Birth name Leighton Walsh Siblings Courtney Walsh | Occupation(s) DJ, producer, musician Nationality Jamaican | |
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Born November 25, 1982 (age 34)Kingston, Jamaica ( 1982-11-25 ) Albums Music Is the Weapon, Peace Is The Mission, Free the Universe, Major Lazer Workout, Apocalypse Soon Profiles | ||
Exclusive major lazer walshy fire talks about walshy fire
Leighton Walsh, better known by his stage name Walshy Fire, is a Jamaican-American DJ, MC and record producer who is better known as part of the dancehall reggae-influenced group Major Lazer alongside fellow DJs Jillionaire and Diplo. Walshy Fire toured with the Black Chiney sound system beginning in 2004. Black Chiney is cited as a significant influence on the evolution of Major Lazer with its mash ups that blend hip hop or R&B rhythms with reggae & R&B artist vocal tracks and its representation of the Jamaican sound system. The subsequent mix tapes that the Black Chiney collective of DJ's, engineers and MC's would develop were the training ground for Walshy to become a remix producer.
Contents
- Exclusive major lazer walshy fire talks about walshy fire
- Early life
- Musical influences
- Major Lazer
- Walshy Fire Presents
- Additional work
- Singles
- Albums
- Extended plays
- Television
- Songs
- References
Early life
Walsh was born on Molynes Road in Kingston, Jamaica and raised in Carol City, Florida in a Chinese-Jamaican family. He attended North Miami Beach High School. He attended Clark Atlanta University for undergraduate studies and Florida A & M for graduate school where he completed a master's degree in communications.
Musical influences
Walshy Fire has been influenced by reggae and dancehall traditions. In 2013, he said: "my sole purpose with this Major Lazer thing is to bring back some glory and international exposure [for] reggae and dancehall." His favorite reggae riddim is "The Answer" by the iconic producer Coxsone Dodd.
Major Lazer
Since 2012, Walshy Fire has presided as master of ceremonies for Major Lazer. In 2013, he described his role as follows:
Basically, Diplo is the selector and I'm the MC. He's the one that picks the records and mixes the records and I'm the one that's out front and presents the records to people, makes speeches that makes the records make sense, and pulls up the records. I give the crowd humor when it's time to give them humor, emotion when it's time to give them emotion, and just keep the whole vibe intense throughout the whole set.
He's contributed to the production of two Major Lazer releases: APOCALYPSE SOON and Peace is the Mission. In the latter album, he cowrote the Chronixx song “Blaze Up The Fire” and lent his vocals to “Too Original”. Walshy Fire along with Diplo & Jillionaire host the Major Lazer Lazer Sound program on Apple Music's Beats 1. With Major Lazer Walshy Fire has collaborated with artists from a variety of genres maintaining a commitment to cultural authenticity and in particular with regard to Caribbean music subgenres.
On March 6, 2016, Major Lazer made the first appearance by a major American pop group in Cuba since the reinstatement of diplomatic relations.
One year after the release of Peace is the Mission, Major Lazer announced the planned release of a new song with Justin Bieber and MØ entitled "Cold Water" which will be the lead track to the next Major Lazer album. This is a follow up to "Lean On" which featured MØ and has been played 149 million times via Major Lazer’s SoundCloud and its official music video which has received 1.4 billion YouTube views.
Walshy Fire Presents
Walshy Fire launched a label in 2015 with its roots in Jamaica’s sound system culture, and extending into other genres including hip-hop. Work with Caribbean artists and the presentation of the various subgenres of their music styles to wider audiences through live sets, pre-recorded mixes and broadcast music programs has fueled the Walshy Fire Presents label concept.
Additional work
As a solo DJ, Walshy Fire has held residencies in several Miami clubs over the years and continues to tour globally performing sets with mashups from multiple genres including reggae dancehall, roots reggae, soca, house, bass, moombahton, Latin, Afrobeat, hip-hop and old school R&B presented by MC commentary that sets up the songs for the listener. Walshy Fire performs sets as part of his Rum & Bass concept which mixes world-influenced dance grooves with carnival culture.
Singles
Albums
Extended plays
Television
Songs
Cold Water2016
Light It UpCream Anthems 2016 · 2016
Run Up2017