GORDO

From:Nicaragua

DJ style:“Latin and tech-house.”

Best known for:“‘Hombres y Mujeres’ with FEID, ‘El Mas Chingon’ with El Alfa, and ‘Parcera’ with Maluma.”

“2023 has been insane,” says Diamanté Anthony Blackmon, who is now exclusively known as Gordo and is synonymous with a fiery combination of his Latin roots and big room house and techno. He has played both Coachella weekends, done eight-hour sets at the Brooklyn Mirage and ADE, sold 20,000 tickets in Spain alone over the summer and 12,000 tickets in Chile one recent weekend, and has grown his TARAKA brand into a world-renowned event series.

There has been new music too — from house on ‘R U 4REAL’ to more Latin-leaning fare on ‘Parcera’ via all new and electrifying grooves on ‘With You’ with Adriatique. Arguably more important than all that is that he opened the doors to his third learning centre in Central America. EDIFICIO TARAKA opened its doors in Nuevo Eden, Guatemala and is Gordo’s way of “giving back to the community that gave me so much while I was growing up there. I’m super excited about giving these people a better future and supporting them from the sidelines.”

Next up is an album which he has already been road-testing to great effect. “It pushes the needle and breaks so many boundaries,” he says.

Hero of 2023:“My grandmother. She turned 90 this year.”

Fave tune of 2023:“Darude ‘Sandstorm’.”

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Jay Hardway

From:Drunen, The Netherlands

DJ style:“House / melodic / main stage.”

Best known for:“Tracks like ‘Electric Elephants’, ‘Wizard’ with Martin Garrix and my melodies.”

It’s been just over a decade since main stage mainstay and EDM maestro Jay Hardway burst onto the scene via his Martin Garrix collab ‘Registration Code’, a tune that set him on the path to becoming a regular headliner at legendary clubs and global events like Tomorrowland, Pacha and EDC New York, AMF, Mysteryland and Omnia Las Vegas.

Becoming a father last year has meant Hardway has been focusing on maintaining that all-important work/life balance: “In my personal life I made sure to spend a lot of time with my family and it’s been amazing being a father. I still love doing shows worldwide, but I’ve made sure to plan my tours in such a way that I’m not on the road 24/7.”

It’s an approach that’s clearly working as 2023 has seen the Dutch DJ/producer continue to deliver high-impact dancefloor gold, including his big Spinnin’ Records collab with Tujamo featuring Bay-C ‘Energy’,high-drama Emo-DM tear-jerkerLost Souls’with Jeffrey Sutorius on Revealed, and fresh vocal track ‘On Fire’ featuring Nadia Gattas on Rave Culture, with Hardway’s solo releases like ‘The Sound’ and ‘Red Alert’ all picking up strong DJ support too.

Hero of 2023:“My daughter No