Diplo & Switch on the 15-Year Anniversary of the Major Lazer's Debut Album: 'It Became Better Than Of Us Had Expected'

In 2007, Diplo and Switch were ready to release the music they were working on together. they just had to figure out what to call themselves. Everyone picked a bunch of words at random, wrote them on slips of paper, and threw them into a hat. They brought out two, the first was 'major' and the second was 'laser'.

With this, he was christened one of the most influential dance music projects of the late 00s and 2010s.

Billboard News recently caught up with Diplo and Switch for a rare joint interview, with the duo discussing the origins of Major Lazer and the 15-year anniversary of the group's debut album, Guns don't kill people… Lazers do.

The pair first met at Fabric London, realizing, says Switch, that “we both had a soft spot for Jamaican music at the time, and we were both making our own individual sounds, so it was a good excuse to let's get together and make material.”

Both producers worked with MIA on her albums Arular and Wellwith Diplo calling her “a catalyst for our music”. Before long, the guys were making monthly trips to Jamaica to make music, dropping in on the local music community and getting Jamaican artists including Vybz Cartel and TKTK to record music that would eventually lead to Major Lazer's debut.

They knew they were doing something right when they heard their track 'Pon de Floor at a gas station in Kingston, realizing that their music was, says Switch, “penetrating this market that we thought was very special.” From Jamaica, they took the sound to the UK, where the pair played one of their first major shows at London's Notting Hill Carnival. Guns Don't Kill People… Lazers Do was was released on June 16, 2009, reaching No. 169 on the Billboard 200 the following month.

The group's catalog — which included Diplo, Walshy Fire and Jillionaire after Switch left and now includes Walshy Fire and Diplo along with Ape Drums — has since amassed 4.8 billion streams, according to Luminate.

“With our videos and everything we've done, [Major Lazer] would be cancelled [nowadays] before we even started,” says Diplo. “Because people wouldn't give us a chance. It would be like “We don't really get it and that's not right.” But back then, nobody gave a damn. They were like, “I like the way that sounds.” Today there are too many tasters and rules.”

The band continued to have major moments, with Beyoncé sampling 'Pon de Floor on her 2011 smash 'Run the World (Girls)' and Major Lazer and DJ Snake's 'Lean On' becoming what it was, she at the time, Spotify's most streamed song of all time.

“We had really invented something with the Major Lazer language,” Diplo continues, “but from the second project we were able to make records that were really hits. It was awesome to see our trajectory, something so chaotic, and then build something that made sense to people.”

Watch the full interview above to hear the pair talk about why Switch left the group, why Diplo thinks “Get Free” is Major Lazer's best song, and what it's like working with Beyoncé in the studio.