walking upstream…
Felix Jaehn
photo: wingmaster247 · cc by-sa 4.0 ↗Felix Jaehn
Felix Jaehn is a German DJ and producer who trained on violin as a child and studied production at Point Blank Music College in London before breaking through as a teenager with a 2014 remix of OMI's "Cheerleader," which topped the Billboard Hot 100 and helped define the mid-2010s tropical house sound alongside acts like Kygo. His run of hits, including "Ain't Nobody (Loves Me Better)" and "Bonfire," pairs a classically trained ear for melody with warm, song-first production that favors emotional pop hooks over aggressive club drops.
the sound in question
2014
Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix)Felix Jaehn
walk the tributaries ↓
Major Lazer2010s · Electronic / Dancehall / Moombahton
Jaehn directly credited Major Lazer as an inspiration behind "Bonfire," saying he'd "been really into their stuff lately" while making the track — pulling in the dancehall-flavored, carnival-bright energy Major Lazer built their sound around.
listen: upstream & heresource: Billboard — Felix Jaehn on Major Lazer's influence on "Bonfire" ↗
2014
Watch Out For This (Bumaye) (feat. Busy Signal, The Flexican & FS Green)Major Lazer
2016
Bonfire (feat. ALMA)Felix Jaehn
listen forThe bouncy, brass-inflected rhythm and skipping, dancehall-adjacent groove under "Bonfire"'s pop chorus nod to the horn stabs and bass patterns Major Lazer rode to crossover success on tracks like "Watch Out for This (Bumaye)."
Avicii2010s · Progressive house / EDM / Folktronica
Jaehn has called Avicii one of the first artists he looked up to as a teenager getting into production, saying he never met him in person but did remix one of his tracks — a direct line from Avicii's emotionally warm, vocal-driven build-and-drop songwriting to Jaehn's own melody-first approach to dance music.
listen: upstream & heresource: Attitude — Felix Jaehn on Avicii as one of the first artists he looked up to ↗
2013
Wake Me UpAvicii
2015
Book of Love (feat. Polina)Felix Jaehn
listen forListen for how "Book of Love" leans on a simple piano-and-vocal hook and a soft, uplifting payoff rather than an aggressive drop — the same folk-tinged, feel-good build Avicii popularized on "Wake Me Up," trading big-room bombast for melody and emotion.
Swedish House Mafia2010s · Progressive house / EDM / Electro house
Jaehn has named Swedish House Mafia alongside Avicii as acts that "creatively stimulated" him at 15, right as he was starting to make his own tracks — part of the same Scandinavian big-room and progressive house wave that shaped his generation of European dance producers.
listen: upstream & heresource: Rolling Stone India — Felix Jaehn on Avicii and Swedish House Mafia as teenage inspirations ↗
2012
Don't You Worry Child (feat. John Martin)Swedish House Mafia
2015
Ain't Nobody (Loves Me Better) (feat. Jasmine Thompson)Felix Jaehn
listen forThe soaring, festival-scaled vocal topline and steady, anthemic build on "Ain't Nobody (Loves Me Better)" echo the sing-along drops Swedish House Mafia popularized on "Don't You Worry Child" — the same big emotional payoff, just filtered through Jaehn's lighter, tropical-leaning production.