The Midi Mafia

The Midi Mafia

They’ve been the soundtrack to countless parties, clubs, car stereos and headphones. They have written and produced chart topping songs for the likes of 50 Cent, JLo, Fantasia and Justin Bieber. Always known for evolving and reinvention, The MIDI Mafia have transcended from hip hop producers into Grammy nominated songwriters. Now the dynamic duo of Dirty Swift and Bruce Waynne have taken their love of music and returned to their roots as artists with their debut EP titled “Vegas Lights”.

The #1 Billboard smash “21 Questions” by 50 Cent first put the name MIDI Mafia into the minds of music lovers worldwide. Followed by their Grammy nominated single “When I See U” by Fantasia and “Hold It Don’t Drop It” by Jennifer Lopez, they quickly became A-list producers with over 20 million albums sold featuring their writing and production. Having both started their careers as performers, Canadian born Dirty Swift as a championship-winning DJ and Brooklyn native Bruce Waynne as a rapper, they are no strangers to the stage and had been developing a new sound inspired by hip hop but crossing boundaries and genres with no regards for labels or categories. Anthemic, modern, and driven to make people have fun, their music can only be described as “PHamous”!

A fateful trip to Las Vegas would prove to be the catalyst for The MIDI Mafia’s evolution and also the inspiration for their first EP titled appropriately, “Vegas Lights”. Teaming up with a group of YouTube celebrities “Maker Studios” and video director Justin Purser, a plan was hatched to “Flashmob” the Planet Hollywood Casino and The MIDI Mafia created a song titled “PHamous” which was the soundtrack for the stunt. The resulting YouTube video has gone on to garner over 1.8 million views to date and the song became an internet phenomenon spawning fan videos and even high school proms reenacting the “PHamous” dance. The overwhelming response to The MIDI Mafia’s music prompted them to head back to Vegas and capture the whole Sin City experience into a concept album, “Vegas Lights”. Says Bruce Waynne, “we went to the clubs and saw the reactions of people having a good time and how different songs would affect them. We wanted to capture those moments and put them all together into a musical experience.”

The sound of “Vegas Lights” is free of limitations or genres, Dirty Swift explains “our process on this album was freeform, we didn’t pay attention to song structure or the usual rules, we just made reactive, memorable music. We had fun making Vegas Lights and we definitely captured the essence of the party from start to finish.” He recalls “we actually came up with a lot of the song concepts in Vegas, we had portable studios with us in the hotel suites. We would literally go from the club up to the room full of ideas and put them immediately into our music.”

During the creation of Vegas Lights, The MIDI Mafia was approached by Cosmopolitan Magazine to create a song for their annual Bikini Bash being held at Planet Hollywood. Bruce and Swift had an idea for a pool party song which ended up becoming “2 Piece (So Cosmo)” and features a music video shot on location during the Bikini Bash where hundreds of girls in bikinis party with The MIDI Mafia during an electrifying performance of the song. Simultaneously, Planet Hollywood was so overwhelmed by the positive response to the “PHamous” flashmob and song, they decided to back the duo and shoot a real music video for that song as well and The MIDI Mafia has quickly seen their “Vegas Lights” vision come to a reality due to the amazing reaction to their music. Bruce Waynne explains “We succeeded in capturing the spirit of having a good time, and Vegas is the ultimate party. Planet Hollywood turned out to be an ideal partner to help us bring the party from Vegas to the entire world, and were grateful they embraced us rather than banning us from the casino after the flashmob” he laughs.

Recording the album was also a therapeutic process for the duo, as both members of The MIDI Mafia had both overcome very intense personal demons. Swift recalls “This album was like a celebration for us, and i think thats why its so reactive. I didn’t care what anybody thought about it, we just made what we felt and had fun doing it. After some of the things we had been through recently, with my motorcycle injuries and Bruce’s legal issues (Swift recovered from a broken back and Bruce from a lengthy lawsuit) we were just celebrating life and i think its some of the most honest music we’ve ever made.”

Their efforts haven’t gone unnoticed. MTV approached The MIDI Mafia with an offer to distribute the EP and feature their music on the Season 2 of the runaway smash show “Jersey Shore”. Bruce explains “MTV made a perfect partner for us, we weren’t interested in having to answer to anybody about our music and they loved what we were doing already so it was a great fit. Shows like Jersey Shore are perfect vehicles for music