Dillon Francis

Dillon Hart Francis (born October 5, 1987) is an American electronic musician, record producer and DJ. A native of Los Angeles, he is best known for popularizing the moombahton genre.

Dillon Francis
Background information
Birth nameDillon Hart Francis
Born (1987-10-05) October 5, 1987
Los Angeles, California
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • DJ
  • record producer
Instruments
Years active2010–present
Labels
Associated acts
Websitedillonfrancis.com

Early life

Francis was born in Los Angeles, California[1] to an American father and a Serbian-Croatian mother.[2] 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 was very sheltered growing up, claiming that he did not know any swear words until he was 15. He also claims he could not watch TV unless he watched at least two hours of Sesame Street a day.[1]

Career

Platinum-selling DJ and producer, Dillon Francis, has achieved a string of smashes, "Anywhere" featuring Will Heard, "Candy" featuring Snappy Jit, "Coming Over" with Kygo featuring James Hersey, and the RIAA platinum-certified "Get Low" with DJ Snake which surpassed 500 million worldwide streams.

2010–2012

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 that brought him to fame.[3] In 2010, Francis released his Swashbuckler EP on Play Me Records.[4] In 2012, he also released two singles "I.D.G.A.F.O.S." and "Bootleg Fireworks (Burning Up)". Both are known to be fan favorites. He has released works on multiple labels including Dim Mak Records, Mad Decent[5] and OWSLA.[6]

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.[7] 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.[8]

2013

In 2013, he announced a headlining Wurld Turr[9] across the US and Canada, as well as confirming that his debut album would be released in 2013 before later experiencing various delays. He also gained prominence by being announced as one of MTV Clubland's Artists to watch in 2013,[10] 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.[11] The uprising artist is on his way to becoming one of the most recognized faces in the EDM scene. Francis has performed at many popular music festivals such as Camp Bisco, Electric Daisy Carnival, Coachella, TomorrowWorld, Ultra and Electric Zoo.[12] Francis is also one half of the comedy production duo Meowski666 alongside Kill the Noise[13] and has been linked to internet funny man The Fat Jew.[14] In October 2013 he was announced as number 73 in the DJ Mag Top 100 poll.[15]

2014

In 2014, his major label debut album, Money Sucks, Friends Rule [Mad decent/Columbia Records], landed on Rolling Stone's "Top Electronic Albums of 2014" list and boasted a myriad of diverse 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.[16] On March 22, 2014, Francis announced via his official Twitter account that his debut album, entitled Money Sucks, Friends Rule,[17] will be released on October 28, 2014, on Mad Decent and Columbia Records.[18] 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.[19] 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.

2015–2016

In 2015, Francis' This Mixtape Is Fire EP bowed at #1 on Billboard's Top Dance/Electronic Albums Chart. The EP's most popular song, "Coming Over," written by Dillon Francis, Kygo, and James Hersey, has reached over 127 million streams on Spotify. 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.[20] 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.

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.

2017

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[21] that he had parted ways with Columbia Records mutually and is 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 is known for creating different personalities or alter egos, including "Emo Preston." Francis performed as "Emo Preston" at Emo Nite in Los Angeles in 2017.[22]

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 Latin Grammy nomination respectively for the song, "Sexo" with Residente and iLe. On February 21, he released a single "We The Funk" in a collaboration with Fuego. On April 13, he released a single "Sexo" in a 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. The song's inclusion in the video category in both awards ceremonies is no doubt due to the widespread popularity of the viral dance that came with it.

On May 9 he released a single "BaBaBa (Vete Pa'Ya) in a collaboration with Young Ash. On July 12 he released a 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 a single "White Boi" featuring Lao Ra. Wut Wut is the second studio album by Dillon Francis, released on September 28, 2018 through IDGAFOS.

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

Dillon Francis recently released a 7 episode comedy series 'Like and Subscribe' 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.[23]

2019

On January 25, 2019 he released the single "Lost My Mind" in collaboration with Alison Wonderland, which is sharing the name with their Lost My Mind Tour in the beginning of the year throughout the United States. Quickly, multiple sold out shows across the United States.[24] The song arose because of a deal between the artists on Twitter, concerning the winner of the FIFA World Cup being Croatia or not, with the reason that both of them have Croatian roots.[25]

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, who became the youngest female rapper to sign a record deal. 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 "dialling the song up to 11".

2020

On May 8, 2020 he performed in the Fortnite Party Royale Premiere with Steve Aoki and Deadmau5. [26]

Discography
Main article: Dillon Francis discography

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
2015 We Are Your Friends Devin Andrews
2015 Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse DJ
2016 Succeeding at Life Background Actors Television film
2017 What Would Diplo Do? Jasper 4 episodes
2018 Taskmaster (US) Himself / Contestant
Public Disturbance Himself
2020 The Sauce Himself / Judge Episode: "Miami Heat"

References
  1. Ahmed, Insanul (March 13, 2012) Who Is Dillon Francis? Complex. Retrieved on 2013-03-31.
  2. 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.
  3. Video (August 21, 2012). "Dillon Francis and Diplo Talk Moombahton". The Creators Project (via YouTube). Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  4. "Dillon Francis Bio, Music, News & Shows". DJZ.com. Archived from the original on March 30, 2013. Retrieved March 7, 2013.
  5. Staff (n.d.). "Dillon Francis". Mad Decent. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  6. Staff (n.d.). "Dillon Francis". OWSLA. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  7. Database (undated). "Something, Something, Awesome. – Dillon Francis, Kill The Noise". Beatport. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  8. Staff (July 26, 2012). "Dillon Francis – Wet & Reckless Tour Presale!!". Mad Decent. Archived from the original on November 6, 2012. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  9. Marie, Shannon. (January 25, 2013) Dillon Francis – Wurld Turr. ElectroJams. Retrieved on 2013-03-31.
  10. MTV Clubland's Artists To Watch In 2013 – Music, Celebrity, Artist News. MTV.com (January 10, 2013). Retrieved on 2013-03-31.
  11. Brodsky, Rachel. "MTV Artist to Watch: Dillon Francis". Viacom International Inc. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  12. "Dillon Francis - Live @ Electric Zoo (New York City) 8.31.2012". Soundcloud.com.
  13. "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.
  14. "NSFW: The Fat Jew Had Coachella's Most Insane Belly Drawing 4.13.2013E". Archived from the original on March 7, 2015.
  15. DJ Mag [@DJmag] (October 19, 2013). "It has been a massive year for @DILLONFRANCIS, who debuts at no.73 #Top100DJs" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  16. Spotify [@Spotify] (February 4, 2014). "#Exclusive! Love @DILLONFRANCIS? He's back with hot new single 'Get Low" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  17. "Dillon Francis — Miami Music Week 2014 — Interview". March 30, 2014.
  18. "Twitter / DILLONFRANCIS". Twitter. March 22, 2014. Archived from the original on April 11, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  19. "Preview Dillon Francis' Debut Album 'Money Sucks, Friends Rule'". Spin Magazine. March 22, 2014.
  20. "Dillon Francis to Shoot Pilot for MTV". Mixmag. January 5, 2015. Archived from the original on January 9, 2015.
  21. "SAY LESS, BUT MORE LIVESTREAM". YouTube. April 6, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  22. "Preston (Dillon Francis) Makes Debut at Emo Nite LA with Surprise Guest". Relentless Beats.
  23. The Nocturnal Times (December 12, 2018), Experience the World of Ninjawerks Vol. 1, retrieved December 14, 2018
  24. Savory, Bill (November 20, 2018). "Dillon Francis and Alison Wonderland Announce Lost My Mind Tour". Edmidentity.com.
  25. Francis, Dillon (January 25, 2019). "lost my mind out now & here's a lil blurb about why this song is so fun and special". Twitter.com.
  26. "Dillon Francis, Steve Aoki, and deadmau5 Invite You to the Party Royale Premiere". epicgames.com. May 8, 2020.
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