Today, Major Lazer are one of the hottest acts in the music circuit. With three successful albums to their belt and a fourth in the pipeline, they have quite a fan following in India and the world over. Which is why, we can’t wait to catch them live at Vh1 Supersonic 2018 on the 9th of February 2018 at Laxmi Lawns in Pune (get your tickets here).  

So before we get to witness their magnificence live, here are a few interesting and fun facts about the band that we found interesting enough to highlight. Here they are:

1. Major Lazer was founded by Diplo and Switch, but Switch left in 2011 over creative differences. DJs Jillionaire and Walshy Fire joined in to form the trio that they are famously known to be today.

Credits: inthemix.junkee.com

2. British rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, and activist, M.I.A, says she helped bring the Major Lazer project to life in an Instagram tell-all.

I just want to clear this up Here’s a lil story of how this happened. I discovered diplo because Steve Mackey played me a song by him released on big dada! I found out on a “flyer” he was djing and spent 16 pounds and bought my own way into fabric club in London . No one put me on the list! Nobody paid for it! I approached him and gave him my record! There was no label no A N R no channels. a handful of people believed in me , then when I got a deal , they turned on me. This was why i forged my own path and style and genre. I didn’t want anyone to say they made me! To this day so many people have made careers off me and the same people distort history destroy the story because of my politics , which he played a part in cementing. He said “politics is a terrible thing for music”in 2010 in the NYT article . During this time when 400 000 Tamil were getting bombed to death , he used to have a dart board of my face on his rider . Jus sayin . “He text me “you’re walking backwards into a brick wall” when the NYT article came out. While I was defending privacy laws with a newborn baby like it’s me against the world. No one came to my shows during this time because of that article and racist memes mad decent were spreading through hipsters. I let him cash in on the sound because I had no choice. I felt it was important to defend freedom of speech, even for American people and couldn’t play the game. Everyone involved in major lazer now came together through me. I made boyz in Jamaica and Trinidad. I took switch there carried beers up the mountain everyday . Wes wasn’t there because he was cheating on me in Brazil at the time. he turned up a year later and networked in JA saying he produced BOYZ coz the song blew in Jamaica. Walshy was the directors roommate and Chris was my day to day in Trinidad. it’s important you don’t see me as a Iil thing diplo discovered because I’m a brown woman , and this is the first story of a brown female musician who smashed it for the first time . That didn’t happen because I accidentally walked passed diplo. Ta! This is literally 1% of the story!

A post shared by MIA (@miamatangi) on

3. The first single “Hold the Line” of their first album ‘Guns Don’t Kill People… Lazers Do’ was featured in the video game FIFA 10.

4. Although not officially listed as a member, Boaz van de Beatz – an artist from Mad Decent (Diplo’s record label) –  has collaborated with most of the group’s albums.

Credits: amsterdam-dance-event.nl

5. Major Lazer became the second U.S. act to play a major concert in Cuba after more than 50 years. Audioslave were the first U.S. act to perform there in 2005.

6. They partly produced UK singer Rita Ora’s debut album, Ora.

Credits: itunes.apple.com

7. Diplo’s reason for wanting to maintain a unique look is because he doesn’t want to look like the guys from The Chainsmokers.

8. Diplo’s own Mad Decent label released the internet viral hit, “Harlem Shake” by Baauer, on May 22, 2012, on its imprint label Jeffree’s.

9. An animated series called ‘Major Lazer’ animated series premiered on April 16, 2015, on FXX. It is about Major Lazer, a Jamaican superhero with a laser gun for a right hand, who fights against the dystopian forces led by Jamaica’s leader President Whitewall and his servant General Rubbish.

10. Their most successful track, “Lean On” was first offered to Rihanna and then Nicki Minaj, who both turned it down. MØ is now famously recognised as the girl in “Lean On”.

So get your tickets for Vh1 Supersonic 2018 ASAP and catch Major Lazer in action on the 9th of February 2018. You can also get a Day Pass exclusively for 9th Feb at just INR 1750. 

Follow Vh1 Supersonic on Facebook here, and the event page here.

Stay tuned to the Sherp for more updates.