TBA/News
David Guetta Feels Love From Artists And Fans
By Steve McLean
David Guetta
French DJ/producer David Guetta's One Love debuted at #2 on the Canadian sales chart in early September and was still in the top 10 a month later when the album was certified gold for selling 40,000 copies.
Guetta's fourth studio album topped the charts in France and Belgium and reached the top five in the U.K., Australia, Austria, the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Czech Republic, New Zealand and Switzerland.
Those are pretty big accomplishments for a man who was previously a star in his homeland but was little known outside of the dance music communities (he was ranked as the world's top house music DJ by DJmag) in other parts of the world until recently, when he went in a new musical direction.
"We call it electro-hop," says Guetta, who started DJing when he was 13. "It's a mix of electronic music from Europe and urban music from America."
Guetta hasn't reached the mainstream all on his own, however. Lead single "When Love Takes Over" features former Destiny's Child member Kelly Rowland and has been certified gold in Canada.
One Love also features contributions from Black Eyed Pea Will.i.am, Estelle, Ne-Yo, Kid Cudi, Apl De Ap, Novel, longtime vocal collaborator Chris Willis and others. Guetta produced the Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling," which was one of the summer's biggest hits. A different mix of the song from the group's The E.N.D. album appears on One Love.
"I'm really happy that it's started crossing over," enthuses Guetta. "I'm very thankful to people like the Black Eyed Peas because they're showing everybody. It's like everybody was scared before, and now they can say to all the radio stations, 'Look, it works.'"
In return for getting all of these big names on One Love, Guetta promised them that he'd also produce tracks for their respective records. He's been working on songs for Rowland, Akon, Estelle and Kid Cudi, and more production duties are in the cards.
"I have a lot of big American artists who are calling me," says Guetta. "It's really funny because there are some pop acts, but also a lot of hip-hop guys.
"I've never tried to be a hip-hop producer, so it's really funny to be in this situation without really trying. I think this is the next trend. All those hip-hop guys are really into the electro sound."
While Guetta is basking in the acclaim that's mostly greeted One Love, he admits that some of his longtime fans aren't as happy with his new sound and claim that his new collaborators are "the enemy."
"I'm sure that in the hip-hop community, they probably get that too by working with me," Guetta concedes. "But we don't care.
"We just want to have fun and make good music. For me, it doesn't matter anymore which box you are because right now the kids are on the Internet and they listen to everything. Access to music is so easy now that people are much more open-minded than they used to be."
Guetta has always been a big advocate of DJ culture and is serving as a European ambassador and spokesperson for the new DJ Hero video game that transforms players into DJs who can create original mixes of songs by a variety of top artists. It also features Guetta's "When Love Takes Over" and "On The Dancefloor" in an exclusive download package format.
If all of that's not enough, Guetta spends an average of every second night DJing in clubs around the world. But he wouldn't have it any other way.
"The way I relax is by making music," concludes Guetta. "I'm having so much fun doing what I do that I feel I'm very blessed that I can live out my passion."