William Grigahcine, better known by his stage name DJ Snake, is a French DJ and producer mixing hip hop and electronic music. He is a Grammy-nominated producer and artist who debuted into the international scene with singles “Bird Machine” and “Turn Down For What” in 2013. “Bird Machine” is a collaboration with fellow French act Alesia. The single was picked up by Mad Decent, a Los Angeles-based record label run by Diplo, and released in February 2013. In June 2013, DJ Snake was invited by Diplo to do a live mix on his radio show, “Diplo & Friends”, which airs on BBC Radio 1.
DJ Snake is working on a collaboration with Diplo, due out in 2014. He and Dillon Francis released “Get Low” on DJ Snake’s official YouTube page on February 10, 2014. On April 30, 2014, DJ Snake was labeled as an “Artist To Watch” by FoxWeekly. DJ Snake and Dillon Francis were announced as alternating supporting artists for the summer Mothership Tour 2014 with Skrillex.
In 2011, DJ Snake produced for Lady Gaga’s album “Born This Way”. This earned him a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year in February 2012. DJ Snake was co-producer for the song “Government Hooker,” which was voted best song by Lady Gaga fans after the release of the album. This song was supposed to be released as a single before Interscope Records decided to stop the marketing of the album after its release. He remixed Kanye West’s “New Slaves,” AlunaGeorge’s “You Know You Like It,” Duck Sauce’s “It’s You” and Major Lazer’s “Bubble Butt.” Junior Senior sampled Michael Jackson for his track, “Move Your Feet.” DJ Snake remixed the song in 2013. In 2013, DJ Snake produced three songs Paul “DJ White Shadow” Blair on Lady Gaga’s album ARTPOP including “Applause”, “Sexxx Dreams”, and “Do What U Want”.
DJ Snake and Dillon Francis are alternating supporting artists on the Mothership Tour 2014 with Skrillex.
In December 2013, “Turn Down for What” was released on Columbia Records. The song was featured in a commercial for the Sol Republic DECK, a wireless speaker, which aired in October 2013. “Turn Down for What” entered the top ten on Billboard’s Dance/Electronic chart during the last week of December. In January 2014, the single entered the top 5 on the Dance/Electronic chart and debuted No. 38 on Billboard’s Hot 100. The song was certified gold in February 2014 and platinum in March 2014. The song moved to the top ten on Billboard’s Hot 100 in April 2014.
The music video for the single was released in March 2014. “Turn Down for What” was nominated for MTV Video Music Awards for Best Direction, Best Art Direction, Best Visual Effects, and the MTV Clubland Award.