Major Lazer X DJ Snake
May 12, 2013

Free the Universe is the second full-length album released by Major Lazer, collaborative music project headed by record producer Diplo. The album was released on April 16th, and features appearances by Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig, Dirty Projectors' Amber Coffman, Tyga, Flux Pavilion, Bruno Mars, Wyclef Jean, Shaggy, and more.
The latest single is entitled, "Bubble Butt." The track name really says it all: this is a song about bubble butts. It's hard to believe that's Bruno Mars - he of mum-pleasing tunes like Just The Way You Are and Marry You - commanding "Stick it out/show the world you got a bubble butt".
When Diplo says 'everyone' worked on the album, he really means everyone: Free the Universe 's track listing boasts no fewer than 31 collaborators. There are the regular collaborators like Santigold and Flux Pavilion on board, but they're joined by more intriguing guest stars like Bruno Mars, Peaches and Shaggy. So to be fair, the crew certainly had a few studio visits to coordinate. Not to mention the changes in the group's own lineup. Diplo's former partner in crime Switch is no more ("creative differences", apparently) and Skerrit Bwoy's found God- since Guns Don't Kill People...Lazers Do, so it's over to new members Jillionaire and Walshy Fire to back the super-producer up.
"In Jamaica and Trinidad, the sound systems represented their various neighbourhoods," says, Jillionaire. "That's one of my favourite things about being a part of Major Lazer: being on a team again." Sure enough, the sounds of the Caribbean, is what Free the Universe is built on: reggae, dancehall, bounce and (okay, US-bred) moombahton are all represented here in the stylistically expansive track list.