Zerb

Zerb
Zerb in 2018
Zerb in 2018
Background information
Birth nameMatheus Zerbini Massa
Born (1997-12-25) 25 December 1997 (age 27)
São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Genres
Occupations
  • DJ
  • music producer
Years active2012–present

Matheus Zerbini Massa (born 25 December 1997), known professionally as Zerb, is a Brazilian DJ and record producer.

Early life

Matheus Zerbini Massa was born and raised in São Paulo. During his childhood, he learned to play various instruments such as guitar, drums and piano.

Career

In 2012, at the age of 14, Zerb became interested in electronic music. Inspired by DJs like Skrillex and Deadmau5, he began producing his own songs and releasing them on his YouTube channel and SoundCloud. Initially, his productions contained elements of progressive house and big room.[1]

In 2015, he began posting various remixes online, mixing elements of deep house and tropical house, attracting the attention of various artists in the scene. He caught the attention of Vintage Culture[2] through a Facebook message and together they released a remix of ZHU's "Faded". With the success of the track, Zerb became part of the management Entourage and began performing throughout Brazil. That same year, Zerb was confirmed as one of the attractions for the 2016 edition of the Lollapalooza festival.[3]

In 2016, while traveling around Brazil and performing at various parties and festivals, Zerb studied marketing at the University of São Paulo, graduating in 2019.[4] In 2017, Zerb was confirmed as an artist for the Rock in Rio festival.[5] In the second half of 2018, he released the song "With You" in collaboration with the Giulia Be.[6] With elements of pop and tropical house, the song reached number 9 on the Spotify viral charts. In 2019, he released the song "Wherever U Wanna Go" with Júlia Gomes and DJs Sandeville and Duncan.[7] In the same year, he released an acoustic version of the song with singer Fiuk.[8]

In mid-2020, in collaboration with the Italian DJ Noto and the Dutch Marc Benjamin, Zerb released the song "Like 2 Party", which became amongs the best-selling electro house songs on the Beatport website. He is currently part of the event agency and production company Plus Network.[9] Zerb achieved his mainstream breakthrough in 2023 with the song "Mwaki" featuring Kenyan singer Sofiya Nzau, in which the lyrics are performed in Kikuyu language. Nzau had vocal tracks and packages available for download on various websites and Zerb used her material for the track. The track went viral across various websites, including TikTok, and charted across Europe.[10][11] The song was remixed by numerous DJs including Major Lazer and Tiësto.[12]

Discography

EPs

  • Lonely Nights (2021)
  • Still Unknown (2021)
  • Surrender (2023)

Singles

  • "Up" (2012)
  • "Reasons" (2015)
  • "Somebody Else" (with Thomaz Krauze, 2015)
  • "Acid Booty" (2016)
  • "Tell Me" (with Dubdogz, 2016)
  • "Paradise" (2017)
  • "Slow Motion" (with Pontifexx, 2018)
  • "With You" (with Giulia Be, 2018)
  • "Wherever U Wanna Go" (with Sandeville, Duncan and Júlia Gomes, 2019)
  • "Wherever U Wanna Go" (acoustic; with Sandeville, Duncan, Júlia Gomes and Fiuk, 2019)
  • "Belong" (with Sophia Stedile, 2019)
  • "Sunlight" (with Ralk and Vitório, 2020)
  • "Like 2 Party" (with Noto and Marc Benjamin, 2020)
  • "Stay with Me" (2020)
  • "Waste Your Time" (with Nonô, 2020)
  • "Trouble's Gonna Find Me" (2021)
  • "Alive" (with Mevil and Calvin Duo, 2021)
  • "DNACID" (2022)
  • "Shake for Me" (2022)
  • "Round n Round" (with Dubdogz, 2022)
  • "Winding Road" (with Kidd Thorn, 2022)
  • "I Don't Know" (with 2Strange, 2023)
  • "I'll Be Yours" (with Georgi Kay, 2023)
  • "Surrender" (with Santti and Lia Rose, 2023)
  • "Use Somebody" (with Sophia Stedile, 2023)
  • "Mwaki" (featuring Sofiya Nzau, 2023)
  • "Addicted" (with The Chainsmokers and Ink, 2024)

Remixes

References

  1. ^ Redação Bem Paraná (25 September 2017). "Público lota último dia do Rock in Rio desde a abertura dos portões" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  2. ^ Anderson Santiago (28 February 2019). "Conheça DJs e produtores com menos de 20 anos que estão conquistando as pistas do país - 05/04/2016". House Mag. Archived from the original on 28 February 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  3. ^ "Conheça as bandas brasileiras que se apresentam no festival Lollapalooza - 11/03/2016 - sãopaulo - Folha de S.Paulo". Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  4. ^ "Fuvest divulga a lista de aprovados do vestibular 2016; confira" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  5. ^ "Fuvest divulga a lista de aprovados do vestibular 2016; confira" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  6. ^ "Zerb lança a inédita "With You", em parceria com a cantora Giulia Be". Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  7. ^ "Julia Gomes lança faixa eletrônica ao lado de Zerb, Sandeville e Düncan - Arteview". 16 September 2020. Archived from the original on 16 September 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  8. ^ Mayumi Yamasaki (9 August 2019). "Românticos, Julia Gomes e Fiuk lançam versão acústica de "Wherever U Wanna Go"" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  9. ^ "Zerb – Plusnetwork". Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  10. ^ WDR (1 December 2023). "Zerb & Sofiya Nzau - "Mwaki"" (in German). Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  11. ^ WDR (7 January 2024). "1LIVE DJ Session mit Moguai, Zerb & Topic" (in German). Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  12. ^ Katie Bain (29 January 2024). "Zerb & Sofiya Nzau Star in Dazzling 'Mwaki' Video Shot in Kenya's Hells Gate National Park: Watch". Billboard. Retrieved 18 March 2024.