This is PAPER Diaries, an unfiltered look into the thoughts and lives of creative people making it happen for themselves — in the real world, on the internet and in our wildest fantasies. Today, we're catching up with producer Leland, who's crafted your favorite hits for your favorite pop stars (and then some.) Our personal favorites? There's just to many to name, but Addison Rae's "2 die 4" hasn't left rotation since it dropped. Earlier this month, he DJed the high energy disco dance party Maurice in LA, and we have the exclusives.
Leland took the night off from making hits for our favorite superstars – Charli xcx and Troye Sivan and RuPaul, to name a few — so that he could throw a very gay disco extravanganza at Los Angeles's hit, high energy dance party Maurice. What can't the man do? (Sleep, if we're guessing.)
Assisted by Los Angeles drag royalty Symone, who did an outstandingg tribute Tina Turner, and fellow DJ Mateo Segade, Leland brought his signature flair to the dance floor, spinning disco classics like Kylie Minogue's "I Should Be So Lucky" until the early hours of the unusually warm LA morning. (All that dancing seems to have raised the local temperature.) Knowing Leland, the party was just one stop on what is certain to be a whirlwind year of pop hits and instant dance floor classics — in between helpful trips to RuPaul's Drag Race.
As a treat, Leland captured the night on film and handed it off to PAPER, giving us a behind-the-scenes view from the DJ booth.
Shall we snoop through his camera roll?
"I love sharing a marquee with my angels, Symone and DJ Mateo Segade."
"Upstairs at The Globe."
"Stay hydrated."
"Menergy."
"Playing "I Should Be So Lucky" by Kylie Minogue, from 1987."
"The afters."
Photography by Michael Ian / Courtesy of Leland
