Zane Lowe

His influence on what we listen to, and how we listen to it, is almost unparalleled; his passion, and the demons that drive it, go far beyond any algorithm

- Dan Hyman

Zane Lowe is right where he needs to be: headphones on, microphone looming in front of him, feet skittering between a trio of mixing boards. Occasionally he bumps the faders, shifting the sound from his ears out to the room via mammoth speakers aimed straight at his face. On this crisp February morning, the New Zealand–born, London honed and currently Los Angeles–based DJ lords over an airy Culver City recording studio situated across a parking lot from Apple’s fortress-like LA headquarters. Most weekday mornings he’s here, surrounded by a small team of young producers, recording his propulsive, almost manic Beats 1 internet radio show.

For the next two hours, the 44-year-old — who regularly lands some of the biggest interviews in music, from Kanye West to Ed Sheeran to Morrissey, and in the decentralised age of streaming now stands as one of the few remaining name-brand radio DJs — talks at motormouth speed. He snatches off his headphones as soon as a song has started playing and launches into conversation with any of several onlookers. As is almost always the case with Lowe, today’s talk centres on music. A lifelong hip-hop fan, he starts assessing the current crop of top-tier talent. Drake is “just so smart!” 2 Chainz is “better than almost everybody.” Donald Glover? “Love him!”