Major Lazer‘s mission for world peace through music continues with their recent comeback at The Governor’s Ball NYC. With their new show, they debuted a welcoming for a new member, Ape Drums. Major Lazer has made some major changes since their founding by Diplo in 2008. What started as a duo between Diplo and Switch, became a trio with the addition of Walshy Fire and Jillionaire in 2011. Jillionaire, who’s been a notable member of the group, has quietly stepped out to pursue his own solo projects.
What Was Then
Trinidadian DJ-Producer, Christopher Leacock, prominently known as Jillionaire, aided the original trio with releasing two studio albums and one EP: Free The Universe, Apocalypse Soon, and Peace Is The Mission. Jillionaire, Walshy, and Diplo presumably worked on their “last” and 4th album together, Lazerism. However, with recent tweets, fans can expect “a new era of lazer” that includes Ape Drums. Major Lazer has been scouring social platforms with posts that include Ape Drums and leaves Jillionaire out.
What Is Now
Although it may seem like Major Lazer’s newest position has huge shoes to fill between Diplo and Jamaican DJ-Producer Walshy Fire, fans can feel assured that Ape Drums will still bring a huge chunk of that dancehall fusion cake to the table. Eric Alberto-Lopez, otherwise known as Ape Drums, is a Houston native who has had a long-standing relationship with Major Lazer. Ape Drums released a single in 2016 that was co-produced with Major Lazer ‘The Way We Do This‘ on Mad Decent.
While this is definitely the end of an era with the original trio, it seems Jillionaire, Diplo, and Walshy are still on great terms. You can peep at Jillionaire’s recent Instagram posts that are still supported by Mad Decent and Walshy’s likes/comments. Major Lazer’s recent posts have been including Ape Drums and it seems like they’ve got “big tings” in store for the future.
