Thai music—everything from rap, pop, and R&B—has seen an influx of dance music beats this year, and the fans seem to love it. The man behind many of the biggest tracks mixing genres and climbing charts is Mayojames, a quiet 25-year-old producer from Chonburi. His beats blend everything from amapiano, baile funk, and Jersey club into tracks from top artists like CDGuntee, Timethai, Younggu, Galchanie, and more for songs racking up views in the millions and sparking dance challenges.
Mayojames started producing about five years ago, inspired by local underground rappers. “I used to listen to a lot of Western rap, but I wanted to support Thai rappers,” he says. “They’re who made me want to produce.” Before getting into the rap scene, he studied as a guitar major and sang in a metal band. After a few months of producing drill-style beats, he sent them out to rappers and began his career mainly with Vemlyie.
When the pandemic hit and everyone was on the Clubhouse audio groupchat app, that’s when Mayojames met Younggu. “Things really changed for me after that,” he says. For a year, he worked almost exclusively with Younggu, making beats at his house. “We were together all the time. I would just be there doing my thing, and he’d come in and be like, ‘Oh, I like this!’ and start freestyling over it. Like, ‘Open the mic now!'” He says that Younggu had an ear for what would become a hit and that he absorbed that sensibility from him.
After that year, Younggu started working on other businesses outside of music and Mayojames was getting bored with rap. So he began looking for more diverse artists to work with. “I wanted to try something new that wasn’t trap or drill,” he says. When he met Timethai at a friend’s place, it opened a lot of doors for him, and the two often still work together. “Pop is the most popular music in the Thai industry and my clients like it, but R&B is really my favorite, so I started mixing them together.” He had also discovered Jersey club around this time and started mixing it into his music as well.
Mayojames’s most frequent collaborator right now is Galchanie, and that mix of R&B with Jersey club is a big part of her sound. Her label YUPP! introduced them and they were drawn towards working together. “He sees things in me that I don’t see in myself. He understands me and guides me,” she says. “I didn’t think the cute things in our sound would suit me, but he wanted me to try. So I trusted him. Our process together is a lot more collaborative than with other artists.”
After Jersey club, Mayojames started discovering a lot of other dance music styles just by constantly listening to new songs. “The fact that they’re new to Thailand is a big motivation to use them in my music,” he says. “I’m pushing a lot of these sounds—like it was my idea to use amapiano with CDGuntee—but artists are also asking for them too. If they ask, I’ll serve.” That amapiano beat was a first for Thailand. Although DJs play it in a lot of clubs here, nobody is producing it locally, not even within the dance music scene itself.
Mayojames’s sound is part of a new wave of music in Thailand, with many artists open to working with dance music genres. It first started in the underground a few years ago, with rappers like Eskiimo and BaebiBetti among the first to try out Jersey club as part of its global rise in popularity. Last year dance music started hitting in the mainstream as well, with everyone from influencers like JRBUBBLEGUM and T-pop groups like 4Eva trying out these styles. By the end of 2024, it was pretty easy to find this type of sound if you looked for it. And he’s excited by the trend: “I want the Thai industry to try new things. They’re so strict about the structure and type of music. I want a new normal where Thai music can do anything, not just pop. This year is the start.”
Mayojames points out that these are not authentic versions of the genres he’s working with. “The producers from places like Africa and New Jersey are the originators. Their audience is totally different,” he says. “Thai audiences just want to hear something easy and catchy. I want to play original amapiano, but instead I mix and match.” But there are a bunch of reaction videos for his music on YouTube from African artists, and it’s been positive. He also doesn’t think that it’s enough just to blend two different genres. The music has to be good and the vocalist needs to be able to adapt to the style. “They need the skill to sing in Thai but keep the vibe. I’ll make a beat for any client but won’t guarantee it will be good. I’m focused on getting the artists I like and work closely with to find their own unique vibe.”