From: Brazil
DJ style: “Brazilian bass, dance-pop.”
Best known for: “Bringing Brazilian bass music to the global level.”
Fave tune of 2022: “Elton John & Dua Lipa ‘Cold Heart (Pnau remix)’.”
Rising star DJ/producer of 2022: “James Hype.”
ALOK is not only a DJ with over 70 million social media followers and, as of recently, over five billion global streams, but also a proud philanthropist and father. This means that as well as his tune 'Deep Down' hitting #1 on the Billboard Dance Chart for more than five weeks and debuting an all-new live show on the Rock In Rio Main Stage, he also considers performing with Brazilian indigenous artists on the rooftop of the United Nations Headquarters in NYC, at the opening of Climate Week, as one of the highlights of his year.
ALOK's aim has always been to take Brazilian bass music to the world — and he certainly did that with his residency at Hï Ibiza this summer — but he is also on a mission to use his platform to represent change for those indigenous people back in his native Brazil. "It's about connecting music, technology, ancestral wisdom and awareness," he says. "Taking the ancestral wisdom of the forest to the world is part not only of my artistic goals but also of my principles as a citizen. Through music, we were able to expand the reach of indigenous culture and knowledge and then generate awareness."
Despite the tireless work on that front, ALOK has continued to play supersize shows on just about every continent, and he even took his children with him on one trip for the first time. Musically, he has been as busy as ever, putting out plenty of new tunes that have traversed the worlds of pop, hip-hop, funk and more. “Life is something that inspires me,” he says. “The things I see daily, the ideals I believe in, they all end up reflecting in my career. I learned from the indigenous people that songs are energy capsules that are available to the world and the connection each song generates with my audience is one of the most important feelings to me.”
Next year, ALOK will unveil an all-new documentary, along with the album ‘Q12023’, and has just set up a philanthropic fund, ANCESTORS OF THE FUTURE, "which aims to reinforce the presence of indigenous peoples and their culture to our society through the entertainment industry." Long may his mission continue.
What’s the best DJ set you’ve seen this year?
“RÜFÜS DU SOL at Scorpios Mykonos.”
Name one great festival you played for the first time this year…
“Exit Festival!”
What’s one piece of studio hardware you wish you owned?
“The RCA BA-6A Limiting Amplifier. It's a rare piece and it has that "analog glue" sound to it.”
What’s the last tune you bought?
“Mau Pau ‘Drugs From Amsterdam’.”
What’s the next big sound?
“Future tech.”