Major Lazer
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About Major Lazer
Major Lazer is an American electronic dance music group founded in 2008 by superproducer Diplo and Switch, built around a cartoon-superhero alter ego and a restless, globe-spanning sound. More than almost any other act, it pushed Caribbean and Latin rhythms into the centre of mainstream pop.
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Who is Major Lazer?
Major Lazer is an American electronic dance music group founded in 2008 by superproducer Diplo and Switch, built around a cartoon-superhero alter ego and a restless, globe-spanning sound. More than almost any other act, it pushed Caribbean and Latin rhythms into the centre of mainstream pop.
A shifting line-up
Switch left in 2011 and was replaced by Jillionaire and Walshy Fire; Jillionaire later departed in 2019 and was replaced by Ape Drums, with Diplo remaining the constant creative force. The project has always functioned as a collective, pulling in guest vocalists and producers from around the world.
A genre-fusing sound
Major Lazer's music deliberately blurs borders — mixing reggae and dancehall with reggaeton, soca, house, moombahton and EDM — a sound designed for both the dance floor and the global charts. That magpie, genre-hopping approach made the group a key bridge between underground Caribbean and Latin scenes and the pop mainstream.
Albums and the Diplo factor
Across releases like Guns Don't Kill People... Lazers Do, Free the Universe and the chart-topping Peace Is the Mission, Major Lazer became a launchpad for Diplo's wider influence on global pop — a producer whose fingerprints stretch from Beyoncé and Justin Bieber to his other project, Jack Ü, with Skrillex. The group's riotous, visually-driven live shows and its embrace of music from the Global South helped reshape what mainstream dance music sounds like.
"Lean On" and peak success
Their defining moment came with "Lean On" (2015), a collaboration with French producer DJ Snake featuring Danish singer MØ. It reached the Top 5 in the US, hit number two in the UK, racked up billions of streams and was for a time Spotify's most-streamed song ever, winning Best Dance/Electronic Song at the Billboard Music Awards. Other hits include "Cold Water" with Justin Bieber and MØ, "Light It Up", "Run Up" and "Get Free", each leaning on the group's knack for marrying global rhythms to enormous pop hooks.
Recent work
In 2026 the group teamed with Dominican firebrand Tokischa on Papi, a booming dancehall-and-dembow club track that continues their cross-cultural mission.
