Studying to become a music teacher, Tom Stræte Lagergren from Åsnes, Norway, probably didn’t imagine that he, by a year after completing his bachelor degree, would be a world famous DJ, remixing songs for artists such as Eminem, Enrique Iglesias and Jennifer Lopez.

His breakthrough to the international stage came in 2015 with his remix of The Notorious B.I.G.’s song “Old Thing Back”. The song peaked at number 24 on The Billboard Hot 100. A year later, Matoma performed at the Coachella festival.

The DJ has explained that he at first had chosen “SubHero” as his artist name, but at a student party the artist got in a heated argument with his brother over the choice. A friend stepped in between them and said: “Tom, can’t you just chill. Hakuna Matata”. When his brother tried to repeat the famous line from the Lion King movie, he instead said “Hakuna Matoma” leading to the creation of his current stage name.