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Toronto, Canada · 2012–present

MAGIC!

Magic! sounds like that moment when reggae meets pop without losing its essence. It's not a forced remix or a light version: it's the Canadian band that managed to blend the rhythm of One Love by Bob Marley and The Police with catchy melodies that stick effortlessly. The result is a sound that needs no explanation: you recognize it in the first chords. It's no coincidence that their biggest hit, Rude, became a global phenomenon without needing to reinvent the wheel. They simply found the formula to make reggae-pop sound fresh in the streaming era.

The band's origins weren't part of a master plan, but a series of studio encounters. It all started when Nasri Atweh, a pop-experienced songwriter, teamed up with Mark "Pelli" Pellizzer in the studio. In less than a week, they wrote Don't Judge Me for Chris Brown, but what emerged between them was different: an artistic connection that led them to experiment with a more organic style. Pelli, while playing a reggae tune on guitar, suggested to Nasri forming a group in the style of a modern Police. Thus, in 2012, Magic! was born, later incorporating Alex Tanas —a longtime acquaintance of Pelli from his time in Justin Nozuka's band— and Ben Spivak, who came from playing with the Julian Taylor Band.

Reggae Pop Pop rock reggae rock 2010s
1 Albums
11 Songs
1,6M Listeners/mo
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Most played on DoReSol

Essential songs

See all 11 →
01

Rude

Don’t Kill the Magic · 2014

3:45 02

No Evil

Don’t Kill the Magic · 2014

3:23 03

Let Your Hair Down

Don’t Kill the Magic · 2014

4:26 04

Stupid Me

Don’t Kill the Magic · 2014

3:44 05

No Way No

Don’t Kill the Magic · 2014

3:52 06

Paradise

Don’t Kill the Magic · 2014

3:55 07

Don’t Kill the Magic

Don’t Kill the Magic · 2014

3:37 08

One Woman One Man

Don’t Kill the Magic · 2014

4:00 09

Little Girl Big World

Don’t Kill the Magic · 2014

3:24 10

Mama Didn’t Raise No Fool

Don’t Kill the Magic · 2014

4:08

The full catalog on DoReSol

All songs

01

Don’t Kill the Magic

Don’t Kill the Magic · 2014

02

How Do You Want to Be Remembered

Don’t Kill the Magic · 2014

03

Let Your Hair Down

Don’t Kill the Magic · 2014

04

Little Girl Big World

Don’t Kill the Magic · 2014

05

Mama Didn’t Raise No Fool

Don’t Kill the Magic · 2014

06

No Evil

Don’t Kill the Magic · 2014

07

No Way No

Don’t Kill the Magic · 2014

08

One Woman One Man

Don’t Kill the Magic · 2014

09

Paradise

Don’t Kill the Magic · 2014

10

Rude

Don’t Kill the Magic · 2014

11

Stupid Me

Don’t Kill the Magic · 2014

1 album|s · 2014

Full discography

Don’t Kill the Magic 2014 ★ Essential

Don’t Kill the Magic

11 song|s · Reggae

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Details, awards, members and more

More about MAGIC!

Biography

The breakthrough came in 2013 with Rude, a song that wasn't meant to be revolutionary but ended up topping charts in over ten countries. It wasn't a calculated success: the album Don't Kill the Magic —released the following year— proved they could maintain that energy in tracks like Let Your Hair Down or the title track Don't Kill the Magic, which reached the top 20 in Canada. But the moment that took them mainstream was their appearance at the 2014 Latin Grammy Awards, where Marc Anthony joined them on stage to perform Rude. That year also saw them win two Juno Awards, including New Group of the Year, and share the stage with Wyclef Jean at the American Music Awards. It wasn't the original plan, but the sound they created ended up opening doors for them on tours with Maroon 5 and collaborations like Shakira's Cut Me Deep. What's interesting isn't that they got far, but that they did so without losing sight of where they came from: a group of musicians who came together to play reggae with clean guitars and vocals that don't need autotune.

Details

Born
1 Jan 2012
Country
🇨🇦 Canada
Genre
Reggae

Members

membranophone · actual
Alex Tanas
· actual
Nasri

Record labels

Latium * Sony Music Entertainment Sony * RCA Records RCA

Links

Spotify Official site Instagram Twitter Wikipedia

The full catalog on DoReSol

All songs

11

How Do You Want to Be Remembered

Don’t Kill the Magic · 2014

4:03