Akon & Dj Hardwerk Launch Shell Initiative & New Song

Grammy nominated DJ and music producer, DJ Hardwerk, is one of the music industry’s hottest new performing DJs to hit the scene in years. His unique style of fusing EDM with Reggae, Hip Hop, and other genres of music has ushered in a new sound that has heightened his profile and made him a sought-after hit-maker for chart-topping platinum acts like Fergie, Sean Paul, Monica, Damian & Stephen Marley, Prince Royce, Estelle, Demi Lovato, and Akon. With the success of his first single, “Tell Me We’re OK,” ft Akon currently climbing up the Billboard Charts, The Alliance Music Productions is planning to release his debut EP, 1st Shift, summer 2016.

To commemorate the release, music industry executive and Gluemen Agency CEO, Duwayne “DaDa” Mills proposed and brokered a global partnership with international superstar Akon and Shell Oil adding a musical component to their #MakeTheFuture initiative. “Shell’s collaboration with DJ Hardwerk, Akon, and The Alliance Music Productions is a unique, unprecedented partnership between the music & oil industries and the first time these two worlds are coming together,” shares DaDa Mills. He also brought together DJ Hardwerk and Akon to record a new song, “Tell Me We’re OK.”

In little over a month, the music video for “Tell Me We’re OK” has reached over 45 million views on Facebook, nearly 5 million YouTube views, and also made Spotify and Adage’s Top Most Viral Tracks. “We filmed the video for ‘Tell Me We’re OK’ in America, Brazil, and on a soccer field in Lagos, Nigeria. It was magical to see the soccer field light up powered only by kinetic energy,” expresses DJ Hardwerk. As the players run, more than 90 underground Pavegen tiles capture kinetic energy from their footsteps which alongside solar panels generates enough energy to power the floodlights. This kinetic innovation in alternative energy is groundbreaking for villages, communities, houses, schools, health centres, and small businesses in rural areas who will receive electricity for the first time ever. But it’s not all rural; imagine lighting up Times Square with just kinetic energy, or having the lights turn on in your home powered just by your footsteps.

“There are over a billion people in the world without access to energy,” shares Akon whose Akon Lighting Africa campaign has provided a wide range of quality solar solutions to over 14 countries in Africa (source: Akon Lighting Africa). “#MakeTheFuture expands upon my personal commitment to bring change the world with alternative energy solutions and DJ Hardwerk’s ‘Tell Me We’re OK,’ provides the soundtrack to this energy revolution.” Hardwerk adds, “I’m not an energy expert, but I see value in #MakeTheFuture and recognize the importance of creating alternative energy sources. Akon is from Senegal West Africa and both of my parents are from Kingston, so I spent a lot of time in Jamaica as a youth. Lagos reminded me a lot of Kingston, just bigger. A lot of the issues that we face in Jamaica are the same issues that plague other third world countries. When DaDa brought me the opportunity to be a part of the #MakeTheFuture initiative with Shell, and I saw how they were revolutionizing reusable sustainable energy in the third world, it was a no brainer.” “Tell Me We’re OK,” ft Akon is available now digitally on iTunes and all online e-tailers.

Video – Tell Me We’re OK