It could be argued—quite convincingly, really—that David Guetta is the main person responsible for the current EDM craze. The Guetta-produced 2009 song “I Gotta Feeling,” performed by The Black Eyed Peas, became a crossover sensation, racking up 7.5 million downloads and allowing dance music to coalesce with mainstream pop.
Since then, the hits have kept on coming. He helped Aussie crooner Sia break through with his dance hit “Titanium,” which led to his being name-dropped in the film Pitch Perfect with the line, “You know David Guetta?”
Guetta’s sixth studio album, Listen, features his ace production along with the vocal talents of Sia, Nicki Minaj, John Legend, Ryan Tedder, Nico & Vinz, and many more. And the latest single off the album, “Hey Mama,” is the latest in a series of collaborations with Nicki Minaj, showcasing a different side to the pop diva.
“‘Hey Mama’ is the third record I’ve collaborated with Nicki Minaj on,” Guetta told The Daily Beast. “She is most famous for rapping but I wanted her to sing on ‘Turn Me On,’ and she turned it out! It was also a different vibe to her usual sound. She is such a unique and incredible talent. ‘Hey Mama’ is a beast! She sings again and though it’s early days, the reaction is that it’s a smash together. I produced the beats with my friend, Dutch DJ Afrojack and there’s a killer remix by him for the clubs. The combination of urban and electronic is what made me famous; this is one of the only tracks on my album Listen in that lane as I like to challenge myself with new directions. But working with Nicki is such a dream, I wanted to do it one more time and I’m super excited by the result.”
You can watch the music video for “Hey Mama” exclusively right here: