From: Sweden

DJ style: “KAAZE style.”

Best known for: “Unique sound and energetic performances.”

A show of support from a well-established artist can mean big things for an emerging talent, and that has certainly been the case for KAAZE, aka Mick Kastenholt. Since Tiësto tapped the Swedish progressive house DJ and producer back in 2012, it marked the beginning of a steady rise to prominence for KAAZE, who has gone on to amass Spotify streams in the millions with tracks like ‘Tell Me’, ‘Sweet Mistake’ and ‘I Should Have Walked Away’.

In the past 12 months KAAZE has again highlighted his affinity with the Dutch superstar, working on a remix of Tiësto’s all-time classic, ‘Flight 643’. He also dropped a bunch of his own commanding tunes this year, including ‘Want My Love’, ‘La La Life’, ‘Heartbeat’ and ‘Why’, all of which acted as teasers for the release of his album, ‘Mick’. As he explained via a post on X, “this album is built from my emotions, crazy thoughts and my anxieties. I wanted to give you guys a piece of ‘Mick’ as a person”. He’s now set to appear in person across the globe, too — in October he embarked on a world tour with dates set to run into early 2024, taking him across Asia, Canada and Europe before culminating in his Australian debut this coming February. 

Hero of 2023: “For me personally, Steve Aoki."
 

Fave tune of 2023: “Tiësto ‘Lay Low’.”
 

Best DJ set you’ve seen in 2023: “Fred again.., Skrillex & Four Tet at Coachella.”
 

What was the most exciting tech development of 2023? “AI, pretty scary though.”
 

Rising star DJ/producer of 2023: “John Summit.”
 

What gives you hope for 2024?: “My newborn daughter, Seven.”