Mackenzie Johnson, better known by his stage name Makj (stylized as MAKJ), is an American DJ and electro house music producer. He has released a number of singles as a solo artist since 2012, as well as a large number of collaborative singles with artists such as Hardwell, Lil Jon, Deorro and M35. Since 2013 Makj has performed at large festivals such as Electric Zoo, Voodoo Experience, Coachella, and a main stage slot at TomorrowWorld.[1] In March 2014, Billboard named him one of the Top 10 Artists to Watch at Ultra Music Festival.[2] Also in 2014 he was named No. 63 in the Top 100 DJs list put out by the DJ Magazine Awards.[3] Makj is the host of the radio show Revolution Radio on Clear Channel’s Evolution channel.[1]
MAKJ | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Mackenzie Alexander Johnson |
| Born | 1990 (age 33–34) |
| Origin | San Luis Obispo, California |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | producer, DJ |
| Years active | 2011–present |
| Labels | Kenz Records, Universal Records |
Biography
editMackenzie Johnson was born in 1990 in San Luis Obispo, California. By his teens, he was living in China while pursuing a career as a professional race car driver. At age fifteen, he became interested in DJing, and he purchased a set of Technics 1200 Turntables.[1] By age 17, he had returned to the United States, where he found himself invited to perform at local events in his hometown. He had a number of lessons with DJ AM, who trained MAKJ on scratching.[1]
In late 2013, MAKJ embarked on his first major US tour, traveling the country with Bingo Players and Bassjackers.[1] After a time playing small venues, he began to attend festivals as well.[4] Since 2013, he has performed at festivals such as Electric Zoo Festival, Voodoo Experience, Coachella, a main stage slot at TomorrowWorld, Northern Lights Festival, Euphoria Festival, Webster Hall, and Ruby Skye.[1] In March 2014, Billboard named him one of the Top 10 Artists to Watch at Ultra Music Festival.[2] He toured Europe in 2014 with his "Let’s Get Fucked Up Tour," then traveled North America with his "Peyote Tour." Plans for an Asian tour were also announced.[1]
He has released a number of singles as a solo artist since 2012, as well as a large number of collaborative singles. He has collaborated with artists such as Showtek, Lil Jon, and DJ Kura. In 2013, he released a collaborative single with Hardwell entitled "Countdown" which peaked at No. 1 on Beatport within three days. He has also released music on Hysteria Records, Doorn Records, Diffused Records, and Juicy Music, among others.[1] In late 2014, he released his track "Generic," which had earlier debuted at the Ultra Festival in Miami.[4] Several of his original songs have charted in the Beatport Top 10.[4]
MAKJ has been a guest judge for the Campus DJ contest, and he is the host of a radio show on Clear Channel’s Evolution channel, with the show also streaming at iHeartRadio.[1]
Awards and nominations
edit| Year | Award | Nominated work | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | DJ Magazine Awards | Makj | Top 100 DJs (63rd) | Nominated |
Singles
editAs lead artist
edit| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [5] |
BEL | FRA | |||
| "Countdown" (with Hardwell) |
2013 | — | 28 | 41 | |
| "Encore" (with Henry Fong) |
— | — | — | ||
| "Let's Get F*cked Up" (with Lil Jon) |
2014 | — | — | — | |
| "Derp" (with Bassjackers) |
— | — | — | ||
| "Mad Max" | 2015 | — | — | — | |
| "Black" (with Thomas Newson) |
— | — | — | ||
| "Party Till We Die" (with Timmy Trumpet featuring Andrew W.K.) |
2016 | 46 | — | — | |
| "Shakalaka" (with Steve Aoki, Deorro and Max Styler)[6] |
2018 | — | — | — | |
| "Knockout" (with Deorro and Quintino)[7] |
— | — | — | ||
| "Bounce 2 This" (with Will K)[8] |
— | — | — | ||
| "Muñequita Linda"[9] (with Juan Magán and Deorro, featuring YFN Lucci) |
— | — | — | ||
| "Fire" (with Linka & Mondello)[11] |
2019 | — | — | — | |
| "Grow Like This" (with Tropkillaz and Will K featuring Demarco)[12] |
— | — | — | ||
| "Beast" (with Purari) |
— | — | — | ||
| "Rave" (with Steve Aoki and Showtek featuring Kris Kiss)[13] |
— | — | — | ||
| "Retumba" (with Deorro)[14] |
— | — | — | ||
| "Left Right" (with Hardwell and Deorro featuring Fatman Scoop)[15] |
— | — | — | ||
| "Save Room For Us" (featuring Tinashe)[16] |
2020 | — | — | — | |
| "Green Light"[17] | — | — | — | ||
| "Promises"[18] (with Jyye) |
— | — | — | ||
| "Night Ends"[19] | 2021 | — | — | — | |
| "Scream It"[20] (with Bassjackers) |
— | — | — | ||
| "Club Sound"[21] | 2022 | — | — | — | |
| "Beautiful Life"[22] (with Purari) |
— | — | — | ||
| "De La Sol"[23] (with Bassjackers) |
— | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||
Other singles
edit- 2011: Parallax (with Kura and dBerrie)
- 2012: Crunch
- 2012: Croche
- 2012: Galaxy / Old Memories (with Kura)
- 2013: Conchy
- 2013: Hold Up
- 2013: Springen
- 2013: Hakaka
- 2013: Revolution (with M35)
- 2014: GO (Showtek Edit) (with M35)
- 2014: Generic
- 2014: Ready (with Deorro)
- 2015: Lose Your Mind (with Deorro)
- 2015: Ante Up (with Deorro)
- 2015: Get Whoa (featuring Fly Boi Keno)
- 2015: On & On (with Kenze)
- 2017: Knock Me Down (with Max Styler featuring Elayna Boynton)
- 2017: Space Jam (with Michael Sparks featuring Fatman Scoop)
- 2017: Too Far Gone (featuring Matthew Santos)
Remixes
edit- 2012: Nari & Milani featuring Maurizio Gubellini - Unbelievable (with Robbie Rivera)
- 2012: Drop the Lime - No Sleep For The Wicked
- 2013: Trinidad James - All Gold Everything
- 2013: Nervo and Ivan Gough featuring Beverly Knight - Not Taking This No More
- 2013: Federico Scavo and Robbie Rivera - Jump
- 2013: Sound of Stereo - Zipper
- 2013: Sandro Silva featuring Jack Miz - Let Go Tonight
- 2014: Benny Benassi featuring Gary Go - Let This Last Forever
- 2015: O.T. Genasis - CoCo
- 2016: Rae Sremmurd - Black Beatles
- 2016: Madly - Work Me
- 2017: Ed Sheeran - Shape of You
- 2017: Future - Mask Off
- 2017: Steve Aoki featuring Lil Yachty and Migos - Night Call (with Steve Aoki)
- 2019: Goody Grace featuring Blink-182 - Scumbag[24]
- 2020: Winona Oak - He Don't Love Me[25]
- 2020: Rat City - I Just Wanna Dance[26]
Further reading
edit- "Makj Makes a Beatport Hit with Pee Sample, Unleashes His Latest Track "Generic"". Vice Media. December 4, 2014. Archived from the original on February 12, 2015. Retrieved February 17, 2015.
- Makj at Allmusic
- Makj at Discogs
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i "About MAKJ". Facebook. Retrieved 2015-02-02.
- ^ a b McCarthy, Zel (March 28, 2014). "Ultra Music Festival 2014: The Top 10 Artists To Watch". Billboard. Retrieved 2015-02-02.
- ^ "Poll 2014: MAKJ". DJMag.com. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
- ^ a b c Lhooq, Michelle (December 4, 2014). "MAKJ Makes a Beatport Hit with Pee Sample, Unleashes His Latest Track "Generic"". Vice Media. Archived from the original on February 12, 2015. Retrieved 2015-02-02.
- ^ "ARIA Chart Watch #391". auspOp. October 22, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
- ^ Bein, Kat (June 15, 2018). "Steve Aoki, Deorro, MakJ & Max Styler Mix Boom With Mariachi on 'Shakalaka': Listen". Billboard. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
- ^ "Knockout – Single by Deorro, MAKJ & Quintino on Apple Music". Apple Music. July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
- ^ "Bounce 2 This – Single by MAKJ & WILL K on Apple Music". Apple Music. September 17, 2018. Retrieved September 24, 2018.
- ^ "Muñequita Linda – Single by Juan Magán, Deorro & MAKJ". Apple Music. December 14, 2018. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
- ^ "American certifications – MAKJ". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
- ^ Sunkel, Cameron (January 11, 2019). "MAKJ and Linka & Mondello bring the heat with 'Fire'". EDM.com. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
- ^ "Makj joinsf orces with Tropkillaz, Will K and Demarco for 'Grow Like This'". EDM.com. May 28, 2019. Archived from the original on June 12, 2019. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
- ^ Sweeney, Farrell (1 July 2019). "Steve Aoki, MAKJ, and Showtek merge for mainstage anthem 'Rave' featuring Kris Kiss". Dancing Astronaut. Archived from the original on 1 July 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
- ^ Cameron, John (August 15, 2019). "Deorro and MAKJ reunite for big room banger 'Retumba'". EDM.com. Archived from the original on August 30, 2019. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
- ^ Meadow, Matthew (October 18, 2019). "Hardwell drops massive new collab 'Left Right' with Deorro, MAKJ, and Fatman Scoop". Your EDM. Archived from the original on November 2, 2019. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
- ^ Elder, Sajae (February 16, 2020). "Tinashe drops new video for "Save Room For Us"". The Fader. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
- ^ Fabrick, Mark (October 14, 2020). "MAKJ makes his Armada debut with 'Green Light'". Your EDM. Archived from the original on October 19, 2020. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
- ^ Chiang, Nina (December 12, 2020). "MAKJ x JYYE – 'Promises'". EDM Tunes. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
- ^ "Night Ends - Single by MAKJ on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
- ^ "Scream It - Single by Bassjackers & MAKJ on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
- ^ "Club Sound - Single by MAKJ on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
- ^ "Beautiful Life - Single by MAKJ & Purari on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
- ^ "De La Sol - Single by Bassjackers & Makj on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
- ^ "Scumbag (feat. blink-182) [MAKJ Remix] - Single by Goody Grace on Apple Music". iTunes Store. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
- ^ "He Don't Love Me (MAKJ Remix) - Single by Winona Oak on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
- ^ Tam, Michael (29 June 2020). "Rat City – 'I Just Wanna Dance' (MAKJ Remix)". EDM Tunes. Archived from the original on 7 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.