DJ Regard Talks Teaming Up With Troye Sivan and Tate McRae for New Single "You"
After making major waves on TikTok, this international DJ collaborates with Gen Z favorites Troye Sivan and Tate McRae.
These days, a song doesn't just become a hit, it goes viral—and oftentimes it's TikTok that's responsible for making a tune mega-popular. It is undeniably true that this year's chart topping hits are directly correlated with the video sharing platform's affinity towards specific tunes. From Megan Thee Stallion's "Savage" to Doja Cat's "Say So," when songs go viral on TikTok, they become essential to everyone's daily music rotation.
Dardan Aliu, better known by his DJ name, Regard, saw his own tracks "Ride It" and "Secret" become overnight hits. Earlier this year, Regard made a name for himself when these songs were featured in widely-circulated TikTok videos and trends. Since their release, the two tracks have garnered over 1.4 billion streams, 300 million video views, and 8.4 million worldwide sales, with both songs reaching #1 at Dance Radio and the Top 10 of Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs Chart.
In the wake of his notable success, Regard teams up with fan-favorite artists Troye Sivan and Tate McRae to create their newest single, "You." With a synth-pop sound, the catchy track features Sivan and McRae's breathy vocals and the DJ's expert mixing. Dropping today, "You" will no doubt elicit a powerful collision of the three artists' fan bases—and that means an astronomic amount of streams. Between Regard, Sivan, and McRae, they have 12 billion combined streams and over 50 million combined monthly listeners on Spotify.
To learn more about this global collaboration, L'OFFICIEL speaks with Regard about everything from the influence of TikTok to the COVID-19 pandemic.
L'OFFICIEL: You’ve had a huge last year and a half with “Ride It” and “Secrets.” What’s it been like to watch your songs blow up on TikTok? Were you already on TikTok at that point?
Regard: I couldn’t be more proud of "Ride It" and "Secrets." They both were received so well and it was crazy watching them blow up around the world, especially on TikTok. Everyone was so creative with their TikTok videos too, it was so fun taking the time to watch them—it even inspired me to start trying to post more videos myself. I don’t think I can compete with them though, they all killed their videos!
L'O: Was there anyone that you saw dancing to your music on TikTok that had you starstruck or go Oh, wow. This is huge?
R: Honestly, it’s so hard because there were so many amazing ones. I lost count of all my favorites. But I think some of the coolest ones were from The Williams Fam—they always nail it!
L'O: Tell us about this new song “You.” How was the collaboration process with Troye and Tate?
R: Working with Troye and Tate was unbelievable! They are both such professional artists and contributed so much, it was an honor getting to work with them. They have such a great work ethic and are so talented. I couldn’t be happier about how “You” turned out.
L'O: What do you think it is about your music, as well as Troye’s and Tate’s, that has really caught the attention of Gen Z on platforms like TikTok?
R: My audience is so diverse but so much of them are considered Gen Z…they are a powerful group. Don’t sleep on them. I think they gravitate towards our music because it’s fun, it’s pop, it’s dance—it speaks to them.
L'O: You’ve achieved so much in the last year. What’s it been like having these successes in the middle of a global pandemic?
R: Honestly it was a bit stressful at the beginning of the pandemic because all of a sudden I couldn’t do any live performances. I love performing live and it’s such a big part of being a DJ, so having that taken away was a bit hard. With that, though, it was great to have time to focus on myself and my music, take time to grow my skills and be creative in ways I wasn’t able to previously.
L'O: What’s next for you? Anything you’re most excited about for post-COVID life?
R: I am just really excited for “You” to finally be released and hope everyone enjoys it as much as I do. I definitely am looking forward to post-COVID life and can’t wait to live without all the restrictions. I plan on making more music and making it the best I can.
