Dillon Hart Francis (born October 5, 1987), also known by his alter ego DJ Hanzel, is an American electronic music producer, DJ, and "social media prankster". By deejaying and collaborating, Francis helped to popularize the new moombahton genre, and in 2012 he adapted it further into moombahcore and EDM trap, giving the music a harder sound, as heard on his EP Something, Something, Awesome. He expanded into EDM genres with Money Sucks, Friends Rule (2014), which hit number 2 on the Billboard dance chart, then shifted gears into Latin music with 2018's Wut Wut, a Spanish-language album honored with a Latin Grammy and a Latin American Music Award. The song "Sexo", with Residente featuring iLe, rose to number 43 on the Billboard Latin Airplay chart in June 2018.
Early life
Francis was born in Los Angeles to an American father and a Serbian-Croatian mother. Francis has stated that his father, Robert Drew Francis, is an "alternative medicines doctor". He has made a recurring Internet joke about being unable to find his father. Francis has stated that he had a sheltered upbringing, claiming that he did not know any swear words until he was 15. He also claims that he could not watch TV unless he watched at least two hours of Sesame Street a day.
Career
2010–2012
Francis first rose to fame after gaining the attention of American producer Diplo and eventually collaborating on the song "Que Que", with featured Latin-pop artist Maluca. His song "Masta Blasta", originally a 130 BPM house track, was edited after inspiration from Dutch musician Munchi and eventually ended up as the moombahton track. In 2010, Francis released his Swashbuckler EP on Play Me Records. In 2012, he also released two singles "I.D.G.A.F.O.S." and "Bootleg Fireworks (Burning Up)". He has released works on multiple labels including Dim Mak Records, Mad Decent and Owsla.
In February 2012, Francis became the first moombahton artist to achieve the number-one spot atop the Beatport releases chart with the release of his extended play Something, Something, Awesome. In late 2012, he embarked on his Wet & Reckless tour across North America, as well as supporting the English electronic-music trio Nero on their Welcome Reality tour and English musician Flux Pavilion on his Standing on a Hill tour.
2013
In 2013, he announced a headlining Wurld Turr across the US and Canada, as well as confirmed that his debut album would be released in 2013 before later experiencing various delays. He was announced as one of MTV Clubland's Artists to watch in 2013, alongside acts such as Kill the Noise and Otto Knows. Francis was labeled by MTV as an "artist to watch" as of September 9, 2013. Francis performed at music festivals including Camp Bisco, Electric Daisy Carnival, Coachella, TomorrowWorld, Ultra and Electric Zoo. Francis also created the comedy production duo Meowski666 alongside Kill the Noise. In October 2013, he was announced as number 73 in the DJ Mag Top 100 poll.
2014
In 2014, his major label debut album, Money Sucks, Friends Rule, landed on Rolling Stone's "Top Electronic Albums of 2014" list and featured collaborators such as Twista, Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco, Major Lazer, and more. His single "Get Low" with DJ Snake was released on February 11, 2014. On March 22, 2014, Francis announced via his official Twitter account that his debut album, titled Money Sucks, Friends Rule, would be released on October 28, 2014, on Mad Decent and Columbia Records. In August, Dillon released his second single off of the album, which was a collaboration with Sultan + Ned Shepard featuring The Chain Gang of 1974. Beginning in February 2014, Francis embarked on the Friends Rule Tour supporting his debut album. Dates for the tour were booked through January 16, 2015, in 18 different cities across the United States.
2015–2016
On January 1, 2015, Francis revealed to Australian radio station Triple J that he was working on a sketch show pilot for MTV. Francis stated that the show was set to go into production in January 2015. On June 28, 2015, Francis announced his EP This Mixtape Is Fire, which would mark a return to his moombahton roots. The EP features collaborations from Skrillex, Calvin Harris, Chromeo, Bro Safari, and Kygo with James Hersey, along with a remix of "I Can't Take It" from his album Money Sucks, Friends Rule by Party Favor. He released the first track from the EP, "Bruk Bruk (I Need Your Lovin')" the same day. This Mixtape Is Fire peaked at number one on Billboard Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart.