DJ Snakes’s third album Nomad blends culture and sounds from around the world

Unveiled during a special show and afterparty in Paris last May, DJ Snake returns with Nomad, his third album, released on 7 November.

“I am a chameleon,” says DJ Snake. William Grigahcine, known globally by his stage name, has long hidden behind his trademark glasses, but with Nomad, he reveals himself like never before. Six years after his last album, he returns with an arsenal of sounds collected from across the world. While the album may appear fragmented at first, each track ultimately finds its place within a coherent journey, with DJ Snake keeping the course steady without ever letting us lose our way.

Snake moves across continents and genres as effortlessly as he moves through crowds. Afrobeat, reggaeton, baile funk; everything passes through him without ever diluting his signature sound. “When I make a reggaeton track, I am not Latino, but I study the culture. I want to respect the codes, and that is why my tracks are accepted by cultures that are not my own,” he explains.

The results speak for themselves. “Noventa” with J Balvin and “Bam Bam” with Damian Marley are two striking examples. Urgent horns, hypnotic basslines, and electronic pulses turn each track into a meeting ground where Snake lets worlds converse without ever losing his own voice.

Nomad walks a fine line between chart-ready hits and sonic curiosity. “Tsunami” and “In the Dark”, featuring Future, Travis Scott, and Stray Kids, are proof of this, with XXL collaborations in a globalised context. As Snake notes, “Korean series dominate Netflix, Brazilian music is exploding on TikTok, and Americans are listening to Nigerian sounds.” Where others might chase trends, Snake absorbs them and bends them to his will. It has always been his formula: adapt without ever compromising.

Behind the globally acclaimed producer lies a storyteller. Rarely active on social media, Snake prefers to speak through his music. “Patience”, which samples “Sabily” by Amadou & Mariam, shows this more engaged side. Mariam’s voice becomes a cry of resistance, both homage and protest, illuminating, in its accompanying video, the journeys and struggles of migrants.

With Nomad, Snake also reconnects with his Maghrebi roots. “Cairo Express”, his new single, promises to be even wilder and more epic than “Disco Maghreb”. A grand visual statement, and perhaps the beginning of a new chapter where he embraces his Algerian heritage. “The future of music is there,” he says, referring to North Africa and the Middle East. “They no longer try to sound Western. Each country has its own groove, its energy, its percussion. It is an incredible richness.”

Nomad is more than an album. It is a journey. Seventeen tracks, seventeen stops, faces, and sounds. Snake embraces his hybrid nature, half shadow and half light, proving that it is possible to be everywhere at once without ever losing oneself. The chameleon does not change its skin; it changes worlds while staying true to its colours.