Kygo

Norway, 2013–now

Norwegian producer and DJ, born Kyrre Gorvell-Dahll in 1991 and taught piano from the age of six. He slowed house down to around 100 bpm and put plain melodic piano over it — the sound the press named tropical house. 'Firestone' (2014) and Cloud Nine (2016) carried it worldwide.

MusicRoots documents 4 artists who influenced Kygo and 0 artists Kygo influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced Kygo?

• Avicii — Avicii is the reason Kygo started producing at all — the melodies were close enough to what he was already playing on the piano that the gap looked crossable.
• Swedish House Mafia — Named by Kygo with Avicii as what he started from — and as the sound he deliberately stepped away from once everyone else was copying it.
• Finnebassen — The record that pulled Kygo's tempo down. Tropical house is what happened when he kept slowing until he reached about 100 bpm.
• Billy Joel — The piano is where Kygo starts every track, and Billy Joel is the piano writer he names — the songwriting behind a producer usually filed under EDM.