Dillon Francis

Last updated

Dillon Francis
DillonFrancisPressPhoto2.jpg
Francis in 2018
Background information
Birth nameDillon Hart Francis
Also known asDJ Hanzel
Born (1987-10-05) October 5, 1987 (age 36)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • DJ
  • record producer
Years active2010–present
Labels
Website dillonfrancis.com

Dillon Hart Francis (born October 5, 1987), also known by his alter ego DJ Hanzel, is an American electronic music producer and DJ. [1] [2] By deejaying and collaborating, Francis helped to popularize the new moombahton genre, and in 2012 he adapted it further into moombahcore and EDM trap, giving the music a harder sound, as heard on his EP Something, Something, Awesome. He expanded into EDM genres with Money Sucks, Friends Rule (2014), which hit number 2 on the Billboard dance chart, then shifted gears into Latin music with 2018's Wut Wut , a Spanish-language album honored with a Latin Grammy and a Latin American Music Award. [3] The song "Sexo", with Residente featuring iLe, rose to number 43 on the Billboard Latin Airplay chart in June 2018. [4]

Contents

Early life

Francis was born in Los Angeles, California, [5] to an American father and a Serbian-Croatian mother. [6] Francis has stated that his father, Robert Drew Francis, is an "alternative medicines doctor". He has made a recurring Internet joke about being unable to find his father. Francis has stated that he had a sheltered upbringing, claiming that he did not know any swear words until he was 15. He also claims that he could not watch TV unless he watched at least two hours of Sesame Street a day. [5]

Career

2010–2013

Francis first rose to fame after gaining the attention of American producer Diplo and eventually collaborating on the song "Que Que", with featured Latin-pop artist Maluca. His song "Masta Blasta", originally a 130 BPM house track, was edited after inspiration from Dutch musician Munchi and eventually ended up as the moombahton track. [7] In 2010, Francis released his Swashbuckler EP on Play Me Records. [8] In 2012, he also released two singles "I.D.G.A.F.O.S." and "Bootleg Fireworks (Burning Up)". He has released works on multiple labels including Dim Mak Records, Mad Decent [9] and Owsla. [10]

In February 2012, Francis became the first moombahton artist to achieve the number-one spot atop the Beatport releases chart with the release of his extended play Something, Something, Awesome. [11] In late 2012, he embarked on his Wet & Reckless tour across North America, as well as supporting the English electronic-music trio Nero on their Welcome Reality tour and English musician Flux Pavilion on his Standing on a Hill tour. [12]

In 2013, he announced a headlining Wurld Turr [13] across the US and Canada, as well as confirmed that his debut album would be released in 2013 but later experienced various delays. He was announced as one of MTV Clubland's Artists to watch in 2013, [14] alongside acts such as Kill the Noise and Otto Knows. Francis was labeled by MTV as an "artist to watch" as of September 9, 2013. [15] Francis performed at music festivals including Camp Bisco, Electric Daisy Carnival, Coachella, TomorrowWorld, Ultra and Electric Zoo. [16] Francis also created the comedy production duo Meowski666 alongside Kill the Noise. [17] In October 2013, he was announced as number 73 in the DJ Mag Top 100 poll. [18]

2014

Francis performing in 2014 Dillon Francis at Spring Awakening 2014.jpg
Francis performing in 2014

In 2014, his major label debut album, Money Sucks, Friends Rule, landed on Rolling Stone's "Top Electronic Albums of 2014" list and featured collaborators such as Twista, Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco, Major Lazer, and more. His single "Get Low" with DJ Snake was released on February 11, 2014. [19] On March 22, 2014, Francis announced via his official Twitter account that his debut album, titled Money Sucks, Friends Rule , [20] would be released on October 28, 2014, on Mad Decent and Columbia Records. [21] In August, Dillon released his second single off of the album, which was a collaboration with Sultan + Ned Shepard featuring The Chain Gang of 1974. [22] Beginning in February 2014, Francis embarked on the Friends Rule Tour supporting his debut album. Dates for the tour were booked through January 16, 2015, in 18 different cities across the United States.

2015–2017

On January 1, 2015, Francis revealed to Australian radio station Triple J that he was working on a sketch show pilot for MTV. Francis stated that the show was set to go into production in January 2015. [23] On June 28, 2015, Francis announced his EP This Mixtape Is Fire , which would mark a return to his moombahton roots. The EP features collaborations from Skrillex, Calvin Harris, Chromeo, Bro Safari, and Kygo with James Hersey, along with a remix of "I Can't Take It" from his album Money Sucks, Friends Rule by Party Favor. He released the first track from the EP, "Bruk Bruk (I Need Your Lovin')" the same day. This Mixtape Is Fire peaked at number one on Billboard 's Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart.

In 2016, he released three new singles: "Need You" in collaboration with Nghtmre, "Candy" in collaboration with GTA and Snappy Jit, and "Anywhere" with vocals by Will Heard.

The music video of his single "Not Butter" won the Berlin Music Video Awards in 2016, while its director, Brandon Dermer, took the 2nd place for the "Best Director" category.

On April 5, 2017, Francis released another single "Say Less" in a collaboration with rapper G-Eazy. A few days after the release, Francis made it official through a live stream [24] that he had parted ways with Columbia Records mutually and was looking forward to release music as an independent artist. He has also revealed to his fans that he will be releasing an album as an independent artist and also stated that he would return to his moombahton roots.

Francis has created different personalities or alter egos, including "Emo Preston". Francis performed as "Emo Preston" at Emo Nite in Los Angeles in 2017. [25]

2018

In 2018, Dillon returned to his moombahton roots with the release of the Spanish-language studio album, Wut Wut. The album went on to earn Francis a Latin American Music Award nomination and a Latin Grammy nomination respectively for the song, "Sexo" with Residente and iLe. On February 21, he released the single "We The Funk" in collaboration with Fuego. On April 13, he released the single "Sexo" in collaboration with Residente and iLe. "Sexo" was nominated for Best Short Form Music Video at the Latin Grammys and the Latin American Music Awards for Favorite Video.

On May 9, he released the single "BaBaBa (Vete Pa'Ya)" in a collaboration with Young Ash. On July 12, he released the single "Never Let You Go" featuring De La Ghetto. In August, he remixed Martin Solveig's single "My Love". He also was one of the headliners for Hard Summer Music Festival in August 2018. On September 12, he released the single "White Boi" featuring Lao Ra. Wut Wut is Francis' second studio album, released through IDGAFOS on September 28, 2018.

He also appeared in the first season of Taskmaster US alongside Lisa Lampanelli, Freddie Highmore, Ron Funches and Kate Berlant.

Dillon Francis released a seven-episode comedy series titled Like and Subscribe in 2018, available exclusively on Funny or Die and Amazon Video. The show follows Skyy Goldwynne (Dillon Francis), Hollywood's biggest manager who locks 4 of his influencer clients in a house with a camera crew.

On December 7, 2018, Francis released "LFGD" featuring Chris Melberger as part of Astralwerks' compilation album with livestreamer Ninja, Ninjawerks Volume 1. [26]

2019

On January 25, 2019, he released the single "Lost My Mind" in collaboration with Alison Wonderland, and embarked on the Lost My Mind Tour in the beginning of the year throughout the United States. [27]

In March 2019, Francis released "Change Your Mind", featuring Lovelytheband. [28]

Francis also contributed to the soundtrack of The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part with "Catchy Song", featuring rappers T-Pain and That Girl Lay Lay. Following the first film's "Everything Is Awesome", the song principally features the repeated phrase "This song's gonna get stuck inside your head!" According to songwriter Jon Lajoie, he found "Everything Is Awesome" "extremely catchy" and wanted to outdo the song by "dialing the song up to 11".

2020–2023

On May 8, 2020, he performed at the Fortnite Party Royale premiere with Steve Aoki and Deadmau5. [29] In 2023, Francis released a collaboration song titled "Free" with Swedish DJ and producer Alesso and American singer-songwriter Clementine Douglas. [30] Francis stated that the purpose of the song was to promote happiness, dedicating it to listeners who "[want] to feel like a golden retriever living the best day of its life." [31]

Discography

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
2015 We Are Your Friends Devin Andrews
2015 Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse DJ
2016Succeeding at LifeBackground ActorsTelevision film
2017 What Would Diplo Do? Jasper4 episodes
2018 Taskmaster (US) Himself / Contestant
Public DisturbanceHimself
2020The SauceHimself / JudgeEpisode: "Miami Heat"
2022 Saints Row Himself
2023 Trolls Band Together Kid RitzFirst animated film role

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calvin Harris</span> Scottish DJ, singer, songwriter, and record producer (born 1984)

Adam Richard Wiles, known professionally as Calvin Harris, is a Scottish DJ, singer, songwriter, and record producer. His debut studio album, I Created Disco, was released in June 2007. Its singles "Acceptable in the 80s" and "The Girls" both reached the top 10 in the UK. In 2009, he released his second studio album, Ready for the Weekend, which debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and whose lead single, "I'm Not Alone", became his first song to top the UK Singles Chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breathe Carolina</span> American electronic music duo

Breathe Carolina are an American electronic music duo from Denver, Colorado. The duo formed in 2007 consisting of David Schmitt and Kyle Even. They later expanded to a full band whose best-known lineup included Schmitt, Even, drummer Eric Armenta, keytarist Joshua Aragon and DJ Luis Bonet. In 2013, Even left the group, while Tommy Cooperman joined that year. Breathe Carolina is currently composed of Schmitt and Cooperman.

Moombahton is an electronic dance music genre, derived from house music and reggaeton, that was created by American DJ and producer Dave Nada in Washington, D.C., in 2009. Nada coined the name as a portmanteau of "Moombah" and reggaeton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wolfgang Gartner</span> American DJ and record producer (born 1982)

Joseph Thomas Youngman, better known by his stage name Wolfgang Gartner, is an American DJ and music producer. Much of his music prior to 2010 was released through his own record label, Kindergarten, but he signed with Ultra Records in 2010 and Ministry of Sound in the UK in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kill the Noise</span> American DJ and record producer

Jacob Stanczak, known professionally as Kill the Noise, is an American DJ and record producer from Rochester, New York. His collaboration with Skrillex, Fatman Scoop and Michael Angelakos, "Recess", entered the UK Singles Chart at number 57. The song is the title track from Skrillex's debut album Recess. He has performed at Coachella, Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC), Lollapalooza, Ultra Music Festival, Creamfields, Spring Awakening Music Festival, Holy Ship, Electric Zoo, Electric Forest, Bonnaroo and Tomorrowland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alesso</span> Swedish DJ and music producer (born 1991)

Alessandro Renato Rodolfo Lindblad, better known by his stage name Alesso, is a Swedish DJ and music producer.

Electro house is a genre of electronic dance music and a subgenre of house music characterized by heavy bass and a tempo around 125–135 beats per minute. The term has been used to describe the music of many DJ Mag Top 100 DJs, including Benny Benassi, Skrillex, Steve Aoki, and Deadmau5.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DJ Snake</span> French DJ and record producer (born 1986)

William Sami Étienne Grigahcine, known by his stage name DJ Snake, is a French DJ and record producer, first achieving international recognition in 2013 by releasing an instrumentation-oriented single called "Turn Down for What".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Get Low (Dillon Francis and DJ Snake song)</span> 2014 single by Dillon Francis and DJ Snake

"Get Low" is a song by American electronic music producer Dillon Francis and French DJ and producer DJ Snake. The song was released as a digital download in February 2014 as the lead single from Francis' debut album, Money Sucks, Friends Rule. The official video was released on the official Dillon Francis YouTube channel on May 22, 2014. The song was remade by T-Series and was named Khallas for the movie Veerappan, directed by Ram Gopal Varma.

<i>Money Sucks, Friends Rule</i> 2014 studio album by Dillon Francis

Money Sucks, Friends Rule is the debut studio album by Dillon Francis, an American electronic music producer known for being one of the pioneers of moombahton and moombahcore. The album features collaborations from artists such as Major Lazer, Martin Garrix, Mad Decent label-mate DJ Snake, rapper Twista, Panic! at the Disco's Brendon Urie and more. It was released on October 27, 2014, on Mad Decent in collaboration with Columbia Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vicetone</span> Dutch electronic music DJ and production duo

Vicetone is a Dutch electronic music production DJ duo formed by Ruben den Boer and Victor Pool from Groningen. The duo began as a DJ act, and in 2013, they were voted into the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs list for the first time at 60th as a new entry. Later in 2014, they went up 24 places on the list, coming 36th. In 2015, they fell 14 places to 50th. They made a return to the Top 100, coming in at 83rd in 2019 but dropped out the subsequent year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Set Me Free (Dillon Francis and Martin Garrix song)</span> 2014 single by Dillon Francis and Martin Garrix

"Set Me Free" is a song by American electronic music producer Dillon Francis and Dutch DJ Martin Garrix. It was released as a digital download on 7 October 2014 as the fifth single from his debut studio album Money Sucks, Friends Rule. The song was written and produced by Dillon Francis and Martin Garrix. The official music video was released on 15 December 2015 by Dillon Francis in his YouTube channel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lily Elise</span> American singer

Lily Elise is a singer, songwriter from Berkeley, California. Elise has worked with artists such as Dillon Francis, Twin Shadow, Felix Cartal, Audra Mae, Gigi Radics, Markus Feehily and Hayden Panettiere. On November 4, 2014, she released the lead single "Generator," from her debut EP Taken.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mad Decent</span> American record label

Mad Decent is an American record label founded by Diplo. The label has helped introduce Brazilian baile funk and Angolan kuduro to clubs around the world. Recently, it has popularized moombahton, a genre of electronic dance music created by DJ Dave Nada. The genre on the label was mostly popularized by Dillon Francis after collaborating with Diplo on Francis' 2012 track "Que Que". The label is also known for its series of concerts in major cities known as the Mad Decent Block Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dillon Francis discography</span>

The discography of American electronic musician Dillon Francis consists of three studio albums, five extended plays (EPs), thirty-five singles and five other appearances.

<i>Wut Wut</i> 2018 studio album by Dillon Francis

Wut Wut is the second studio album by American DJ and electronic music producer Dillon Francis, released on September 28, 2018 through IDGAFOS. The album contains Spanish-language songs and collaborations with Latin singers. It was made available to pre-order and pre-save on July 11, 2018, via Francis official website. Latin and reggaeton artists featured include Residente, De La Ghetto, Jarina De Marco, Arcángel, Químico Ultra Mega and Young Ash.

"I Can't Take It" is a song by American record producer and EDM artist Dillon Francis. The song was released, as the third single of Francis debut album Money Sucks, Friends Rule on 25 August 2014. The song was entirely produced and written by Francis. Unlike his previous singles, the song doesn't have an official video, but on 28 August 2014, three days after the song was released, Francis shared in YouTube an official lyric video for the song.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">We Make It Bounce</span> 2014 single by Dillon Francis and Major Lazer featuring Stylo G

"We Make It Bounce" is a song by American electronic music producer Dillon Francis and American EDM trio Major Lazer, featuring guest vocals from English-Jamaican reggae singer Stylo G. The song was written by Dillon Francis and Stylo G, with production handled by Dillon Francis and Major Lazer. The song was released as a digital download by Mad Decent and Columbia Records on 16 September 2014, and is the fourth single of Dillon Francis debut album Money Sucks, Friends Rule. The song is written by Dillon Francis and Stylo G, with production handled by Dillon Francis and Major Lazer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Love in the Middle of a Firefight</span> 2014 single by Dillon Francis featuring Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco

"Love in a Middle of a Firefight" is a song by American electronic music producer Dillon Francis, featuring vocals of American singer and Panic! at the Disco member Brendon Urie. The song was written by Dillon Francis and Brendon Urie, with production handled by Dillon Francis, Billboard and Ammo. The song is the sixth single of Francis’s debut album, Money Sucks, Friends Rule, and was released for digital download on 16 October 2014. The song was originally intended to be the final single, however the song Not Butter took the place, released on 22 June 2015.

David Villegas, better known professionally as Dave Nada, is an Ecuadorian-American DJ and producer credited with creating the fusion-genre moombahton. He is a member of the production and DJ duo Nadastrom and co-founder of Hermanito Label along with Jesse Tittsworth.

References

  1. ↑ Bowman, Nick (August 15, 2013). "Dillon Francis' Alter Ego "DJ Hanzel" Is The Greatest Thing Ever". Dance Music Northwest. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Money Sucks, Friends Rule – Dillon Francis". AllMusic . Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Biography: Dillon Francis". AllMusic . Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  4. ↑ "iLe Chart History". Billboard . Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  5. 1 2 Ahmed, Insanul (March 13, 2012) Who Is Dillon Francis? Complex. Retrieved on March 31, 2013.
  6. ↑ Francis, Dillon (March 27, 2012). "@dirtysouth did you know im Serbian and Croatian! My mom was born there before it split up! My name in yugoslavian is drago". Archived from the original on February 6, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
  7. ↑ Video (August 21, 2012). "Dillon Francis and Diplo Talk Moombahton". The Creators Project (via YouTube). Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Dillon Francis Bio, Music, News & Shows". DJZ.com. Archived from the original on March 30, 2013. Retrieved March 7, 2013.
  9. ↑ Staff (n.d.). "Dillon Francis". Mad Decent. Archived from the original on April 12, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  10. ↑ Staff (n.d.). "Dillon Francis". Owsla . Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  11. ↑ Database (undated). "Something, Something, Awesome. – Dillon Francis, Kill The Noise". Beatport. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  12. ↑ Staff (July 26, 2012). "Dillon Francis – Wet & Reckless Tour Presale!!". Mad Decent. Archived from the original on November 6, 2012. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  13. ↑ Marie, Shannon. (January 25, 2013) Dillon Francis – Wurld Turr. ElectroJams. Retrieved on March 31, 2013.
  14. ↑ MTV Clubland's Artists To Watch In 2013 – Music, Celebrity, Artist News. MTV.com (January 10, 2013). Retrieved on March 31, 2013.
  15. ↑ Brodsky, Rachel. "MTV Artist to Watch: Dillon Francis". Viacom International Inc. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Dillon Francis – Live @ Electric Zoo (New York City) 8.31.2012". Soundcloud.com.
  17. ↑ "Dillon Francis and Kill The Noise join forces to create Meowski666". Dubstep.NET. August 2, 2013. Archived from the original on January 3, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  18. ↑ DJ Mag [@DJmag] (October 19, 2013). "It has been a massive year for @DILLONFRANCIS, who debuts at no.73 #Top100DJs" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  19. ↑ Spotify [@Spotify] (February 4, 2014). "#Exclusive! Love @DILLONFRANCIS? He's back with hot new single Get Low" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  20. ↑ "Dillon Francis — Miami Music Week 2014 — Interview". YouTube . March 30, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Twitter / DILLONFRANCIS". Twitter. March 22, 2014. Archived from the original on April 11, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  22. ↑ "Preview Dillon Francis' Debut Album 'Money Sucks, Friends Rule'". Spin . March 22, 2014.
  23. ↑ "Dillon Francis to Shoot Pilot for MTV". Mixmag . January 5, 2015. Archived from the original on January 9, 2015.
  24. ↑ "SAY LESS, BUT MORE LIVESTREAM". YouTube. April 6, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  25. ↑ "Preston (Dillon Francis) Makes Debut at Emo Nite LA with Surprise Guest". Relentless Beats.
  26. ↑ The Nocturnal Times (December 12, 2018), Experience the World of Ninjawerks Vol. 1 , retrieved December 14, 2018
  27. ↑ Savory, Bill (November 20, 2018). "Dillon Francis and Alison Wonderland Announce Lost My Mind Tour". Edmidentity.com.
  28. ↑ "Dillon Francis & Lovelytheband Unite For Summery 'Change Your Mind': Listen". Billboard. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
  29. ↑ "Dillon Francis, Steve Aoki, and deadmau5 Invite You to the Party Royale Premiere". epicgames.com. May 8, 2020.
  30. ↑ Will Schube (August 31, 2023). "Dillon Francis Teams Up With Alesso And Clementine Douglas For 'Free'". U Discover Music.
  31. ↑ "Dillon Francis and Alesso Join Forces For Fiery New Collaboration, "Free"". September 3, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.