Investigative Report: Unmasking the Mysterious Malaa

Since his debut at Showcase Paris in early July 2015, the balaclava-clad producer has flown onto the house scene – from finding his way into the official remix package for the world-dominant Major Lazer X DJ Snake ‘Lean On’ alongside heavy hitters Dillon Francis, Jauz & Ephwurd to his original 4-track ‘ILLICIT’ EP released early July this year.

We at RENDRD feel that the man behind the ‘Who Is Malaa’ mix series has been tempting fans to reveal his identity for too long – that’s why we have spared no resource to get to the bottom of this pressing issue, using the finest investigative and explanative journalism methods we have to do so.

Let’s address the candidates:

Skrillex

Well, that was easy.

While have seen Mr. Sonny Moore delve into the deep end of house music before with all-tech house performances and the odd track here and there, it might be a hard sell that he’s really the enigmatic masked man we are after. Further investigation also led us to find that on a given tour, you can find them both performing the same night, one in South Africa and one slightly more north in the United Kingdom. So not completely ruled out, but don’t hold your breath.

Pardon My French crew (DJ Snake, Tchami, Mercer)

Malaa’s first original release came at the hands of Tchami’s new label ‘CONFESSION’, and we have seen him quickly adopted to the francophone collective Pardon My French’s tour. We also know that all four share the same management team, making it reasonable to believe that one, of not all three, are involved in the project in some way. And his first Twitter follower was DJ Snake. Just saying, keep this one on the backburner.

Sebastian Benett

Having built a name for himself over the years, the French house producer has gone oddly silent on social media over the past year, coinciding with the growth of Malaa’s identity. He has also collaborated with Mercer, who made the tragic error of posting to Facebook early on that ‘Malaa’ was a nickname for the aforementioned Mr. Benett.

Whoops.

Aaza

Add in another French producer, who also happens to be DJ Snake’s prodigy. As convincing as this tweet (and the reaction that follows) may seem, this is about as far at the rabbit hole goes for evidence.

Nice try, Aazar