Martin Joseph Léonard Bresso (; born 12 May 1985), better known by his stage name Tchami (), is a French record producer and DJ from Paris. A founding member of the Pardon My French collective, he is best known for his solo work and regarded as a pioneer of the

future house Future house is a house music genre that emerged in the 2010s in the United Kingdom, described as a fusion of deep house, UK garage and incorporating other elements and techniques of other Electronic dance music, EDM genres. It is high in energy ...

genre – the term for which he coined – alongside Dutch DJs

Oliver Heldens Olivier "Oliver" J. L. Heldens (; born 1 February 1995) is a Dutch DJ and electronic music producer from Rotterdam. He is regarded as a pioneer of the future house genre, propelling it to international attention and scoring numerous chart succes ...

and

Don Diablo Don Pepijn Schipper (; born 27 February 1980), better known by his stage name Don Diablo, is a Dutch DJ, digital artist, record producer, musician and songwriter of electronic dance music. He is one of the pioneers of the future house genre and ...

. When asked about the origins of his name Tchami, he explained, "I used to travel a lot across Europe and Africa these past five years. Tchami is a name that has been given to me in Africa which is an honour. Fortunately it sounded catchy to me, so I kept it." Tchami often performs with the persona of a priest and a church theme. He wears a

clerical collar A clerical collar, Roman collar, clergy collar, or, informally, dog collar, is an item of Christian clerical clothing. Overview The clerical collar is almost always white and was originally made of cotton or linen but is now frequently made of pl ...

and includes visuals such as an altar and

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows. In an interview he explained that "it is my message, being spiritual. I think my music is about that too".

Musical style

Tchami most commonly produces music he has called

. In an interview with Complex Media, Tchami said

Career

2013–2014

On 5 December 2013, Tchami released his first EP "Promesses" for free under the Fool's Gold Records label. Both of the EP's tracks were re-released as singles; "Shot Caller" on 17 December 2014, and " Promesses" on 4 January 2015 under

Ministry of Sound Ministry of Sound or Ministry of Sound Group is a multimedia entertainment business based in London with a nightclub, shared workspace and private members' club, worldwide events operation, music publisher (popular music), music publishing busin ...

, which features vocals from Kaleem Taylor. The latter peaked at number 7 on the Official Singles Chart. On 18 April 2014, Tchami released his debut single "Untrue" under the Spinnin' Records label. Tchami had co-wrote DJ Snake's and

Lil Jon Jonathan H. Smith (born January 17, 1971), better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, DJ, and record producer. Regarded as a progenitor of the club-oriented hip-hop subgenre crunk, his production and voice presence were inst ...

's hit single " Turn Down for What".

2015–present

He launched his own record label, called Confession. On 12 March 2015, he announced his debut extended play titled ''After Life''. He uploaded his new song "After Life" featuring vocals from

Stacy Barthe Stacy Barthe (born July 19, 1985) is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Brooklyn, she began her musical career as an intern for Geffen Records, Geffen and Jive Records' urban contemporary, urban divisions from 2003 to 2005. Sh ...

and is part of the After Life EP along with "Missing You", which has also been released by Tchami and AC Slater. In October 2015, Tchami and fellow electronic producer DJ Snake were injured in a car crash. Consequently, both artists missed a scheduled performance at Toronto'
Monster Mash festival
His remix of AlunaGeorge's " You Know You Like It" was featured in the soundtrack of the 2015 movie " We Are Your Friends". After an 8-month break following the ''After Life'' EP, Tchami released "Siaw" on his own record label Confession as a free download on 18 August 2016. The track was an experimental bass house influenced track which sampled KRS-One's Step Into A World (Rapture's Delight). He then went on to release his only single of 2016, "Prophecy", on 20 September 2016. The track was a collaboration with mysterious Parisian producer Malaa, and again featured a more experimental bass house element compared to much of Tchami's earlier work. On 3 February 2017, Tchami released "Adieu", widely believed the 1st single of his rumoured upcoming second EP. The track was once again experimental, this time calmer than much of Tchami's earlier work. Tchami also released "World To Me" featuring London singer

MNEK Uzoechi Osisioma "Uzo" Emenike (; born 9 November 1994), professionally known by his stage name MNEK ( ; a gramogram of Emenike), is a British singer, songwriter and record producer. He has been nominated for a Grammy and a Brit Award, and ha ...

on Spotify, however the track was quickly made private although not taken down for unknown reasons. The track was included in his second EP, "Revelations EP", with new vocals from Luke James, alongside Adieu, Taiki Nulight collaboration "Godspell" (previously known among the dance music community unofficially as "Godspeed" and "Fallin"), "Zeal", "Adieu, Pt. ll" and a Kaelyn Behr collaboration "Don't Let Me Down". The Revelations EP was released on 25 August 2017. His first full-length album, titled "Year Zero" was announced in the first half of 2020. Some singles from the album and other songs he released in 2020 include "Proud" featuring vocals by Daecolm, "Ghosts" featuring vocals by HANA, "Buenos Aires", "Born Again", "Faith" featuring vocals sampled from Marlena Shaw, and "Praise" featuring vocals by

Gunna (rapper) Sergio Giavanni Kitchens (born June 14, 1993), known professionally as Gunna, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He signed with Young Thug's YSL Records, an imprint of 300 Entertainment in 2016, and rose to fame with his third mixta ...

. In 2020, he also released a remix for Justin Martin's song "Stay" featuring vocals from Dalilah.

Pardon My French

He is currently part of the Pardon My French team, a collective of four French DJs composed of DJ Snake, Mercer, Malaa and himself. Throughout the year 2016 and early 2017, DJ Snake did a world tour with Pardon My French Tour with Tchami and Mercer.

Confession

In 2015, Tchami announced that he would be launching a new record label called "Confession". Throughout late 2018 Tchami toured North America with other DJs signed to the Confession label for the Confession tour.

Discography

Live performances

Something Wicked

* 29 October 2017 - Sam Houston Race Park Houston, TX * 28 December 2017 - Shaw Conference Centre Edmonton, Alberta

Decadance 2017

* 30 December 2017 - Colorado Convention Center, Denver, CO

No Redemption Tour (Tchami and Malaa)

* 10 November 2017 - World Market Center Las Vegas, NV * 11 November 2017 - Shrine Expo Hall Los Angeles, CA * 17 November 2017 - Electric Factory Philadelphia, PA * 18 November 2017 - The Tabernacle Atlanta, GA * 22 November 2017 - City National Civic San Jose, CA * 24 November 2017 - Rebel Toronto, Canada * 25 November 2017 - New City Gas Montreal, Canada * 1 December 2017 - Brooklyn Hangar Brooklyn, NY * 2 December 2017 - Echostage Washington, DC * 8 December 2017 - The Fillmore Miami, FL * 9 December 2017 - Aragon Ballroom Chicago, IL

CRSSD Festival

* 4 March 2018 - Waterfront Park, San Diego, CA

EDC Mexico 2018

* 24 February 2018 - Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City, Mexico

Tchami x Malaa

* 24 March 2018 - Ultra Music Festival, Miami, FL * 4 May 2018 - Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, CA * 11 May 2018 - Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO *21 July 2018 - Parookaville, Weeze, Germany * 30 December 2018 - Rhythm & Vines, Gisborne, New Zealand * 3 July 2019 - Balaton Sound, Zamárdi, Hungary *7 July 2019 - Electric Love, Salzburg, Austria *20 July 2019 - Parookaville, Weeze, Germany * 21 July 2019 - Sunrise Festival, Kołobrzeg, Poland *26 July 2019 - Tomorrowland, Boom, Belgium * 25 August 2019 - Mysteryland, Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands * 30 December 2019 - SnowGlobe Festival, Lake Tahoe, CA * 31 December 2019 - Resolution Festival NYE, WaMu Theater, Seattle, WA

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival

*16 & 23 April 2016 - Indio, California *11 & 18 April 2020 - Indio, California (Postponed / Cancelled) *April 2022 - Indio, California

Ultra Music Festival

* 24 March 2017 Mainstage Miami, FL * 24 March 2018 Live Stage Miami, FL *30 March 2019 Mainstage Miami, FL *26 March 2023 Mainstage Miami, FL

The Calling

*13 April 2023 - Fourth Presbyterian Church Chicago, IL *11 April 2024 - Angel Orensanz Foundation New York, NY *12 April 2024 - Theatre Paradoxe Montreal, Canada *13 April 2024 - Masonic Cathedral Theatre, Detroit, MI

''
DJ Mag ''DJ Magazine'' (also known as ''DJ Mag'') is a British monthly magazine dedicated to electronic dance music and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Lati ...
'' Top 100 DJs

References

{{Authority control 21st-century French musicians Living people Musicians from Paris Future house musicians 1985 births French electronic dance music DJs