Track of the Moment: Get Free by Major Lazer

 

In my last article, I mentioned the song “Get Free”. I love the song, even though it’s been out for a little while. It was released about 5 months ago, and the music video came out a few weeks ago. I was going to wait for the album, but that doesn’t come out until November, and I couldn’t wait that long to talk about this song.

Major Lazer is known for 2 things. The first is the main producer/DJ, Diplo. Hailing from Philly and naming himself after the Diplodocus, he’s one of the biggest producers around today, working on mega-hit songs with Beyonce, Usher, M.I.A. (twice), Chris Brown, doing some production on No Doubt’s new album, and helping out with Snoop Dogg’s transition to reggae.Originally, Major Lazer was Diplo and another DJ named Switch, but Switch left due to “creative differences” (which everyone knows means trouble in bed). Now Major Lazer is just Diplo and whoever he's working with at the time. Diplo also tours around the world, playing around 300 gigs a year. On top of that, he owns his own label, Mad Decent, a charity, Heaps Decent, and co-runs club/music collective, Hooked on Hollerphonix. He’s a rather busy man, but damn is he good at music and business. Oh, and he’s the only white guy who could make Jamaican dancehall music and be featured in a video like this one, which can only be described as “so fucking ratchet, people from Malibu can only see a series of welfare cutback initiatives.”

The second thing they’re known for is not being subtle. Watch this video for “Pon De Floor”. I almost made it my track of the moment, because not only is the song good, but just watch that video. It features the dance style popular in Jamaica called “daggering”, which is what swing dancing would be, if it dropped all pretense and featured 150% more hip gyrating. If that sounds stupid, you haven’t finished watching that video. It would rival Psy’s “Gungnam Style” in viral-ness, if the Youtube video wasn’t age restricted. I mean, just look at what happens at 3:13! (Here’s a gif of it, if you can’t watch/are too lazy to watch). Holy ass loving christ! I’m like 95% sure that wasn’t CGIed. There’s no way someone didn’t break a pelvis. And the music is pretty indicative of their style – loud, lots of bass, and some strange samples played on top. Pretty standard dancehall fair.

This is Major Lazer's mascot, Major Lazer. He's a Jamaican commando who lost his arm fighting zombies in 1984. The US replaced his arm with a laser, and now he flies around on a rocket-powered skateboard killing monsters, partying, and making music for his club. He's my hero from when I was 10.

That’s why this song is such a pleasant surprise. Don’t get me wrong; the old stuff is great. “Pon De Floor” is what got me into Major Lazer and Diplo. But it’s not really my style. “Get Free”, on the other hand, is right up my alley. Now that Diplo is running the show with the rest of the Major Lazer squad merely helping him, Diplo’s unique style is able to shine through. And this song shows it. Heavily influenced by reggae, and featuring some great vocals by Amber Coffman from The Dirty Projectors, Diplo makes a great track. It has a slightly muffled, but amazing, keyboard riff and a funky bassline, and is just so perfectly loudly restrained. It has a full sound, but it’s also held back. Even the crescendos sound like a loud wall of sound, but coming from the next room over. Plus, it has a great music video exploring Jamaica and Jamaican culture.

I wasn’t too excited about Major Lazer’s next album, Free the Universe, until I heard this song. Now I can’t wait until I can get it. In the mean time, I guess I’ll just have to settle for this awesome song. Speaking of awesome and settling, it’d be awesome if you settled for liking our Facebook page to read reviews of all the newest and oldest music you should love.