Alok on Returning to London With Bombastic ‘Rave The World’ Show

When Alok returns to London this June, it’s not just another show.

He’s heading back to Brixton — the same area in the capital where he once worked as a barman after moving there in 2010 and struggling to find gigs — to debut Rave The World, a new concept he’s been building across both his live shows and his music. The show is set to run for one night only at the O2 Academy Brixton on June 5, and for him, it carries a lot of personal weight.

The project also marks a shift from his previous Keep Art Human era, a show rooted in ideas around technology, presence and how people engage with music. That production leaned heavily on scale, with large stage builds, choreographed dancers and a visual narrative that unfolded across the set, which he famously brought to Coachella in 2025.

With Rave The World, he’s moving in a slightly different direction. The idea is to strip things back to something more immediate, a concept that lands within seconds, whether it’s on a festival stage or placed in the middle of a street. At the core of it is what he describes as a “rave box,” a compact setup where pre-shot clips of dancers are projected in a way that makes them feel physically present.

It’s also designed to travel. Unlike his previous productions, which relied on large builds and dozens of performers, this one can move easily across spaces while still holding its own visually.

At the same time, the idea extends beyond the stage. Speaking exclusively to Billboard U.K., Alok shares that he’s closing his label Controversia and starting a new one under the same name, Rave The World, using it as a space for music that sits closer to clubs, raves and festivals, and doesn’t necessarily fit within a major label system.

Back when he first moved to London with his twin brother, things looked very different. Their psytrance project had early traction, but the move didn’t go the way they expected. “We didn’t have the requests, we didn’t have gigs,” he says. “Me and my brother, we broke up our project.” What followed was a reset, one that eventually led him to start over on his own.

Now, more than 10 years later, he’s going back to that same part of the city to make good on a mission over a decade in the making.

You lived in London back in 2010. What do you remember from that time, and how did it shape you?

I lived there with my twin brother [Bhaskar Petrillo], and we had a psytrance project called Logica. It was going quite well on platforms like Beatport and we had a lot of requests in Europe. We moved there thinking it was going to be good for the career, but what happened was actually the opposite. We didn’t have the requests, we didn’t have gigs.

That’s when I created my project, Alok. It was a moment where I kind of freed myself from a prison that I created by myself. I came from a very underground scene and I wanted to do something different.

When I came back to Brazil, I told my dad that I wanted to quit music and go to university because it was so complicated to live through art. I was seeing everyone struggling financially. But my dad told me that if he had my talent, he would be way bigger than I am and wouldn’t be wasting time. He said if you want to abandon something, quit the university. So I said “OK, this is my last try. I’m going to keep doing it, but I’m going to do what I want to do, not what you want me to do.” And that was the best decision.

Why was it important for you to go back to Brixton for this particular show, and to do it as a one-night-only?

When I was in London I started dropping my C.V. [curriculum vitae] in all the clubs, but no one answered. One day, a club told me they weren’t looking for DJs but needed a bartender. I started to study and I became a barman in a pub in Brixton, so going back there now feels like a full cycle.

It wasn’t even my idea in the beginning. The team came up with it because they wanted to do something that could close the cycle. When they brought it to me, it gave me a lot of memories and triggers.

I think I need to go through it. It’s something personal for me. Sometimes you try to avoid it, like why go [back to] Brixton again? But now I have to go back and kind of… heal myself.

What is Rave The World and how did that idea come together?

In order for me to really move anything in a direction, I need to have a purpose for it. Otherwise it just doesn’t drive me. Last year I turned 34 and for the first time I realized that there’s a new generation coming and they’re shaping the culture in a way I haven’t seen before. In my generation, we followed a lot of the rules. This one is completely different. They have the internet, social media power, and they’re changing everything.

At that moment, I felt I needed to connect with them. So we were thinking about a concept, and at first it was like ‘let’s save the world.’ But then I asked my creative director’s daughter – she’s Gen Z – what she thought, and she said she’s sick and tired of people saying that. She said “there’s no other world, this is the only one, and you guys failed with it and now you want us to save it.”

That was very interesting, because we realized we were not connected. So I just thought, “OK save the world, remove the ‘S’ and make it Rave The World.” When I Googled it, it said “do you mean save the world?” I said no, I mean rave it. And when I told her that, she said that’s amazing, she connected with it. That’s how it came into fruition.

You mentioned a ‘rave box’ as part of the show. What does that actually look like?

We needed something super simple and efficient, something you understand in a few seconds. Because with Keep Art Human, we needed a big stage, like 50 dancers and all that. It’s not easy to bring that everywhere.

So we created this rave box. We shoot real dancers and project them inside, so when you see the show, it feels like they are really there. And we can place this box anywhere in the world, even in the middle of the street, and people get it immediately. That’s how we concentrated everything into one concept.

You’ve played to massive crowds over the years, including over one million people at shows like Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. What does that actually feel like in real time?

Honestly, when you play for over a million people, you only realize that when you see the footage after. In the moment, you can’t really understand it.

That’s why we created the pyramid, 30 meters high and 360 degrees, so I can see everyone around. That’s the only stage where I can actually see the full crowd. We’ve been doing these big shows for years, but I think now people are paying more attention.

You recently collaborated with Khalid on “Dive Into Me.” How did that come together?

We had already worked on some versions of “Dive Into Me” consisting of samples by “What’s a Girl to Do” by Fatima Yamaha, but didn’t have the rights to release it. Then Khalid came up with a version, and we pitched again.

He changed the lyrics of the verse and did a fantastic job. We spent like eight hours in the studio recording a lot of lines. Then the next day he said he still missed some things and went back to the studio again. I really loved working with him. He works very hard and has a lot of passion for what he does.

You also recently made an appearance at Sphere in Las Vegas with ILLENIUM, which has become one of the most talked-about venues globally. What was that experience like for you?

It’s one of those very unique venues in the world. The experience is really out of this world. It’s something that can change the music industry. But it wasn’t my show, I was supporting ILLENIUM. He did everything and gave me space with visuals and effects. He was super humble to do that. His performance is so outstanding, it’s like a movie.

Alongside the Rave The World concept and show, you’re also launching a new label under the same name. What does that next phase look like for you?

I’m going to release songs that match this concept. Not many releases, because I’m not worried about quantity. I just want to release what I really believe in. Some of these songs might not be accepted by a major label because they are more for clubs and festivals, but that’s the direction now.