KAAZE

From:Sweden

DJ style:“KAAZE style.”

Best known for:“Unique sound and energetic performances.”

A show of support from a well-established artist can mean big things for an emerging talent, and that has certainly been the case for KAAZE, aka Mick Kastenholt. Since Tiësto tapped the Swedish progressive house DJ and producer back in 2012, it marked the beginning of a steady rise to prominence for KAAZE, who has gone on to amass Spotify streams in the millions with tracks like ‘Tell Me’, ‘Sweet Mistake’ and ‘I Should Have Walked Away’.

In the past 12 months KAAZE has again highlighted his affinity with the Dutch superstar, working on a remix of Tiësto’s all-time classic, ‘Flight 643’. He also dropped a bunch of his own commanding tunes this year, including ‘Want My Love’, ‘La La Life’, ‘Heartbeat’ and ‘Why’, all of which acted as teasers for the release of his album, ‘Mick’. As he explained via a post on X, “this album is built from my emotions, crazy thoughts and my anxieties. I wanted to give you guys a piece of ‘Mick’ as a person”. He’s now set to appear in person across the globe, too — in October he embarked on a world tour with dates set to run into early 2024, taking him across Asia, Canada and Europe before culminating in his Australian debut this coming February.

Hero of 2023:“For me per

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Le Shuuk

From: Stuttgart, Germany

DJ style:“Hard dance / electro / hardstyle / techno / EDM.”

Best known for: “The tracks ‘Sandmann’, ‘Toast Hawaii’ and ‘Konje’, as well as being a resident and face of WORLD CLUB DOME Festival.”

A mainstay of the electronic scene for almost 20 years now, Stuttgart native Le Shuuk is no stranger to the rigours of touring. In the last 12 months, he decided to overhaul his lifestyle, committing to exercising regularly and abstaining from drinking during his shows. As a result, the DJ and producer, who is a favourite of the German festival circuit, says that he is having more fun on stage than ever. He credits these changes with allowing him to connect on a deeper level with his audiences, as well as redefine his career goals and look with renewed focus to the future.

The new healthy habits clearly agree with him. As well as recently performing at festivals and clubs across Europe, and holding his own Le Shuuk & Friends parties in his home city, he continues to build on the momentum of tracks like 2020’s peak-rave, German language tune ‘Sandmann’ and 2021’s hypnotic ‘Goodbye’ (featuring Xillions). This year he had another star turn with the explosive ‘Konje’, a collaboration with B-Stylezz that combined modern techno and EDM with the traditional elements of Bulgarian folk songs, with the track receiving big support from the likes of Armin van Buuren, Amelie Lens, and Joyhauser.