Driven by a pledge to "make the party bigger," Major Lazer reframes reggaeton, trap, electro-house, and additional genres through an unrelenting emphasis on the dancefloor. Producers Diplo and Switch first teamed under the moniker toward the close of the 2000s for a dancehall-reggae side venture. Their introduction arrived via the well-received Guns Don't Kill People... Lazers Do (2009), an album that positioned the act as a key contributor to the EDM surge, aided by external production and remix contributions for Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, and Ariana Grande throughout the following decade. Walshy Fire and Jillionaire came aboard in 2011, strengthening the Caribbean thread, while the group's exuberant stage spectacles drew swelling audiences through top billing at prominent festivals. Mid-decade streaming records were set by the multi-platinum leaders "Lean On" (from Peace Is the Mission, 2015) and "Cold Water" (issued to support Major Lazer Essentials, 2016). Diplo, Walshy, and Ape Drums supplied Music Is the Weapon (2020), whose "Reloaded" version earned a Grammy nomination, partly due to "Rave de Favela," itself a Latin Grammy nominee. Previously unheard cuts such as the Vybz Kartel collaboration "Nobody Move" (2024) came before a deluxe take on the collective's debut album.
Diplo and Switch formed Major Lazer in 2008 after meeting earlier during work on M.I.A.'s debut album and later teaming with Santigold. Taped at Jamaica's Tuff Gong studios, the first album Guns Don't Kill People... Lazers Do showcased vocals from dancehall figures including Vybz Kartel, Busy Signal, Mr. Vegas, and Turbulence, together with Santigold, Nina Sky, and rapper Amanda Blank. Considerable expectation and online discussion were stirred partly by the quirky video and song "Zumbi" with comedian Andy Milonakis, the high-energy lead single "Hold the Line," and a fabricated origin story of a renegade Jamaican commando equipped with prosthetic laser arms who supposedly fought in the Zombie War and served as a vampire-hunting C.I.A. operative, though he proved to be an active Twitter presence. The record appeared in June 2009 through Downtown Records and Diplo's Mad Decent imprint. Lazers Never Die, an EP containing two fresh tracks and three remixes, appeared in 2010 alongside Lazerproof, a joint mixtape with the English electro-pop pair La Roux.
During 2012 Snoop Dogg linked with Diplo on the digital reggae single "La La La" under the Snoop Lion alias while Switch departed the project; hype man Skerrit Bwoy also exited to focus on religion. Diplo continued, bringing producers Walshy Fire and Jillionaire into the fold for the follow-up Free the Universe. Issued in 2013, the album listed Wyclef, Bruno Mars, Vybz Kartel, and Shaggy among its extensive guest roster. Sean Paul and Pharrell Williams appeared on the 2014 EP Apocalypse Soon, which also marked the first Major Lazer release featuring Walshy Fire, who had taken over live MC duties from Skerrit Bwoy. Peace Is the Mission arrived in 2015 with the enormous success "Lean On" plus high-charting collaborators such as Ariana Grande, Ellie Goulding, and 2 Chainz, and it gained further visibility through an animated series broadcast on FXX. An expanded version of Peace Is the Mission surfaced in November 2015 carrying five extra songs.
Major Lazer attained their largest pop success yet in 2016 with "Cold Water" (featuring Justin Bieber and MØ), which reached number one in more than a dozen territories. "Believer," produced by the Dutch duo Showtek, followed later that year. "Run Up" surfaced early in 2017 as a joint effort with Nicki Minaj and PartyNextDoor. The six-track EP Know No Better arrived in June and included Travis Scott, Camila Cabello, and Quavo on its title cut, while additional guests comprised Sean Paul, Busy Signal, Konshens, and Jidenna. The group further issued the soundtrack to Give Me Future, documenting their landmark 2017 free concert in Havana attended by roughly half a million people.
In 2018 the trio put out several singles: "Miss You" alongside Cashmere Cat and Tory Lanez, "Let Me Live" with Rudimental, Anne-Marie, and Mr. Eazi, and "Tied Up" with Mr. Eazi and Raye. The double-disc compilation Essentials gathered twenty-five of their leading tracks up to that point, and they also delivered Afrobeats, a short mix CD highlighting the African dance-pop scene. "Trigger," a Khalid collaboration, emerged in October 2019 as part of the Death Stranding: Timefall video-game soundtrack. Further releases included "Can't Take It from Me" with Skip Marley, "Que Calor" with J Balvin and El Alfa, and the Latin Grammy-nominated "Rave de Favela" with MC Lan, Anitta, and BEAM; these selections appeared on the fourth studio album Music Is the Weapon in 2020. Additional contributors to the LP encompassed Alessia Cara, Busy Signal, French Montana, Nicki Minaj, Khalid, and Marcus Mumford, who joined the duo on the radio single "Lay Your Head on Me." A "Reloaded" edition of the album together with a remix collection surfaced in 2021; the latter received a Grammy nomination for Best Dance/Electronic Album, and one of its new tracks, "Rave de Favela" featuring MC Lan, Anitta, and BEAM, contended for a Latin Grammy in the Best Urban Song category. "Koo Koo Fun," an amapiano cut with Tiwa Savage and DJ Maphorisa, appeared in 2022. A fifteenth-anniversary edition of Guns Don't Kill People... Lazers Do arrived two years afterward, incorporating previously unreleased bonus material such as "Nobody Move" (featuring Vybz Kartel) and "Where's the Daddy?" (featuring M.I.A.).
