| Michaël Brun | |
| Birth Date: | 19 May 1992 |
| Birth Place: | Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
| Genre: | Progressive house, electro house, kompa, rara |
| Occupation: | DJ, producer |
| Instrument: | Digital audio workstation, keyboard, synthesizers, violin, guitar |
| Years Active: | 2011–present |
| Label: | Phazing Records, Spinnin Records, Revealed Recordings, S2 Records, Columbia Records, Musical Freedom, Kid Coconut, Astralwerks |
| Associated Acts: | J Balvin, Mr Eazi, Major Lazer, Arcade Fire, J. Perry, Hardwell, Dirty South |
Michaël Brun (born 19 May 1992) is a Haitian DJ and record producer based in New York, known for blending electronic music with traditional Haitian styles such as kompa and rara.[1] He released his debut EP Gravity in 2013 and founded the record label Kid Coconut in 2014, to showcase Haitian music and develop Haitian artists. In 2018, he released the single "Positivo" with J Balvin, which became the theme song for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.[1] [2] His debut album, Lokal, was released on June 26, 2019.[3]
Brun was born and raised in Port-au-Prince, Haiti,[2] to a Guyanese mother and Haitian father.[4] He also has French Haitian, Portuguese, Chinese Guyanese, and Indo-Guyanese ancestry. Growing up he was exposed to the music of Caribbean Sextet and Tabou Combo, which influenced his musical tastes. His father was in a band called Skandal in the '90s. Brun began playing piano, violin and guitar at a young age.
He initially intended to have a career as a pediatrician.[2] At 15, he began DJing and producing his own electronic music tracks as a hobby.[2] [5] [6] He attended Culver Military Academy in Indiana and then Davidson College in North Carolina as a pre-med student, while continuing to work on his music production.[2]
Brun was one of the first electronic music artists in Haiti.[2] On June 29, 2011, he released the 4-track single Shades of Grey on S2 Records.[7] Primarily styled as progressive house, Brun released "Dawn," on Dutch DJ Hardwell's Revealed Recordings on December 21, 2011.[8] Dirty South signed Brun to his label Phazing Records shortly after, releasing Brun's next single "Rise". Brun also joined Dirty South on tour in Miami. Around that time, he started performing at major events including Coachella and Electric Daisy Carnival, and decided to take a hiatus from medical school.[2]
In 2012, Brun released the tracks "Rift" with Dirty South and "Synergy" with Special Features. Brun released his debut EP Gravity in September 2013, which reached number 2 on the Beatport charts. Also in 2013 he remixed tracks for artists such as Alicia Keys, Calvin Harris and Armin van Buuren.
In March 2014, Brun became the first Haitian to play at Ultra Music Festival. That year he also performed at the Moonrise Festival in Baltimore, and at Coachella. He was nominated for World's Best EDM Artist at the World Music Awards.
In August 2014 Brun released the single "Zenith," which was the first release on his new label Kid Coconut.[9] In June 2015, he released "See You Soon" on Kid Coconut.[10] He then released a collaboration with Roy English titled "Tongue Tied July".[11]
In 2015 he performed at clubs including Create (Los Angeles), Temple (San Francisco), Union Nightclub (Toronto), and Story (Miami), and also appeared at the Billboard Hot 100 Festival.[12]
In January 2016, Brun released "Wherever I Go", a collaboration with Artists for Peace and Justice's Audio Institute.[13] He then embarked on his first North American Tour, titled the Wherever I Go Tour,[14] followed by the creation of the Wherever I Go Festival in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.[15]
In May 2016, he collaborated with American artist The Ready Set and released a remix to The Ready Set's song Good Enough which charted at number 40 on US Billboard Dance/Mix Show Airplay.[16]
In August 2016, he released a collaboration with Louie for the Netflix film XOXO, titled "All I Ever Wanted".[17] In October 2016, he announced Haitian Heat, a Haitian music playlist that he curates for Spotify.[18]
In January 2017, he released "Gaya", a collaboration with Haitian roots music collective Lakou Mizik and Haitian pop artist J. Perry.[19] He followed "Gaya" with remixes for OneRepublic, Maxwell, Kesha, Major Lazer and FLETCHER.[20] [21] He released "Easy On My Love" in December 2017.[22]
In 2018, as part of collaborations with artists from around the world to bring Haitian sounds into the mainstream, he released the single "Positivo" with Latin singer J Balvin.[2] It was the theme song for Telemundo's 2018 FIFA World Cup coverage, and as of March 2019, has over 12 million views on YouTube.[1] Brun also opened for J Balvin on his 2018 Vibras tour.[23] [24]
In 2017, Brun began experimenting with songs that would bridge the gap between Nigerian afrobeat and Haitian music. This led to the concept behind his debut album Lokal, released on Kid Coconut on June 26, 2019.[3] [6] The album's first single was "Akwaaba Ayiti", a reworking of a song by Mr Eazi.[3] The nine-track album features collaborations with artists including Major Lazer, Win Butler and Regine Chassagne of Arcade Fire, J. Perry, Eddy François, and BélO.[5] [25] The track "Nouvo Jenerasyon" includes a sample of a song from his father's konpa band Skandal.[6]
Brun puts on an annual Haitian block party-style tour called Bayo, with the third edition taking place in 10 North American cities in 2019. Special guests on the tour included Maxwell, Boukman Eksperyans, and Adekunle Gold.[1] It started out in 2016 as a free block party in Haiti.[6] He also played a set at Coachella 2019.[24]
The 2022 edition of Bayo took place on 21 May and featured Wyclef Jean, J Balvin, Kes, and many other artists.[26]
On April 4, 2023, Astralwerks, an American record label owned by Universal Music Group, announced it had signed Brun.[27] His first Astralwerks single, "Clueless" (featuring Oxlade), was released in February 2023.[28]
Brun lives in Brooklyn, New York.[29] He is an ambassador for Paul Haggis' Artists for Peace and Justice, a nonprofit that encourages peace and social justice.[30] He mentors children in Haiti's nonprofit school The Audio Institute, and is also on the board.[3]
| Title | Release details | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | [33] |
|
| Title | Release details | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 |
|
| Title | Album | Release details | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | "Prime" (with Derrick Rouseeau) | Versuz Essentials (April 29, 2011) | |
| "Shades of Grey" (with Remy Joel and Xpression) | 4-track single | S2 Records (June 29, 2011) | |
| "Dawn" | 2-track single | Revealed Recordings (December 21, 2011) | |
| 2012 | "Rise" (Dirty South Edit) | Phazing (March 19, 2012) | |
| "Synergy" (with Special Features) | Phazing (April 18, 2012) | ||
| "Rift" (with Dirty South) | Phazing (November 10, 2012) | ||
| 2013 | "Gravity" | Gravity EP | Phazing (Oct 8, 2013) |
| "Halfway" (featuring Zashanell) | |||
| "Antares" | |||
| 2014 | "Zenith" | Kid Coconut (August 4, 2014) | |
| "Sun In Your Eyes" (with DubVision featuring Tom Cane) | Kid Coconut (September 15, 2014) | ||
| 2015 | "Woo" (with Dirty Twist) | Kid Coconut (April 20, 2015) | |
| "See You Soon" (with Rune RK featuring Denny White) | Kid Coconut (June 2, 2015) | ||
| "Tongue Tied July" (with Roy English) | Kid Coconut (August 7, 2015) | ||
| "Vintage" (with Rayven & Valexx) | Kid Coconut (September 25, 2015) | ||
| "Check This Out" (with Still Young) | Size Records (October 16, 2015) | ||
| 2016 | "Wherever I Go" (with The Audio Institute) | Kid Coconut (January 29, 2016) | |
| "Omega" (with Aspyer) | Kid Coconut (April 22, 2016) | ||
| "Good Enough" (with The Ready Set) | Hopeless Records (May 18, 2016) | ||
| "All I Ever Wanted" (featuring Louie) | XOXO: The Album | Kid Coconut (August 3, 2016) | |
| "Summer Dreams" (with Marcio Lama) | Kid Coconut (September 9, 2016) | ||
| "Jupiter" (featuring Roy English and Uni) | Kid Coconut (October 15, 2016) | ||
| 2017 | "Gaya" (with Lakou Mizik & J. Perry) | Kid Coconut (February 17, 2017) | |
| "Danse Konsa"[34] (with Strong G) | Kid Coconut (August 9, 2017) | ||
| "Easy On My Love" (with Janelle Kroll) | Kid Coconut (December 15, 2017) | ||
| 2018 | "Bayo"[35] (featuring Strong G, Baky and J Perry) | Kid Coconut (February 16, 2018) | |
| "Soweto"[36] (with Shirazee) | Kid Coconut (June 22, 2018) | ||
| "Spice"[37] (with Kah-Lo) | Kid Coconut (August 31, 2018) | ||
| 2019 | "How About This"[38] (with Uniiqu3) | Kid Coconut (February 22, 2019) | |
| "Akwaaba Ayiti"[39] (featuring DJ Bullet, J. Perry and Dro) | Lokal | Kid Coconut (June 12, 2019) | |
| 2020 | "Melanin"[40] (with Kah-Lo) | Self-released (August 19, 2020) | |
| 2023 | "Clueless" (with Oxlade) | Astralwerks (February 18, 2023) | |
| "Jessica" (with Saint Jhn, Charly Black & J. Perry) | Self-released (July 19, 2023) | ||
| "Coming Your Way"[41] (with Anne-Marie & Becky G) | Astralwerks (August 16, 2023) |
| Year | Title | Original artist | Release details | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | "Awooga" (Michaël Brun Remix) | |||
| "Alive" (Michaël Brun Remix) | ||||
| "Dancing" (Michaël Brun Remix) | Delivio Reavon and Aaron Gill featuring Phatt | |||
| 2012 | "Burn Forever" (Michaël Brun Remix) | Those Usual Suspects and Nordean | ||
| "Nuclear Seasons" (Michaël Brun Remix) | ||||
| "Heartbeat" (Michaël Brun Remix) | Glassnote | |||
| 2013 | "Power of You and Me" (Michaël Brun Remix) | |||
| "Your Heart" (Michaël Brun Remix) | Dirty South featuring Joe Gil | |||
| "Until the End" (Michaël Brun Remix) | Dirty South feat. Joe Gil | |||
| "Steal You Away" (Michaël Brun Remix) | Dash Berlin and Alexander Popov | |||
| "Fire We Make" (Michaël Brun Remix) | ||||
| "Take Me" (Michaël Brun Remix) | Tiesto featuring Kyler England | Musical Freedom | ||
| "Sound of the Drums" (Michaël Brun Remix) | ||||
| "Thinking About You" (Michaël Brun Remix) | Columbia (Aug 4, 2013) | |||
| 2014 | "Shadow of the Sun" (Michaël Brun Remix) | |||
| "Arkham" (Michaël Brun Mix) | Lee Carter, Oliver Chang and Daniel Etienne | |||
| "Our Story" (Michaël Brun Remix) | Mako | |||
| 2015 | "Arkham" (Michaël Brun Mix) | Lee Carter, Oliver Chang and Daniel Etienne | February 25, 2015 | |
| "Ivory" (Michaël Brun Mix) | Shanahan | March 9, 2015 | ||
| "What I Did For Love" (Michaël Brun Remix) | David Guetta featuring Emeli Sandé | April 16, 2015 | ||
| "Love Will Never Let You Down" (Michaël Brun Remix) | May 25, 2015 | |||
| "Blue Sky" (Michaël Brun Remix) | Feenixpawl and Jason Forte featuring Mary Jane Smith | June 19, 2015 | ||
| "I Can Change" (Michaël Brun Remix) | September 11, 2015 (Island) | |||
| "Ardor" (Michaël Brun Edit) | No Regular and Pessto | December 29, 2015 | ||
| 2016 | "Awakening" (Michaël Brun Mix) | Baha | March 25, 2016 | |
| "Move That Body" (Michaël Brun Mix) | Lee Carter, Japaroll and Funk Machine | July 15, 2016 | ||
| "Lake By The Ocean" (Michaël Brun Remix) | Maxwell | July 19, 2016 (Columbia) | ||
| "U" (Michaël Brun Remix) | Ben Alessi | December 16, 2016 (Kid Coconut) | ||
| 2017 | "Wasted Youth" (Michaël Brun Remix)[42] | Fletcher | March 8, 2017 (Self-released) | |
| "Lift Me Up" (Michaël Brun Remix) | OneRepublic | June 8, 2017 (Mosley, Interscope) | ||
| 2018 | "Sunny Days" (Michaël Brun Remix) | Janelle Kroll | March 23, 2018 | |
| 2019 | "Give Dem" (Michaël Brun Remix)[43] | Diplo and featuring Kah-Lo | June 24, 2019 (Mad Decent) | |
| 2021 | "Dumebi" (Michaël Brun Remix) | Rema, Mavins and Becky G | April 1, 2021 | |
| 2023 | Party Girls (Michaël Brun Dancehall Remix) | Victoria Monét featuring Buju Banton | May 26, 2023 |
| Show | Episode | Date and details | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Group Therapy Radio | Group Therapy | Episode 055 with Above & Beyond: Guest Mix by Michaël Brun | November 29, 2013 |
| 2015 | Diplo and Friends | Episode: Michaël Brun & Two Fresh | April 19, 2015[44] | |
| 2019 | Diplo and Friends | Episode: Michaël Brun in the mix | July 28, 2019[45] | |