[ad_1]
When COVID-19 hit in 2020, everybody was sporting masks — however movie star DJ Marshmello was forward of the pattern means again in 2015.
Even those that don’t know Marshmello by identify seemingly know of some of his well-liked collaborations. His songs are virtually all the time trending on the charts, and he’s paired up with a number of the largest names in music.
The Billboard Music Award nominee is answerable for a number of the hottest singles of the final decade, together with “Wolves” with Selena Gomez, “Silence” that includes Khalid and “Mates” with Anne-Marie. In 2018, he teamed up with British band Bastille for the hit single “Happier,” which spent 27 weeks within the prime 10 of Billboard’s Scorching 100.
The digital music producer and EDM star is thought for wearing a white helmet over his head that appears an terrible lot like a marshmallow. The accent has two Xs for eyes and a giant huge smile. Since he first joined the scene in 2015, the artist has by no means eliminated the helmet in public.
Masked DJs aren’t essentially new to the digital music style, however Marshmello will get a whole lot of credit score for standing by his try to stay nameless. “I don’t take my helmet off as a result of I don’t need or want fame. I’m genuinely attempting to create one thing optimistic for individuals to attach with,” the artist tweeted in August 2017, including in a separate submit, “The helmet makes me marshmello and in addition makes you marshmello…we’re all marshmello.”
Along with by no means taking off his headpiece, Marshmello nonetheless has by no means formally confirmed his identification. Nevertheless, as his star continued to rise, followers and reporters alike began to dig for clues about who was behind a few of pop music’s largest hits — and his identification slowly turned an open secret.
For some, the anonymity shtick would possibly get outdated, however Marshmello has managed to make it really feel new and ingenious with stunts and pranks. The artist commonly trolls his fan base by pulling off his masks throughout performances as if about to disclose who he’s — solely to shock them with the faces of random celebrities as an alternative.
Scroll all the way down to uncover extra clues concerning the man behind the marshmallow head — and to learn the way Skrillex virtually blew the key fully:
1. How the Web (In all probability) Unmasked Marshmello
Aspiring artists would possibly wish to observe Marshmello’s technique of anonymity. The “Depart Earlier than You Love Me” hitmaker managed to amass an enormous viewers in a comparatively quick period of time.
Inside only one 12 months on the scene, Marshmello secured a gold-certified single and released an album that peaked at No. 5 on Billboard’s Dance/Digital charts. This success all got here regardless of being on a comparatively small Canadian label, which is spectacular in an already crowded style.
2. Marshmello’s Journey to Fame
Like many DJs, Marshmello’s music profession began on Soundcloud. He uploaded an authentic tune and some remixes to the platform in 2015 and rapidly caught the eye of EDM legends like Skrillex, who reposted considered one of Marshmello’s songs.
In 2016, the artist launched his first studio album, Joytime, by his self-owned file label, Joytime Collective. The ten-track file included his first massive hit, hip-hop/EDM hybrid “Preserve it Mello,” which featured Mexican rapper Omar Linx.
Since then, the artist has collaborated with huge pop stars and rappers. Together with acting at festivals like Electrical Daisy Carnival, the musician has appeared at athletic occasions just like the 2021 UEFA Champions League Closing and at digital occasions. Marshmello’s 2019 Fortnite efficiency was probably the most watched live performance ever on the platform, with greater than 10 million followers tuning in to listen to him spin a few of his largest hits.
3. Skrillex’s Notorious Slip-Up
Marshmello has stayed comparatively mum about his precise identification — however not all of his friends have managed to do the identical. In 2015, Skrillex was being interviewed by Katie Couric when his telephone rang mid-conversation. Couric stated, “It’s Chris,” to which the record-breaking DJ replied, “Oh, Marshmello,” earlier than choosing up the telephone and placing it on speaker.
Certain, a primary identify — and particularly a typical one at that — in all probability shouldn’t be sufficient for anybody to establish Marshmello’s true persona, however one Forbes author seemingly cracked the code.
Natalie Robehmed found Marshmello’s identify by looking out by the BMI music royalties database, which lists each particular person who contributed to the making of a tune, from the producer and the songwriter to the mixer. On each Marshmello tune, a reputation appeared that appeared to match Skrillex’s contact: Christopher Comstock.
Extra analysis appeared to verify that Comstock was the only real proprietor of a holding firm referred to as Marshmello Inventive, LLC. The American DJ additionally performs below the identify Dotcom and occurs to be verified on Instagram.
4. An Open Secret
EDM insiders have referred to as Marshmello’s identification an open secret inside the group for years. Many web sleuths and social media superfans have additionally matched the stage identify Marshmello with the artist’s actual identify by the point Forbes revealed its expose, and so they’ve since compiled much more proof that helps the outlet’s findings.
For instance, many have identified that Marshmello and Comstock have the same leg tattoo, which is seen in a photograph of the previous sporting ripped denims. Others have observed an identical mole on their necks and have matched up pictures of their arms.
Regardless of how a lot proof has been compiled, nevertheless, Marshmello continues to honor his vow of silence. Regardless of Forbes’ report concerning the DJ’s identification, neither Marshmello nor Comstock have addressed the hypothesis.
5. Why Does Marshmello Keep Nameless?
To grasp why Marshmello has chosen to maintain quiet about who he actually is, followers ought to look towards the digital style’s lengthy historical past of masked DJs, with Daft Punk main the way in which and deadmau5 introducing the concept to a brand new technology.
The motivation for a lot of artists is to maintain individuals’s consideration on their music moderately than their private lives. Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter as soon as stated, “We wish the main focus to be on the music. If we’ve to create a picture, it have to be a synthetic picture. That mixture hides our physicality and in addition exhibits our view of the star system. It’s not a compromise. We’re attempting to separate the personal facet and the general public facet.”
Within the age of social media — which leaves so many celebs accessible to tens of millions of followers and haters alike — it’s not arduous to grasp why somebody would wish to preserve their picture to themselves.
6. Marshmello’s Not Involved in Fame
The artist appears to have adopted in Daft Punk’s footsteps with regards to their philosophy towards fame. In 2017, Marshmello tweeted, “I don’t take my helmet off as a result of I don’t need or want fame. I’m genuinely attempting to create one thing optimistic for individuals to attach with.”
One 12 months earlier, he tweeted, “If I needed the celebrity that 90% of you crave, I might take off my helmet. However I don’t care about that s–t. I care about making a distinction.”
7. He Has Too A lot Enjoyable Trolling
Although his identification is all however confirmed, it looks like the recording artist is having an excessive amount of enjoyable trolling his viewers to surrender the gag anytime quickly.
Marshmello has pulled a number of stunts over time the place he brings in movie star buddies to decorate in his iconic masks and take away it Masked Singer-style. He famously introduced out Tiësto throughout 2016’s Electrical Daisy Carnival, however followers quickly put collectively that it wasn’t the true Marshmello below the helmet.
The DJ additionally received Shawn Mendes concerned in considered one of his pranks at the 2018 iHeartRadio Much Music Video Awards. When “Marshmello” took the stage to just accept an award, Shawn pulled off the masks, surprising everybody and saying, “Woah! Scorching in there. Nicely, thanks a lot!”
He then thanked Moe Shalizi, Marshmello’s supervisor, earlier than operating off the stage.
8. Neglect the Masks — It’s All In regards to the Music
On the finish of the day, the rationale followers love Marshmello is that he commonly places out unimaginable songs, collaborating with a number of the world’s favourite pop and rap artists. If Marshmello needs listeners to only concentrate on his music, he’s been fairly profitable on that entrance.