DJ 4B is a name worth paying attention to. At 22 years old, he’s already caught the eye of both and Dim Mak and Mad Decent, and has had more than one Diplo & Friends Mix in the past year. Many of you might know him from this year’s “Bukem,” a massive hit with Autoerotique. This momentum has also translated to the festival circuit, where he landed spots on lineups for EDC New York and Las Vegas too. Your EDM caught up with DJ 4B after he played in front of his home crowd this past weekend.
Unlike most DJs, you’re playing to a home crowd. Did you have a lot of friends and family come out and see you at EDC this weekend?
I had a huge hometown following show up at EDC including my parents. I kept hearing that it has never been that busy that early at a main stage. I was really stressing to my fans to get there early and it worked. The vibe on the main stage at 2pm was absolutely insane, and I honestly wasn’t nervous at all until I saw the stage in person. Then I was like woah… But once I got to the top the stage it was like everything was in slow-mo and I was 110% focused and comfortable. I felt like I was dreaming.
What was your approach to making your Diplo & Friends mix?
One hour of non-stop, quality music. I really wanted to make a super diverse mix that anyone could listen to. If you’re a fan of high energy music, you can listen to that mix straight through without skipping a second.
A lot of DJs are from outside the US. Do you think you had a disadvantage as a producer creating music in a place where electronic music isn’t that popular?
A few years ago I’d say yes. When I first started producing, most of the producers that seemed to be successful were mostly European. Right now electronic music is rapidly expanding everyday in the U.S. so this is the perfect timing for me.
Can you tell us about some of the new music you’re working on?Any collaborations?
I am releasing a really dope collab with Mercer on Mad Decent real soon called “Bounce” . I am really excited for that as well as a bunch of other stuff we will be announcing in the coming months.
What’s your biggest goal for 2015?
I want to continue to make music I love and play for awesome fans. It wouldn’t hurt for one of my tracks to blow up.
Do you think you’re going to change your approach heading into EDC LV?
I plan on playing harder. The festival crowd wants non stop energy! After seeing how the crowd at EDCNY responded I’m really excited to see how LV is going to respond to the new stuff I have planned.
Missed 4B’s EDC New York You can watch the aftermovie here