Tobias Topic (, ; born 23 March 1992), also known mononymously as Topic (), is a Croatian-German DJ, producer and musician. His song "

Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...

" was certified platinum in Australia and Germany.

Biography

Early career & Commercial breakthrough with “Home”

Born in

Solingen Solingen (; li, Solich) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located some 25 km east of Düsseldorf along the northern edge of the region called Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr area, and, with a 2009 population of 161,366, ...

, Topic is of paternal Croatian descent. He went to a high school in

Hessen Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Darm ...

. At the age of 16, he started using

Logic Studio Logic Studio is a discontinued professional music production suite by Apple Inc. The first version of Logic Studio was unveiled on September 12, 2007. It claims to be the largest collection of modeled instruments, sampler instruments, effect plu ...

, a digital audio workstation, to produce music with the guidance of a teacher. He started his musical career on social media with the assistance of

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

musicians who contacted him. Topic's first release, a

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

song called "Light It Up", was released at the end of 2014 and reached more than one million views on his YouTube channel. In summer 2015, he released his debut album Miles, which charted both German and Austrian charts. Topic made the singles charts in both countries in January 2016 with the song "

" featuring

Nico Santos Nico Santos may refer to: *Nico Santos (actor) (born 1979), American actor *Nico Santos (singer) (born 1993), German-Spanish singer, songwriter, producer *Niccolo "Nico" Santos, a character in the Philippine romantic fantasy drama television series ...

on vocals. In April 2016, the track was released in Australia and reached the 11th place in its charts and went double platinum. He has cited the internet as a source of his success, stating "The Internet has actually brought the world closer together." In July 2016, the single Find You followed, sung by dutch singer Jake Reese, who has become famous by the dutch edition of X-Factor and a collaboration with

Hardwell Robbert van de Corput (; born January 7, 1988), known professionally as Hardwell, is a Dutch DJ and music producer from Breda. He was voted the world's number one DJ by ''DJ Mag'' in 2013 and again in 2014. In 2022, he was ranked at number 43 i ...

on his songs

Mad World "Mad World" is a 1982 song by British band Tears for Fears. Written by Roland Orzabal and sung by bassist Curt Smith, it was the band's third single release and first chart hit, reaching number three on the UK Singles Chart in November 1982. Bo ...

and Run Wild. Already after one week, the song achieved a ranking in the single charts, but couldn't follow the success of his previous single. In September 2016, he signed a record deal with

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

/ATV. In the same year, Topic received a nomination for the

MTV Europe Music Awards The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an al ...

in Best German Act.

2017 - 2018: Perfect

He made the official single charts of Germany and Austria again in 2017 with the track ''Break My Habits'' with the vocals of Swedish singer-songwriter

Patrik Jean Jean Patrik Olsson (born 3 May 1990), known as Patrik Jean, is a Swedish singer, songwriter and record producer. He has written or co-written songs for many artists, including the Mamas, Marcus & Martinus, and Felix Jaehn. He frequently works wit ...

. On 26 January 2018, Topic collaborated with American Fifth Harmony member and singer

Ally Brooke Allyson Brooke Hernandez (born July 7, 1993) is an American singer. She is a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony. Brooke began to establish herself in 2017 as a solo artist, featuring on Lost Kings' " Look at Us Now" with rapper ASAP Ferg. ...

for the single " Perfect". The success of airplay also received attention in the United States, in particular through Brooke's appearance on the TV show

Wild 'n Out ''Wild 'N Out'' is an American sketch comedy and improv game show series that was created and is hosted by musician and comedian Nick Cannon currently airing on VH1. It debuted on July 28, 2005 on MTV. In April 2019, the series had been rene ...

. For the song, they were nominated for the Teen Choice Award 2018 in the "Electronic / Dance Song" category. With the track "Sólo Contigo", which was created in collaboration with

Juan Magán Juan Manuel Magán González (born 30 September 1978) is a Spanish producer, singer, remixer and DJ of electronic dance music, recognized internationally for his contributions to the "Electro Latino" category of music. As a remixer, he has worke ...

and German singer

Lena Meyer-Landrut Lena Johanna Therese Meyer-Landrut (; born 23 May 1991), also known by the mononym Lena, is a German singer. She rose to fame after representing Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Oslo, winning the contest with her song "Satellite". ...

, he released a Spanish-language single for the first time in spring 2018. The song The Less I Know followed together with Alexander Tidebrink.

2019: International breakthrough with Breaking Me

On 19 December 2019,

Breaking Me "Breaking Me" is a song by German DJ Topic and Swedish singer A7S. It was released on 19 December 2019 through Virgin and Universal. Since its release, the song became Topic's signature song and biggest hit single to date, reaching number one ...

was released as the sixth single in 2019. It is a collaboration with the swedish singer

A7S Alexander Michael Tidebrink Stomberg (born 3 May 1994), known by his stage name A7S, is a Swedish producer, songwriter, and singer. His collaboration "Breaking Me" with German artist Topic (DJ), Topic was released on 19 December 2019. It reached ...

and the first international chart success for Topic after almost two years. The single reached the top 10 positions in Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Canada, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark and Ireland. With "Breaking Me", Topic also reached the top 10 of the British single charts for the first time and achieved his first number one on the Portuguese singles chart. In the US, he dominated the Dance chart for three weeks and ranked #53 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single reached nearly a billion streams on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

today and more than five billion streams overall.

2020: Like I Love You & Why Do You Lie To Me

On 13 March 2020, the second single collaboration with

Like I Love You was released. The song was also promoted with a joint live appearance on the famous German tv show Luke! Die Schule und ich at prime time. The single reached rank 24 in the German single charts as well as rank 2 in the airplay charts. On 28 August 2020, the single "

Why Do You Lie to Me "Why Do You Lie to Me" is a song by German producer Topic and Swedish singer A7S featuring American rapper Lil Baby. It was released as a single on 28 August 2020 by Virgin Records. The song was written by the three artists and produced by Topi ...

" was released. This was the second collaboration of Topic and A7S features American rapper

Lil Baby Dominique Armani Jones (born December 3, 1994), known professionally as Lil Baby, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to mainstream fame in 2017 following the release of his mixtape ''Perfect Timing''. *Alt URL* * His deb ...

2021: "Your Love (9PM)" / My Heart Goes (La Di Da)

In January 2021, Topic remade

ATB André Tanneberger (; born 26 February 1973), better known by his stage name ATB, is a German DJ, musician, and producer of trance music. According to the official world DJ rankings governed by ''DJ Magazine'', ATB was ranked No. 11 in 2009 and ...

's number one hit

9 PM (Till I Come) "9 PM (Till I Come)" is a song by German DJ and producer ATB from his debut studio album, ''Movin' Melodies'' (1999). It was co-written by ATB, Angel Ferrerons, Julio Posadas and Yolanda Rivera. It features vocals by Spanish model Yolanda River ...

collaborating with the german producer who had issued the song originally in the 1990s,

. Retitled "Your Love (9PM)", the record also features A7S’ soaring vocals (making it their third collaboration) and was released on Positiva Records.The record charted in a number of markets including the top 10 in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the UK. It is Topics second most successful track to this date and amassed more than 500 million streams on Spotify alone. “Your Love (9PM)” was nominated in the category “International Song of the Year” at the

BRIT Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

2022. In June 2021, the single Chain My Heart followed together with American popstar and singer

Bebe Rexha Bleta Rexha (; born August 30, 1989), known professionally as Bebe Rexha ( ), is an American pop singer and songwriter. After signing with Warner Records in 2013, Rexha received songwriting credits on Eminem's single " The Monster" (which later ...

, making it to #16 at the US Dance charts. On 30 July 2021, the song

Drive Drive or The Drive may refer to: Motoring * Driving, the act of controlling a vehicle * Road trip, a journey on roads Roadways Roadways called "drives" may include: * Driveway, a private road for local access to structures, abbreviated "drive" ...

was released in a collaboration with british electropop band

Clean Bandit Clean Bandit are an English electronic music group, formed in Cambridge in 2008. They have had four number 1 hits and ten top 10 hits on the UK Singles Chart. They direct and produce their own music videos, many of which have been nominated for ...

and british singer

Wes Nelson Wesley Nelson (born 18 March 1998) is an English singer and television personality. In 2018, he appeared in the fourth series of the ITV2 reality series '' Love Island'', and has since competed on ''Dancing on Ice'', '' The X Factor: Celebrity' ...

. The song reached rank 17 in the british single charts. Four weeks later, the next composition appeared with british singer

Becky Hill Rebecca Claire Hill (born 14 February 1994) is a British singer from Bewdley, England. She rose to prominence after appearing on the first series of the then BBC (now ITV) talent contest ''The Voice UK'', auditioning with John Legend's "Ordin ...

My Heart Goes (La Di Da) "My Heart Goes (La Di Da)" is a song by British singer-songwriter Becky Hill and German DJ Topic Topic, topics, TOPIC, topical, or topicality may refer to: Topic / Topics * Topić, a Slavic surname * ''Topics'' (Aristotle), a work by Ar ...

was released on 24 August 2021 and reached #11 in the UK charts.

2022: Kernkraft 400 (A Better Day) and further achievements

On 28 January 2022, Topic released the single In Your Arms (For An Angel) together with

Robin Schulz Robin Alexander Schulz (; born 28 April 1987) is a German musician, DJ and record producer. On 4 February 2014, he released the first single from his debut album, a remix of "Waves" by Dutch hip hop artist Mr. Probz. This remix later received ...

and

Paul van Dyk Matthias Paul (; born 16 December 1971), known professionally as Paul van Dyk () is a German DJ, record producer and musician. One of the first true renowned DJs, van Dyk was the first artist to receive a Grammy Award nomination in the newly a ...

. This is a new edition of van Dyks For an Angel from 1994. In collaboration with German Popstar Alvaro Soler, the second Spanish-language single Solo Para Ti was released on 22 April 2022. The track Kernkraft 400 (A Better Day) followed on 17 June 2022 with singer and producer A7S and its core is built on a sample of Zombie Nations

Kernkraft 400 "Kernkraft 400" (English: Nuclear Energy 400) is a song performed by German techno artist Zombie Nation and the first single from their album ''Leichenschmaus''. Released in 1999, it peaked at number 22 in Germany in February 2000 while becoming ...

from 1999. On 02 September 2022, Topic and the Swedish singer John Martin released the single Follow Me. Topics first club track and release with the label Tomorrowland Music, that worked with renown artists like

Martin Garrix Martijn Gerard Garritsen (; born 14 May 1996), known professionally as Martin Garrix and also as Ytram and GRX, is a Dutch disc jockey and music producer who was ranked number one on ''DJ Mag''s Top 100 DJs list for three consecutive years—201 ...

and

Felix Jaehn Felix Kurt Jähn (born 28 August 1994), known professionally as Felix Jaehn (), is a German DJ and music producer specializing in tropical house. He achieved international success with his remix of Omi's song "Cheerleader", which topped the char ...

before. Topic states: “ .. John Martin is an incredible artist with huge credibility in the scene. One of my all time favorite tracks and a big inspiration is ‘Don’t You Worry Child’, so I’m incredibly honored that I had the chance to work with him. It’s great to now be able to unfold into a new direction musically and I am really looking forward to what is yet to come!” Topic was also part of the “Top 100 DJs 2022” from

DJ Mag ''DJ Magazine'' (also known as ''DJ Mag'') is a British monthly magazine dedicated to electronic dance music and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Lat ...

. After an impressive festival season, two diamond certifications in 28 countries and two awards in 2020 and 2021, he was able to secure rank 69. Documentary with Tomorrowland: We Are Tomorrow Topic was part of the documentary We Are Tomorrow from

Tomorrowland Tomorrowland is one of the many themed lands featured at all of the Magic Kingdom styled Disney theme parks around the world owned or licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Each version of the land is different and features numerous attractions t ...

, that was published on

on 20 September 2022. The four protagonists Topic, Gaggan Anand, Kelly De Clercq and Vicky Tah were filmed and interviewed on their road to Tomorrowland. In the documentary, Topics live performance and career are displayed and he talks about his idea of a new edition of Megahit

with the new title Saving Me - soundtrack of the documentary with American singer-songwriter

Sasha Alex Sloan Alexandra Artourovna Yatchenko (russian: Александра Артуровна Ятченко; born March 11, 1995), known professionally as Sasha Alex Sloan (previously Sasha Sloan), is an American singer-songwriter. Her debut album, ''Only ...

Discography

Albums

Singles

Remixes

* 2020: Surf Mesa featuring Emilee – "ILY (I Love You Baby)" *2020: Masn and B-Case - "Psycho!" *2020:

and

Sigala Bruce Fielder, known professionally as Sigala, is a British DJ and music producer. He has had eight songs peak within the top ten of the UK Singles Chart, including his 2015 debut single " Easy Love", which samples "ABC" by the Jackson 5. Ca ...

- "Heaven on My Mind" *2020:

Dennis Lloyd Nir Tibor ( he, ניר טיבור; born 18 June 1993), known professionally by his stage name Dennis Lloyd, is an Israeli musician, producer, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for his 2016 hit single "Nevermind ...

- "Alien" *2020:

, Mabel, and 24kGoldn - "Tick Tock" *2021:

Moby Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, singer, producer, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "among the ...

featuring

Gregory Porter Gregory Porter (born November 4, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He has twice won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album: first in 2014 for ''Liquid Spirit'' and then again in 2017 for ''Take Me to the Alley''. Early li ...

and Amythyst Kiah - "

Natural Blues "Natural Blues" is a song by American electronic musician Moby. It was released on March 6, 2000, as the fifth single from his fifth studio album, ''Play'' (1999). The song is built around vocals sampled from "Trouble So Hard" by American folk s ...

" *2021: Regard,

Troye Sivan Troye Sivan Mellet ( ; born 5 June 1995) is an Australian singer-songwriter, actor and YouTuber. After gaining popularity as a singer on YouTube and in Australian talent competitions, Sivan signed with EMI Australia in 2013 and released his thi ...

and

Tate McRae Tate Rosner McRae (; born July 1, 2003) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, dancer and actress. At the age of thirteen, she gained prominence as the first Canadian finalist on the American reality TV show ''So You Think You Can Dance''. McRae cau ...

- "

You In Modern English, ''you'' is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers. History ''You'' comes from the Proto- ...

" *2021:

and ''Topic'' featuring

- "Drive" *2022: Lewis Thompson and

David Guetta Pierre David Guetta ( , ; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and music producer. He has over 10 million album and 65 million single sales globally, with more than 10 billion streams. In 2011, 2020 and 2021, Guetta was voted the number one D ...

- "Take Me Back" (Topic Remix) *2022: Kamrad, ''Topic'' and Max Bering - "I Believe" (Topic Remix)

Awards and nominations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Topic German DJs 1993 births Living people People from Solingen Electronic dance music DJs German people of Croatian descent Remixers