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DJ Mag Top100 DJs
9
Steve Aoki
2

To anyone else, Steve Aoki’s life is a whirlwind of gigs, studio time and travel. But it’s business as usual for the fondant-flinging EDM supremo. Even though he’s slipped a couple of places in the poll, he’s still standing strong in the top ten.

In 2017, Aoki further cemented his association with hip-hop, too. His fourth album ‘Kolony’ contained several collaborations with the trap elite. Lil Yachty and Migos featured on the autotune-heavy ‘Night Call’ single and there were further appearances from Lil Uzi Vert, 2 Chainz and Gucci Mane throughout the record. A shorter album than his previous ‘Neon Future’ sets, it also featured several producers from the EDM and hardstyle worlds, including DVBBS and Yellow Claw.

He remixed Michael Jackson’s evergreen classic ‘Thriller’ into a, for the most part well-received, EDM funk mutant, and continued to post episodes of Aoki’s World to his YouTube channel, a documentary glimpse at his sometimes surreal life on tour and at play.

The Nevada-based Californian also toured the globe, with dates everywhere from Japan to Georgia, Romania and Malta. Still, the festival favourite mostly played Stateside this year, and in October he stopped at many of Las Vegas’ biggest clubs, including Jewel, Hakkasan and Omnia.

Aoki also indulged his passion for science, appearing as a guest on the topical Netflix talk-show Bill Nye Saves The World, and provided the voice for one of the characters in the forthcoming animated film Charming.