From: Germany

DJ style: “Melancholic dance music.”

Best known for: “‘Breaking Me’.”

Fave tune of 2022: “Fred again.. feat. The Blessed Madonna ‘Marea (We’ve Lost Dancing)’.”

Rising star DJ/producer of 2022: “Fred again..”

It’s been a busy year for German-Croatian artist Topic. Touring the globe and producing a hefty musical output has dominated the Solingen-native’s schedule, playing huge festivals like Tomorrowland, remixing Moby’s hit from 2000 ‘Natural Blues’, and collaborating with Swedish producer A7S on ‘Kernkraft 400 (A Better Day)’.

Born in a small town on the outskirts of Düsseldorf, music was a hobby for Topic, aka Tobias, until he left his job aged 21 to pursue producing and DJing full-time. Since then, Topic has released an impressive body of work, channelling his ‘melancholic dance music’ on labels like Polydor Records, Atlantic Records UK and Virgin. He’s also collaborated with several singers such as Becky Hill and Bebe Rexha, and has so far garnered two diamond certifications in 28 countries worldwide. 

With a slew of awards under his belt, including Best Dance Act at the LOS40 Music Awards in 2020, and winner of the ‘Music’ category at the Audi Generation Awards last year, it’s about time Topic made it into the Top 100 DJs poll.
 

What’s the best DJ set you’ve seen this year? 

“Swedish House Mafia at Coachella.”

Name one great festival you played for the first time this year…

“Tomorrowland mainstage."

What’s the longest DJ set you’ve ever played? 

“I once played for three hours, but I needed to stop because I had to pee - ha ha.”

What’s one piece of studio hardware you wish you owned? 

“A big SSL desk as my laptop stand.”

What’s the last tune you bought? 

“Last time I bought around 10 tunes at the same time on Beatport.”

What’s the next big sound? 

“Got the feeling that breakbeat stuff is getting more and more popular.”