DJ SNAKE: ‘I DON'T WANT TO BE STUCK IN ONE STYLE'

The French producer on his diverse discography, cultural influences, his latest collaboration with Selena Gomez and his perennial love for India

- DIVYANSHA DONGRE

Many of us have grown up on the Internet and witnessed several monumental milestones in music– be it the boom of YouTube which eventually paved the way for content creators to blow up internationally, or viral tracks that introduced us to new artists from around the globe. One of these artists happened to be DJ Snake– the French DJ/producer made the world groove to his bird whistle synth lead track, “Bird Machine” in 2013 and the world hasn’t stopped dancing since.

This was when a sizable chunk of global listeners, irrespective of whether they were fans of EDM or not, heard about DJ Snake. Later that year, he would produce the bass-trap smash hit “Turn Down For What” feat. Lil Jon– one of the biggest tracks of his career that would earn him his second Grammy nomination for Best Music Video and secure the Number One and Number Four spot on Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Song and the Billboard Hot 100 chart respectively. To a great extent, “Turn Down For What” defined 2014 and became a cultural phenomenon. It would go on to open YouTube’s widely popular ‘YouTube Rewind’ that year and feature in blockbuster films such as 21 Jump Street and Furious 7. Snake kept the momentum going with the mega-viral moombahton Major Lazer collab “Lean On,” which would eventually make him a household name and grant him his massive, dedicated fandom in India.