‘I never assume success or crave it’

He has given one hit after another, but Grammy-nominated producer DJ Snake says he never assumes success or craves it.

DJ Snake debuted on the international scene in 2013 with singles ‘Bird machine’ and ‘Turn down for what’. He later came out with tracks like ‘Get low’, ‘Lean on’, ‘Magenta Riddim’ and ‘Taki taki’.

Did he expect all his tracks to blow up as they did? "No, I never assume success or crave it. I make what I love and then share it with everyone," DJ Snake, whose given name is William Sami Etienne Grigahcine, said.

In his musical journey, DJ Snake, who bagged the ninth spot on the Billboard Dance 100 in March 2018, has collaborated with renowned personalities like Cardi B, Selena Gomez, Ozuna, Dillon Francis and Lil Jon.

Asked if he feels collaborations help in amping up an artiste's music and reaching a wider audience, DJ Snake said: "Yes, you reach a wider audience of course. But that's not why you do it."

He added: "You put on a record who will be best for the record. You cannot think about chasing success. That's not true creativity."
Talking about how he got into making music, the 32-year-old DJ said: "I was always surrounded by music when I grew up from all cultures. I got my first set of turntables at 14, and that was it. I was hooked."

The French record producer is now coming to India to celebrate Holi with his fans. He will be performing in Hyderabad at Gachibowli Stadium on March 23. He will also be performing in Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Delhi.

India is one of his favourite places in the world to play. The country also inspires the "Let me love you" hitmaker.

"My music is influenced by different cultures across the world and India is one of them. Indian culture has influenced my songs like 'Lean on' and 'Magenta Riddim'. I cannot go to sleep on the new things that I hear in India," he said.

He said there is no specific reason as to why some of his songs have Indian flavours in them.
"I just get inspiration in the studio, could be the mood I was in, what I just heard in a taxi... anything," he added.

What has he planned for 2019? "More music, more creativity and more love," he concluded.