PRESS RELEASES
November 15, 2024 / VIEW
November 7, 2024 / VIEW
October 11, 2024 / VIEW
June 16, 2023 / VIEW
March 24, 2023 / VIEW
album artwork / click for hi-res version
Press photo, credit: donslens / click for hi-res version
MAJOR LAZER’S SEMINAL DEBUT ALBUM GUNS DON’T KILL PEOPLE…LAZERS DO TURNS 15
DIGITAL ANNIVERSARY REISSUE—INCLUDING NEW TRACKS FROM THE VAULT—AND FIRST VINYL REPRESS IN 15 YEARS OUT NOW
“PON DE STREETS” DEBUTS
November 15, 2024—Today, Major Lazer celebrates the 15th anniversary of their seminal 2009 debut album, Guns Don’t Kill People…Lazers Do, with a deluxe 15th anniversary edition digital reissue, out now—get it HERE. A new track from the Major Lazer vault “Pon De Streets,” an alternate version of “Pon De Floor” long sought after in its entirety thanks to appearances in Major Lazer mixes and live sets, also debuts today alongside a visualizer stacked with highlights from the last decade and a half, going back to the group’s very first public appearances in 2009—listen/watch HERE.
Additionally, the original version of Guns Don’t Kill People…Lazer’s Do is available today on vinyl for the first time in 15 years—get the 2xLP vinyl reissue HERE.
In addition to “Pon De Streets” and the rerelease of “Zumbie” with Andy Milonakis, Guns Don’t Kill People…Lazers Do (15th Anniversary Edition) features two other tracks from the vault—“Where’s The Daddy?” with M.I.A., which found original Major Lazer members Diplo and Switch reuniting with M.I.A. for the first time in more than ten years, and “Nobody Move” with Jamaican dancehall legend Vybz Kartel, who is featured on “Pon De Floor”—the iconic breakout single from Guns Don’t Kill People…Lazers Do that served as the framework for Beyoncé’s “Run the World (Girls).”
If Guns Don’t Kill People…Lazers Do sounded like nothing else when it was released in 2009, the last 15 years have revealed just how groundbreaking it is. On a sonic level, the then-duo of Diplo and British producer Switch were some of the first to bring dance and pop sounds from the Caribbean into the American mainstream and combine them in surprising and seamless ways with other global influences. Visually, the album’s infamous album art by Ferry Gouw, the bizarre and colorful Eric Wareheim-directed videos and a jaw-dropping live show rounded out the colorful Major Lazer universe. On the whole, Guns Don’t Kill People…Lazers Do signaled a major overhaul of how pop music could sound. Watch founding and current Major Lazer member Diplo talk about the group’s origins and the impact of their debut album HERE.
Major Lazer has gone through many evolutions since emerging in 2009. Initially a studio-oriented project, the outfit developed into a live juggernaut with the addition of New York-based dancehall MC Skerrit Bwoy in 2010, blowing minds on tour and at festivals across the U.S. and Europe. Following Switch and Skerrit Bwoy’s departure in 2011, the duo was replaced by Jillionaire and Walshy Fire, transforming Major Lazer into the festival-headlining, global-pop kings behind hits like the Diamond-certified “Lean On”—one of the most successful songs of all time—and “Light It Up.” Major Lazer reached its current lineup of Diplo, Walshy Fire and Ape Drums in 2019, most recently issuing 2023’s Piano Republik, a collaborative album with South African amapiano stalwarts Major League Djz. Major Lazer also released 2013’s Free The Universe, 2015’s Peace Is The Mission and 2020’s Music Is The Weapon.
For more information, please contact Reid Kutrow, Ethan Jacobs or Carla Sacks at Sacks & Co., 212.741.1000.
MAJOR LAZER—GUNS DON’T KILL PEOPLE…
LAZERS DO
(15th ANNIVERSARY EDITION)
1. Hold The Line feat. Mr. Lexx & Santigold
2. When You Hear the Bassline feat. Ms. Thing
3. Can't Stop Now feat. Mr. Vegas & Jovi Rockwell
4. Lazer Theme feat. Future Trouble
5. Anything Goes feat. Turbulence
6. Cash Flow feat. Blakkamoore
7. Mary Jane feat. Mr. Evil & Mapei
8. Bruk Out feat. T.O.K & Ms. Thing
9. What U Like feat. Amanda Blank & Einstein
10. Keep It Goin' Louder feat. Nina Sky & Ricky Blaze
11. Pon de Floor feat. Vybz Kartel
12. Baby feat. Prince Zimboo
13. Jump Up feat. Leftside & Supahype
14. Zumbie feat. Andy Milonakis
15. Pon de Streets
16. Where’s The Daddy? feat. M.I.A.
17. Nobody Move feat. Vybz Kartel
Bold = previously unreleased