From: Berkeley, CA

DJ style: “Indian, big room, hip-hop.”

Best known for: “‘Secrets’, 'Like A G6’, ‘Power’, ‘Kids’, ‘Wildcard’ and ‘Carry Me Home’.”
 

Since he first burst onto the scene with a series of ultra-slick, big-time, big-room releases on Spinnin’ Records in 2014, LA-based producer and DJ KSHMR had made a name for himself as one of the prime global purveyors of accessible main stage electro dance. 

He’s since amassed a huge back catalogue of releases, collaborating with pretty much all the main players on the EDM/hardstyle/festival scene, and added to his discography this year with massive high-octane vocal tracks like his ‘Eternity’ with Bassjackers and Timmy Trumpet or the day-glo mayhem of his Maddix collab ‘Close To You’. KSHMR also showed the smoother side of his production with solo effort ‘Heartbeat’ and his track with Quaterhead, ‘Major Lazer’, both of which were big for him this year. 

2023 has seen KSHMR hard at work finishing his latest passion project, a brand new Indian hip-hop album project called ‘Karam’, while also continuing his mission to bring his particular brand of high-intensity, high-emotion festival main stage soundtrackers to the world. As he says, 2023 has been all about “touring the world and returning to dance music with a new revitalized passion!” 
 

Hero of 2023: “The Great Carlini of Coffee Chess.”

Fave tune of 2023: “100 gecs ‘Dumbest Girl Alive’.”

Best DJ set you’ve seen in 2023: “Armin van Buuren at Balaton Sound.”

What was the most exciting tech development of 2023? “AI voice emulation, because vocals are hugely important! And, until recently, they were one of the last things producers couldn't do on their own with a computer.”

Rising star DJ/producer of 2023: “Peggy Gou: style through the roof and the music lives up to it.”

What gives you hope for 2024? “I love the new genres and artists giving dance music fresh life, and the hip-hop scene in India has inspired me a lot as well.”