Major Lazer is a music project founded by producers Diplo and Switch in 2008. Musicians met when they were working together with a British singer, M.I.A.
Major Lazer’s debut LP came out in 2009 with the assistance of Downtown Records. Musicians called it Guns Don’t Kill People… Lazers Do. DJs recorded the LP in Tuff Gong studio in Jamaica with several famous vocalists, such as Busy Signal, Santigold, Nina Sky, and Amanda Blank. Producers were Crookers and Afrojack. The lead single of the album was "Hold the Line". Soon, the artists presented a music video for the song. It was nominated for MTV Music Video Award as “breakthrough video” and collected more than a million views on YouTube.
In June 2010, Major Lazer released an EP, Lazers Never Die, which featured two new tracks and three remixes. A year later, Switch decided to leave the project. Diplo continued developing the band with other producers and musicians. The leading members were Jillionaire and Walshy Fire.
In September 2012, Major Lazer announced a release of a second LP, Free the Universe, for March 2013. Artists also talked about the upcoming autumn tour. The same year, Major Lazer worked with other artists. They became co-producers for Rita Ora’s album Ora. Then producers collaborated with No Doubt for the band’s sixth LP, Push and Shove. In October, Major Lazer embarked on a tour, which started in Oakland.