When one thinks of DJ Snake’s music, what instantly comes to mind are some of the most well known collaborations he has had in the past few years with the most sought-after pop stars. Let Me Love You with Justin Bieber, You Know You Like It with Aluna George, Lean On with Major Lazer, featuring MØ, and Taki Taki with Selena Gomez, Ozuna and Cardi B — are a part of the French superstar DJ’s discography. After he made his full-length debut with Encore, a 2016 album that reached number one on Billboard’s Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart, there’s been no stopping him.
Good vibes only
Continuing that familiar hit-making history of collaborations, this summer he teamed up with Latina pop diva Selena Gomez again and they released another edgy song and video — Selfish Love. This is the second time he has worked with the Baila Conmigo singer, and their musical chemistry is something the fans never fail to notice. Selena agrees with the fans too, as she shared an Instagram post recently with the French musician, and said, “thank you my friend, you are a gift.” It is that element of friendship and good vibes that translates into the music they create together. The Grammy-nominated artiste concurs, “Working with Selena always feels so natural as we’ve known each other for a while. A while ago, we had been brainstorming about doing another record together. When the idea of Selfish Love came up, it felt like a perfect fit. It was such an enjoyable process to work on it with her and the best records are always like this, they are fun to make.”
Giving us more details about the production process, DJ Snake aka William Sami Étienne Grigahcin says that the duo wanted a quintessential summer song. The video is one to watch out for too — it is a rather colourful affair evoking the magic of a house of mirrors. The set up is a kitschy salon with pink walls and mannequins with wigs. The song features influences of tropical house, with dubstep and Latin music, bi-lingual lyrics in both Spanish and English, and we noticed that DJ Snake also shares writing credit for the song with Selena, and other writers — Dahlia, Kris Floyd, K Sotomayor and Marty Maro. Within a short time since its release, it rose to number four on Billboard US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs and the video of the song has garnered over 16 million views on YouTube.
From Taki Taki to Selfish Love
There wasn’t a lot of surprise given that Taki Taki, Selena and DJ Snake’s last outing together, was so well-liked. Reminiscing about Taki Taki — which also features Puerto Rican singer Ozuna and American rapper Cardi B — the 34-year-old takes us to one of his favourite moments associated with the fellow collaborators on this song. “We were performing at the Coachella Music Festival in 2019 when we all had come out to do our part live. We all just vibed and celebrated on stage together. It was a magical moment,” he recollects.
For Indian fans
However, fast-forward to 2021, music isn’t about such live performances and concerts anymore. We had to ask DJ Snake about it since his gigs are so wildly popular, especially in India. He says, “Owing to the pandemic, it is a task to keep making music and continue making it sound organic and real. It’s that realness we are missing in the world because of COVID-19.” But he relentlessly continued to work on tunes that made people want to dance, even as they stayed stuck at home! He is hopeful of the time he can get on the stage and behind the console again. He assures his Indian fans that he will be back as soon as he can. “ It’s been too long. Shooting the video of his song, Magenta Riddim in India was a whole lot of fun,” says DJ Snake. Before signing off, we asked if there are any Indian musicians whose work he follows, likes and would possibly want to work with someday. “I would love working with AR Rahman one day and I like Divine’s (aka Indian rapper Vivian Fernandes) music as well,” shares the multi platinum record producer.
Selfish Love is out now on all music streaming platforms.