Unearthed DJ Mix Provides Glimpse Into 21-Year-Old GRiZ's Formative Sound: Listen

A recently unearthed recording from GRiZ's early career has been shared online, offering fans a rare window into the electronic music superstar's formative influences when he was just 21 years old.

The mix, released back in August 2011, was uploaded and shared this week on Reddit. It emerged from an unexpected source: a former disc jockey from Salt Lake City who had preserved the session from a streaming radio platform called Basstream, where GRiZ, now 34, appeared as a guest artist.

For longtime fans, the set provides a nostalgic reminder of GRiZ's underground roots before his ascent to prominence as one of the EDM scene's most beloved artists. The saxophone-playing producer was already blending jazz, funk, hip-hop, soul and dubstep in ways that would shape the artist he is today.

The mix features a number of compositions that would later evolve into tracks on GRiZ's breakthrough sophomore album, Mad Liberation, which released a year later in 2012. He also weaves samples from a slew of music icons, like Bob Marley and Michael Bublé. You can listen here.

In other GRiZ news, he recently returned to music after an indefinite hiatus to reveal a new curated festival, Seven Stars, scheduled for October 10-12 in Virginia. GRiZ, who will perform three distinct sets at the event, described it as "a reflection of my life's work" and "a culmination of everything I've wanted to share."

He also released a comeback EP, GEMiNI, which you can listen to here.

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