname, given to him as a child (in reference to his great-great-great-uncle Herman Melville's Moby Dick), fits perfectly with the pseudonyms of other techno artists like Aphex Twin, the Orb, and the Prodigy. But Moby's devout spirituality, veganism, and abstinence from alcohol and drugs are a departure from the typically bacchanalian rave scene.

Moby grew up in Darien, Connecticut, where, while in high school, he formed his first band, the Vatican Commandos, a hardcore punk outfit for which he played guitar. After dropping out of college (where he studied religion and philosophy), he moved to New York and started hanging out in dance clubs and DJing. By 1990, he had released some singles and EPs for the underground dance label Instinct; these included "Go," which set the Twin Peaks TV show theme to a frantic dance beat and went to #10 in the U.K. in 1991. This led to some remix projects (Michael Jackson, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, Brian Eno, and the B-52's) and a record deal with Elektra.

With the release of 1995's Everything Is Wrong, Moby stretched the techno sound; the album contains the expected high-BPM tracks yet also features a bluesy punk song ("What Love") and the metallish "All That I Need." For its release party, Moby actually performed some of the songs on acoustic guitar.

That affinity for guitar was prophetic; Moby's 1996 followup Animal Rightsrevealed his passion for punk and hardcore —he even did a cover of Mission of Burma's "That's When I Reach for My Revolver." The album drew mixed reviews, however, and many dance-music fans felt abandoned by one of their gurus. Meanwhile, Moby continued to work on film scores, and he released a compilation of his movie tunes entitled I Like to Score.

With 1999's Play (#45, 2000), a party-pleaser that also ingeniously pushed musical boundaries with its combinations of electronica and old blues and gospel recordings, Moby managed to capture both critical acclaim (two Grammy nominations and top honors in the 1999 Village Voice critics poll) and legions of new fans (the album went double platinum in 2000 and sold more than 3 million copies worldwide). Suddenly, Moby's music was heard in countless movie trailers, TV shows, and commercials, while the man himself became an unlikely poster boy for Calvin Klein. His former label, Elektra, tried to cash in on Moby's new fame with the compilation Mobysongs 1993–1998, a survey of his earlier work. "South Side" (#14, 2001) featured Gwen Stefani.

Oliver Heldens

Every once in a while you come across a rare trailblazer like the young Dutch DJ/producer Oliver Heldens who stands out from the crowd with his own distinctive sound. A genuine superstar counting No. 1 hits and hundreds of millions of streams to his name, he is at the vanguard of the new generation of house music stars. Heldens’ 2016 kicked off in perfect fashion with his rampant collaboration with Throttle, Waiting, hitting No. 1 on Beatport via his own Heldeep Records label and again demonstrating the continued hunger for his so-called ‘future house’ sound. It’s another cut that shows his skill in working with powerful vocals, and followed on from the immense success of Tiësto collaboration, Wombass, which was subsequently reissued in a vocal form as The Right Song with a little help from Natalie La Rose. Along with the massive Shaun Frank and Delaney Jane collab Shades Of Grey, it all sets the tone for his much-anticipated debut album which is set to stun when it finally sees the light of day. Don’t hold your breath for his LP, though; as much as he is one of the most prolific and successful producers around, he is also a resolute perfectionist. Working tirelessly in his studio to craft new sounds and directions at every available opportunity, he’s a truly dedicated artist who refuses to cut corners. It’s this attitude to innovation that also saw him launch his spectacular HI-LO side project, which pushes his intricate and forward-thinking production aesthetic to its limits through the filter of hyperactive bass music. His career has been a whirlwind of mind-boggling success since he signed to Spinnin’ Records in 2013 aged just 18. After a run of successful singles with the Dutch powerhouse, Tiësto picked up his massive Gecko, which became his major breakthrough track. Pete Tong’s FFRR imprint snapped it up and took it to the UK No. 1 spot with a vocal from Rudimental collaborator Becky Hill, with the record eventually receiving Platinum sales status. It also hit No. 2 on Beatport and stayed at No. 1 in their Deep House chart for a month, while follow-up Koala (Last All Night) hit No. 5 in the UK chart and achieved Silver sales certification. Remixes for Coldplay, Martin Garrix, Robin Thicke, Disclosure and Calvin Harris followed, and his tour diary continued to get busier and busier – with EDC, Tomorrowland, Glastonbury, Stereosonic and Coachella just a few of the world-leading events to receive the Heldens treatment including his famous shuffle over the last few years. As well as his globally broadcast Heldeep Radio sessions, he currently holds down one of the rotation slots on BBC Radio 1’s prestigious Residency show. His residencies at Omnia Las Vegas and Ushuaïa Ibiza also continue, placing him at the epicentres of the global DJ circuit and spreading the eclectic, high-octane sound of his style behind the decks to hundreds of thousands of clubbers throughout the year. With his hilarious social media high jinx and antics to add to all this, he ensures that he’s at the forefront of his loyal and burgeoning fanbase’s minds at all times. He may only be 21, but he’s already achieved more in three years than he could ever hope for. Humble, hard-working and exceptionally talented, it’s clear that he’s just getting started.

Post Malone

Post Malone stirs a mix of genres into his own sonic “sauce” that’s both intoxicating and invigorating. “I describe what I do as sauce,” he affirms. “You can turn up to it. You can chill to it. You can do anything to it. It makes you feel some type of way, or it makes you want to party. It just comes naturally.” Post’s recipe has yielded massive success so far. His breakthrough single “White Iverson” reached RIAA triple-platinum status, captured #1 at Rhythm Radio, and soared to the Top 10 of Urban Radio. To date, he’s cumulatively amassed 200 million streams and counting, garnering 22 million for his 2016 debut mixtape August 26. Meanwhile, his video views surpass 280 million-plus on YouTube/VEVO. These accolades speak to his work ethic, bringing him from humble beginnings in Texas to worldwide superstardom. The Dallas native grew up listening to his dad’s Metallica, Johnny Cash, UGK, and The Notorious B.I.G. records before trading his Guitar Hero controller for an electric guitar at elevenyears-old. After graduating high school and releasing his first mixtape online, he picked up and headed west to Los Angeles, which would become his current home. Despite “partying too much” and not “having any money for cigarettes or Ramen,” the 19-year-old met production duo FKi and started making music. “I wanted to create something everybody can get down to and get drunk to,” he continues. “People who like hip-hop will like it. People who like folk will dig it. People who like pop will be into it.” One day, Post created the beat for “White Iverson” in his bedroom, laid down the vocals, and uploaded it to Soundcloud. The response proved overwhelming. Before he knew it, the budding star had Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller tweeting him, Complex, Noisey, The Fader, and Hypebeast singing his praises, 14 incendiary SXSW performances under his belt, and major labels knocking at his door. In six months of its official release on Republic Records, “White Iverson” first achieved RIAA Platinum status and he went on the road for Fetty Wap’s “Welcome To The Zoo” tour in early 2016. Kanye West and 50 Cent tapped him for high-profile collaborations, and Jay-Z, Justin Bieber, and many others offered enthusiastic co-signs. The ethereal soundscape of “White Iverson” gives way to a charismatic and catchy declaration for Post. "The first time I got braids I was like ‘I feel like I'm the White Iverson’; I made the beat and recorded it. The vibe was right, and the stars aligned. The song itself is about confidence. I used to be really shy, and I started to develop this new swagger. ‘White Iverson’ was when we knew we had something people would fuck with.” Building on that momentum, Post has been entrenched in the studio working on more music in between a global tour supporting Justin Bieber. Incorporating not only his inimitable voice but his production and instrumentation, it’s as enigmatic and enthralling as he is. It’s also just the beginning.

Alan Walker

Alan Walker has achieved remarkable success worldwide with his latest single ”Faded”. Precisely six months after its release Walker returns with the dance pop track “Sing Me To Sleep”. The title is sweet, but the theme is far from a lullaby. Iselin Solheim tells with her dramatic vocals the story about longing for a safe place in a world in constant movement. The video is shot in Hong Kong and takes you on a mission throughout the city.

"Wait a second, let me catch my breath. Remind me how it feels to hear your voice. Your lips are moving, I can't hear a thing. Living life as if we had a choice."

”I´m so happy to finally release ”Sing Me To Sleep”. Melodies are more or less everything to me as a producer, and I´m very proud of what the team and I have put together in the studio. We have been working on this track for quite some time now, and I’m absolutely thrilled with the final result. I really hope my fans like this song as much as I do!” - Alan Walker

The 18-year old, Norwegian producer Alan Walker has emerged on the global music scene as one of the most successful artists of 2016. His record breaking single “Faded” was released on December 4th, 2015 and has today reached 3.8 million sold units worldwide and the music video has 310 million views on YouTube. It topped the singles chart in 10 countries across Europe and reached top 10 in UK, #2 in Australia and has recently entered Billboard Hot 100 in the US. It was #1 on the Global Shazam chart for 7 consecutive weeks and #1 on the European Radio chart for 6 consecutive weeks. Alan’s summer tour has already taken off, with multiple stops at major festivals throughout Europe.

Growing up in the digital era, Alan found an early interest in computers that later turned into a fascination for programming and graphic design. In 2012 he started making music on his laptop with the help and feedback from his online friends. His music gained great popularity among gamers who used Alan’s tracks in their own YouTube videos (UGC). The songs spread all over the world and later caught the attention of the record labels.

Bakermat (Live)

It all started in 2012 when 20 year old Lodewijk Fluttert took a semester off of his study Psychology to discover different sides of himself. For two months he danced, filmed, made music, did standup comedy, wrote and much more, untill he found out what he loved doing most: making music. He uploaded a couple of tracks on youtube and soundcloud, and Bakermat was born. Since then he stepped in a rollercoaster ride he could have never imagined. First official single ‘Vandaag (One Day)’ became a huge hit all over Europe hitting top 10 spots in almost every country. The early succes got rewarded with platinum records in France, Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium. The succes was largely attributed to the fact that he came with an entirely different and new sound, combining minimal and deep house with jazz and soul. It laid a foundation for the genres we now know as ‘tropical house’ or ‘melodic house’, in which he is still seen as the founder and pioneer. He keeps trying to bring new and refreshing music out, always trying to be as unique and renewing as possible. A huge succes was his record released in 2015 “Teach Me” where he mixed Soul, Gospel and Disco to a record that set a new standard in the ‘melodic house’ genre. 

Bakermat also became well know because of his innovative performances and stage hostings. He did shows in Paris, London and other big cities with an entire band called ‘The Bakermat Live Band’. In Paris he even played in the legendary L’Olympia with his band, a sold out show. He played at almost every big festival there is over the last 3 years like I Love Techno, Ultra Miami, Sensation White, Mainsquare, Montreux Jazz Festival, Tomorrowland, Mysteryland, South West Four and the list goes on and on. He is also the host of stages at the biggest festivals like the ‘Bakermat&Friends’ stage at Tomorrowland every year, or the “Bakermat’s Gospel Church’ at Kingsday Festival and a lot more. As one of the founders his goal is to bring new talent or fellow colleagues to the stage and that's exactly what he does when he's curating a stage. Artists like Klingande, Thomas Jack, The Avener, Robin Schulz and Oliver Heldens are often guests at one of his stages.

Bakermat’s new album ‘Bon Voyage’ is his first studio album and will be released in 2015, it contains a lot of new material and new styles/ production techniques, because according to Bakermat this was an opportunity for him to “ really be free of restrictions and make exactly what I want”. With his album, remixes, releases and confirmed shows at the biggest festivals lined up, it seems 2016 will be a great year for Bakermat once again. 

Bob Moses

We gotta keep pushing, gotta keep pushing through. It’s gotta mean something to you. Occupying the fertile ground between organic band land and an all-electronic production project, Bob Moses draw on the two poles to vividly resonate across both. A duo with an individual name, Tom Howie and Jimmy Vallance’s musical endeavor plays with this kind of duality all over their debut album Days Gone By.

“We were never happy just making music on guitars,” says Tom Howie of the organic-electronic sound of Bob Moses, the Brooklyn-by-way-of-Canada duo he formed with partner Jimmy Vallance. “Our live show combines what a DJ does with a rock band,” Vallance adds. “Everything flows together in a continuous mix for the dancefloor, but it’s all our own original music, with live vocals and guitar. Then again, we came out of a scene that was trying to change what dance music is – that pushed beyond the expected sonic spectrum.”

Initially connecting in high school back in Vancouver, the two went their separate ways – Howie to Boston’s Berklee College Of Music, Vallance to the commercial dance charts producing big room floor fillers. After moving to New York City separately only to serendipitously bump into each other in a carpark and discover that they each had studios across the street from each other in Red Hook, the call was made to get together to try and jam something out. “We booked a couple days to write at my studio for fun, and by the end of the week, I told Tom, ‘Come live at my place and let’s do this every day’”, Vallance recalls. It made sense that the name of their project paid tribute to the city in which it was birthed, and so in homage to Robert Moses, the urban planner behind iconic New York landmarks like Shea Stadium and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, Bob Moses was anointed.

Invigorated by the now legendary scene that surrounded the illegal underground warehouse parties that were going down in New York championing a new wave of house and techno crews (including those connected to the Marcy Hotel and Resolute), Howie and Vallance were encouraged to dive in deep following a performance with Francis Harris’ Frank & Tony project in 2012, for which they’d been ghostwriting hooks. “We didn’t think much of it until we played Marcy with Frank & Tony in 2012,” Howie recalls. “Tom sang live to the tracks we’d written, and people went insane! We’d never expected that reaction, which made us think we were on to something,” Vallance says. “We woke up the next day thinking ‘We have to become our own act.’ We came up with the songs for our first EP, Hands to Hold, and Francis agreed to put it out.”

While their introduction to dance music may have come in the genre’s traditionally communal setting, it’s Days Gone By’s potency in solitude that marks it out as a debut album worthy of deeper scrutiny. A sound palette that combines the elegantly icy with an indelibly human touch, its Cologne techno rhythms in the bottom, the elegant otherly distance of Detroit in the middle, and an unmistakably earthly, almost jazzy textures in the top end, anchored by Howie’s softly suggestive voice that doesn’t dominate, but instead plays out as another instrument in an alluring mix.

Alternating between brooding dancefloor burners and moments of reflective, downbeat repose, Days Gone By is a record that’s not in a rush to get to its destination, preferring to subtly, slowly seduce rather than sway and swagger into submission, weaving a rich spectrum of sensation over the course of its twelve tracks.

The opening track Like It Or Not perfectly exemplifies the Bob Moses approach. A stark introduction of piano and voice departs into a propulsive, off-kilter house rhythm, before breaking right back down and riding out on a heady conclusion of vocal harmony, before the first single,Talk, spins a deceptively catchy vocal melody over jacking bass and foreboding ambience. Slinky, sinewy and imperceptibly catchy, Too Much is a grower in the shape of a guitar-led deep house Trojan horse. Tearing Me Up resurrects the oft-overlooked schaffel rhythm to deadly effect, a slow-burning, gyrating epic of tortured love that simmers without ever boiling over, while the title track unfolds in waves of repetition over almost seven hypnotic minutes, a melancholy slice of cathartic release and a worthy album centerpiece. Gentle rhodes chords and a loping heartbeat drum pattern marks Writing On The Wall as one of the record’s more vulnerable intermissions, and Here We Are closes out proceedings with a lush, melancholy acoustic guitar-led lament, a touching glance in the rearview.

The balance of man and machine is a delicate dance that Bob Moses have realised with their debut, and Days Gone By is a dazzling exploration of discreet, personal moods that engages and eventually engulfs, tastefully coalescing dance music’s giddy rush with more timeless, introspective song craft. Borrowing from both but slaves to neither, as a result the record is equally effective headphone listening as it is deft club euphoria. Days Gone By reveals Bob Moses as masters of their art.”

Chronixx & Zincfence Redemption

Jamaican musician Chronixx has ignited a torch in people's hearts the world over and is confidently lighting the path for an entire generation of youths to rediscover roots and culture.

Born Jamar Rolando McNaughton on October 10, 1992, Chronixx was musically nurtured from an early age by his father, dancehall artist Chronicle, and grew up surrounded by the likes of Burro Banton and Gregory Isaacs. His remarkable ascension in the music industry began in the background; harmonizing for artists such as Lutan Fyah and providing production assistance for tracks sung by Popcaan, Konshens and others.

Today, Chronixx is a respected artist in his own right after his career was stimulated by the unfortunate passing of both his blood brother in 2007 and his brother-in-arms, Lil' J.O.E., in 2010. The first EP, Hooked on Chronixx, was released in 2011 and immediately put the budding artist on the radar of music lovers and industry heads alike with 'Start A Fyah,' 'Warrior' and breakout single 'Behind Curtain' standing out as a fan favorites far beyond Jamaican shores.

The Dread & Terrible Project was released in April 2014 - a set comprised of seven tracks plus three dub versions - immediatelytopping the Billboard (US) and iTunes reggae charts in both UK andJapan. Neither an album nor an EP, the Project includes the widely received ‘Capture Land’ and a short film based on one of its tracks, 'Rastaman Wheel Out' (directed by Ras Kassa), to critical acclaim.

Hit single 'Here Comes Trouble' captured late night American TV presenter Jimmy Fallon’s attention while on vacation in Jamaica. The chance encounter lead to a personal request for the young musician to perform live on Fallon’s TV show in July 2014. A concert held in Central Park the following week was a roadblock affair from the outset, thousands of attendees turned out including Rolling Stones’ frontman Mick Jagger celebrating his 71st birthday.

Chronixx toured for the first time in 2013 when he went to Europe with his own band Zincfence Redemption. He has since embarked on solo tours from the Americas to the Oceanic region; including sold out shows in New York (Irving Plaza), three shows in London (including Somerset House), Trinidad & Tobago, Australia, Canada, and being the first band to do a 2-part tour of Jamaica (Capture Land Tour).

With so much accomplished in such short time, the world is bracing for greater wonders from this young man who walks with an old soul. For Chronixx himself, music is a mission and history is being made everyday still.

"Prepare your minds and hearts for this revolution." - Chronixx

FKJ

An accomplished artist and rising star of the Parisian electronic scene, FKJ, also known as French Kiwi Juice, is one of the flag bearers of the New French House musical genre. A native of Tours, but now based in Paris, FKJ is a leading talent and one of the most emblematic artists of the Roche Musique team that he joined in 2012 via his long-time friend Jean Janin, a.k.a. Cézaire, artist and founder of the successful Parisian record label.

Trained as a sound engineer for the cinema, while at the same time being a self-taught musician, French Kiwi Juice started with a first EP, ‘The Twins’, released by Roche Musique at the end of 2012. Then followed the single ‘Lying Together’, acclaimed by the blogosphere, and a second EP ‘Time For A Change’ (Roche Musique, July 2013), which was unanimously praised by music critics (Ofive, Trax Mag, The Sound You Need, Earmilk, Indie Shuffle…). Thanks to millions of plays and views on different media, songs such as ‘So Much To Me’ or ‘Instant Need’ have already become classics of the French house genre.

With incredibly groovy loops, classy hip-hop rhythms, gloriously funky basslines and richly colorful synth sounds, FKJ’s music stands up to comparison with the masters of the genre. Now established as one of the major artists of the French musical scene, French Kiwi Juice’s stage reputation has soared thanks to his inspiring and original DJ Sets, but above all thanks to the driving rhythms and and dazzling improvisation that characterise his Live Sets. Apart from the quality of his musical selection when DJing, FKJ, known as Vincent Fenton to his friends, is also an eternal source of pure creativity. This young man, just 24 years old, is a multi-instrumentalist who is permanently in search of the perfect chord.

The artist, who has signed with the leading Parisian booking agency ‘Uni-T’ enjoys an international audience. He returned from an Asian Tour in May 2014, and has often performed alongside successful artists whose auras go far beyond European borders.

His eagerly awaited latest EP ‘Take Off’ (Roche Musique) came out on July 21st 2014 and will no doubt make the artist one of the revelations of the year.

The Knocks

The Knocks are a New York story through and through. They met as 19-year-old college students, late one night in a studio at the New School. Ben Ruttner, known as “B-Roc,” DJed clubs as a PM day job, and James Patterson, known as “JPatt,” played the organ at a church outside the city. Both in need of roommates, they moved into an apartment on Avenue C in The East Village that—in the DIY style that would go on to define their work in the industry—the two of them soon turned into a bootleg studio where rappers and bright-eyed vocalists came in to cut tracks. It was a tiny place, with walls as thin as the bugs were plenty. Their neighbors started banging brooms floor to ceiling, cracking knuckles on the walls. When the music got loudest, B-Roc and JPatt would go into each other rooms and say, “I just got the knocks.”

The newly christened duo soon started gaining attention online. Working out of their bedrooms, The Knocks remixed Jay-Z’s entire American Gangster album in two days, calling it American G-Funk. They put it up in the early days of music virality, and got 60,000 downloads in a week. With remixes for Katy Perry and Passion Pit soon following, the Knocks were declared one of the “20 hottest producers in music” by NME and quickly became synonymous with a certain warm, retro-future, disco-kissed touch. Their remixes filtered every artist’s energy through a late night on the Lower East Side: whatever they made at the studio, they’d test out at the club, translating the heat of underground dance music to the mainstream. Their alchemy worked the other way around, too: future stars like Ellie Goulding and Icona Pop took note of the Knocks, asking them to produce for their own projects.

In 2008, JPatt and B-Roc took out a loan and opened the HeavyRoc studio at 55 Chrystie, in the same broken-down building where the Beastie Boys used to rehearse. From there, in a dance music ecosystem increasingly dominated by reticent bedroom producers or big-tent corporate names, the Knocks stayed on a certain downtown grind. They put our their first big hit in 2010 with the filter-house party anthem “Dancing With the DJ.” The classic New York openformat DJ style suffused every record: this music could work a crowd from all angles, full of pre-dawn tenacity and the energy of a dance-floor crush. Their unerring instinct took the Knocks global: they toured the UK with Sleigh Bells and DJ Shadow, and started playing all around the world.

At the studio, the Knocks developed and managed artists on their own label at the same time that they pushed their musical projects forward. Opening for Ellie Goulding on her US debut tour in 2011 and playing the main stage at Ultra in 2012, B-Roc and JPatt were a bridge between the indie dance world and the mainstream market; they threw parties, booked their own talent, and opened up new territory for their artists that often led to a record deal. Bringing Mandy Lee, now of Misterwives, to their smash 2012 remix for M83’s “Midnight City” and St. Lucia’s Jean-Philip Grobler to 2013’s heater “Modern Hearts,” the Knocks built steady credibility as producers with an ear for up-andcoming talent and party auteurs to boot.

Now, B-Roc and JPatt have moved past being known as ideal collaborators to developing a sound that’s distinctly their own. In 2014, they hit a touchstone with “Classic,” a seductive track that whips up the sun-drenched sense of endless celebration. Fetty Wap jumped on for a guest verse, as befits the way the Knocks style synthesizes anything with energy: hip-hop, soul, house, disco and pop. They’ve been streamed over 12 million times, their audience in search of a particular feeling. It’s a combination of nostalgia and forward propulsion: every song seems to belong to a late night of alchemical proportions, the rush of an anonymous day in New York.

Their new album 55 is a triumph, a resolutely DIY dance album that pulses with the heart of the city. It’s a love letter to the old-school way of making music, and to that classic story of two kids who came to NYC to make it big. It opens with none other than Cam’ron, rapping over uptown piano: gospel voices build in the background, as golden as the light when your plane lands in the outer boroughs, as big as the river when your cab speeds across the bridge. The collaborations on the album are spot-on and electric, with the distinction of being forged artist to artist rather than from label emails sent top down. Wyclef Jean comes out of nowhere to electrify the bump and groove of “Kiss the Sky,“ Carly Rae Jepsen takes a house diva turn on earworm “Love Me Like That,” and Alex Newell aims his high range like a trigger in SPIN’s best-101-of-2015 pick “Collect My Love.” It’s an album laced with disco magic and hiphop flow; it’s built for a crowd, but first it has to pass a bar that’s internal. “Would I spin this?” the Knocks still ask each other, every time they cut a track. They’ll be spinning this one for years.

Lost Kings

Perhaps the bottle of whiskey had something to do with it… After meeting at a party, Lost Kings—Robert Gainley and Dr. No—sealed a bond that would ignite both a fervent creative partnership and friendship. “We didn’t know each other at all when we first met,” explains Rob. “The relationship blossomed, because what one of us lacks, the other has. It couldn’t have been a better match in terms of music, business, personality, and friendship. The way it balances out is just crazy.” Continuing a long tradition of dynamic duos, Rob and Dr. No (Nick), had been unwittingly searching for each other. Originally hailing from Boston, Rob could DJ, but desired to begin making original music. Meanwhile, Baltimore native and multiinstrumentalist Nick could write, record, and produce, but wanted to learn the decks. Locked in Nick’s apartment nightly, the two fast friends not only traded musical knowledge, but they started pursuing a shared dream. “Los Angeles can be such a flaky city,” adds Rob. “To find someone who wants to make music every night and then actually do it was like a dream.” “I was having a tough time, and I even thought of going back home,” says Nick. “Right before I did, I met Rob. We were reenergized and motivated. It just clicked.” In 2014, their unofficial remix of Disclosure’s “Latch” [feat. Sam Smith]” replaced the original in regular rotation on Sirius/XM’s BPM and blasted open the proverbial floodgates. Everybody from Imagine Dragons, Krewella, and Halsey to Vance Joy, Echosmith, and Rihanna tapped Lost Kings for official remixes. Meanwhile, their debut on Spinnin’ Records “Bad” [feat. Jessame] bowed at #15 on Spotify’s Global Viral Chart. By 2016, the boys notched a staggering 13 #1’s on HypeMachine, amassed over 30 million plays on Soundcloud, and 25 million Spotify streams and counting, while receiving praise from Billboard, Nylon, Idolator, and more. Simultaneously, they lit up stages at the Billboard Hot 100 Music Festival, Electric Daisy Carnival New York, Hangout Music Festival, Sunset Music Festival, Groove Cruise, and countless others, becoming a formidable live presence along the way. Signing to Disruptor Records / RCA Records, everything paved the way for the release of their single “Phone Down” [feat. Emily Warren]. Lost Kings conjure up an airy, downtempo soundscape and instantly magnetic tropical swing for “Phone Down” before culminating on an unshakable chorus from Warren— “You got me right here with my clothes off now, why don’t you put that fucking phone down.” “It’s something universal everybody wants to say, but is too scared to actually say it,” Nick exclaims. “We loved the vocal so much that we wanted the music to match that level of emotion.” “To us, it’s so relevant,” Rob agrees. “There’s a huge message to be in the present. Everybody lives vicariously through a screen. Instead, it’s about living your actual life and not getting lost in what cool photos people are posting.” “Phone Down” hints at the scope of Lost Kings’ expansive and enigmatic sound. Confidently defying categorizations and blurring genre lines, it also showcases their flare for limitless songwriting. “When we sit down to make music, we’re not bound to anything,” affirms Nick. “For us, it’s centered on emotion. Styles and sounds always a change, but a good song lasts. That’s what we try to focus on.” Moreover, the duo’s moniker speaks to their unbreakable and undeniable union. “When you first move to L.A., you can easily end up partying every night,” Nick goes on. “I think most people spend a year or two like that after moving here. You get overwhelmed and end up lost. By the time we linked up, we both sort of forgot why we moved here. That’s the ‘Lost’ half. Once we found each other, we had the same aspirations and goals. We wanted to do something that leaves a mark. That’s the ‘Kings’ half.” Ultimately, Lost Kings stand poised to rule their own domain for a very long time to come. “We want people to remember the positive feelings they get when they hear our songs or see a show,” Rob leaves off. “There’s so much shit going on in the world that if we can provide a better mood even just for a short amount of time, we’ve done our job.”

Mija

Based out of Downtown Los Angeles, Mija has established herself as an innovative and fresh new DJ/Producer of this era. Her roots may be based in house music, but nobody puts Mija in a corner. Her genre­ defying mixtapes and bassline productions keep the masses dancing around the globe.

Mija began her career in her hometown Phoenix, where she became a full­ time DJ in early 2012. In 2014 she was invited to perform on Kalliope, a Burning Man art car, at Bonnaroo Music Festival. It was on that car where she serendipitously ran into Skrillex and played a b2b sunrise set. Just a couple months later, Mija won a mix competition to play on the Black Butter Records stage at TomorrowWorld, where her set was recorded, and truly helped build a steady platform for her career.

Mija is quickly building a massive fan base from countries around the world. With her latest production “Crank It” feat. Lil Jon being released on record label OWSLA, she is making headlines on some of the biggest EDM websites out right now. This is just the beginning for yung Mija. She has national and international bookings under her wing in 2015, with the talent and drive to back it.