“fuck it, I’ll do it LIVE”

Xen Nightz (real name Zak Malik) is a DJ, songwriter, rapper and producer from Chicago, IL, USA. In 2006 he released his first mixtape entitled Year of The Genie. That was followed up by the full-length album Enigma in 2009, which sold over 10,000 copies in its first 6 months of release, and Conflicts of Interests in 2010. Since 2004, as a DJ and performer, he has played in countless clubs, exhibitions, TV and radio shows throughout China, Japan, South Korea and the US.

“I love music. Music is my life. I appreciate good music, no matter the genre but as a DJ my sets can best be described as a mash-up of hip hop/urban music with some Jamaican flavor sprinkled throughout and topped off with pop rap. But as a recording artist my music spans from rock to hip hop to electro. I love diversity.”

Xen Nightz was born and raised in Chicago, IL. At 8 years old he began studying Chinese martial arts. In 2002 at the age of 18 he moved to China to further his martial arts training and career. In 2004 a serious injury ended his professional martial arts career and he began focusing solely on music.

“I grew up around music and martial arts. That was pretty much the only two things I knew and had an interest for while growing up (besides art and website design, but that’s another story). When I was 8 I started training martial arts and when I was 12 I wrote and recorded my first song. So the two went hand in hand. When I busted my leg and was forced out of martial arts it was only natural to focus my full attention on my music.”

Xen Nightz signature “yea!” scream means “night” in Chinese.