JOSHUA TREE, CALIFORNIA — "Come on, you damn fire, I wrote a song for you," Zedd, the Grammy-winning "Clarity" DJ, yelled while staring at a giant wooden Z that was just set ablaze in the middle of the Mojave Desert on Saturday night.

Fifty of his fans, who completed a scavenger hunt in Los Angeles earlier in the day to win a trip to this mysterious event, laughed and waited with Zedd for his Z logo to ignite. It flickered, then began burning fully after a bucket of lighter fluid was tossed on it.

"Now that this fucker is burning, let's play some damn music," Zedd proclaimed, inciting loud cheers. Zedd then debuted an unmastered version of "Straight Into the Fire," a song from his upcoming True Colors album.

While the fire raged on, fans listened to the track through Beats headphones, which matched the event's orange theme. The elaborate, day-long stunt was the second in Zedd's #ZeddTrueColors campaign in which 50 fans in 10 different cities will get to experience a special location, hear a new song from the album, party with other fans and meet Zedd.

"This is the song on the new album that sounds the closest to what people would expect me to do — it has that huge vocal that makes you want to cry, in a great way," Zedd told Mashable. "To me, certain things sound a certain color. A lot of reverb will always sound cold, which will always make me think blue. On this song, the drop is very energetic and very aggressive, kind of like fire, too, so this one was super easy to pick orange."

Saturday's event began with an online scavenger hunt that required fans to photograph six orange Zedd logos and find the final location in LA's Chinatown, where only the first 50 fans earned the opportunity to join the secret trip.

Image: ROB SHERIDAN FOR MASHABLE

The fans then hopped on two large black buses and traveled to an unknown location, which ended up being Joshua Tree, a 2-plus hour journey east of Los Angeles.

Image: ROB SHERIDAN FOR MASHABLE

Fans, who had no idea where they were heading, ate and drank orange goodies such as Goldfish, Fanta and Reese's and listened to a playlist curated by Zedd during the bus ride.

Zedd emerged from his tent and helped light the wooden Z on fire before he introduced "Straight Into the Fire," which features vocals from a singer named Julia. The final version may or may not feature her vocals because Zedd tested other vocalists for the song.

"Julia's an incredible singer, but we made this song and she never wanted to stay on it," Zedd said. "But now she might have to stay on it because it's that good. I'm always open to change vocalists at the last minute. I've recorded five people for this song so I'll have the ultimate choice."

Fans danced and jumped to the beat as a light show beamed onto the rocks.

Image: ROB SHERIDAN FOR MASHABLE

The night ended with Zedd meeting individually with each of the 50 fans, who didn't return to LA until early Sunday morning on the black buses.

"I've seen him on tour a few times because I love EDM, I love raving and I love the culture," Gudiel told Mashable. "The part that brought the most emotion for me was when he came out because it made it all seem so surreal. I was literally like hyperventilating. I'm so stoked about it all. I'm thankful for this experience."

"I thought the song was super awesome, kind of similar to things he's done in the past but in a good way," she added. "I can't wait to listen to it again in the future and dance to it."

15 artists you need to add to your playlist in 2015

1. Ferras

Ferras, whose "Hollywood's Not America" was used as the exit song on American Idol in 2008, inked a deal as the the first musician on Katy Perry's recently launched record label, Metamorphosis, in June 2014. Together, they have a duet on his self-titled EP called "Legends Never Die."

2. Mickey Guyton

Mickey Guyton, who grew up singing gospel in church, brings a refreshing look to the country music scene. Influenced by LeAnn Rimes, Dolly Parton and Whitney Houston, the fairly new Nashville singer-songwriter will make her debut at the Grand Ole Opry this month before releasing her first album sometime this year. Her lead-off single, "Better Than You Left Me," is reminiscent of country powerhouse Carrie Underwood, and it's primed to be a welcome radio gem in 2015. Fun fact: In 2011, Mickey sang Patsy Cline's "Crazy" at the White House in 2011.

3. Lecrae

Christian rapper Lecrae will vie for the Grammy for Best Rap Performance against Drake, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and Childish Gambino next month. In September 2014, his Christian rap album, fittingly titled Anomaly, soared to the top of the weekly Billboard 200 album chart, a rare feat as only four other Christian albums have ever achieved this top ranking.

4. CL

CL, a member of the South Korean girl group 2NE1, is under the management of Scooter Braun, whose golden touch has signed the likes of Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Carly Rae Jepsen and Psy. Of all the Korean artists, Billboard's K-pop columnist Jeff Benjamin told Mashable that CL is the one to watch this year. "Leading 2NE1, CL's been in the K-pop game for more than five years and gained respect from Diplo, A$AP Rocky, M.I.A., Snoop Dogg, will.i.am and more," Benjamin said. "CL's fluent in English, has producers like Blood Diamonds and Diplo working with her and, now with Braun on her team, she very well may be on her way to becoming not only America's biggest K-pop star, but America's biggest Asian musician ever."

5. Sam Hunt

Before football-player-turned-musician Sam Hunt exploded onto the country charts in 2014, he found success writing lyrics for other country stars such as Kenny Chesney ("Come Over"), Keith Urban ("Cop Car") and Billy Currington ("We Are Tonight"). His first studio album, featuring the platinum hit "Leave the Night On," blends country, hip-hop and pop flavors with ease, becoming the bestselling debut album for a country artist since 2011. Sam, who grew up on '90s country and discovered rap and R&B influences in the locker rooms, told Mashable that there used to be a divide between genres, but music lines are blurring more than ever thanks to better access for aspiring artists to songs on streaming services like YouTube and Spotify -- where coincidentally his debut single, X2C EP and Montevello LP consistently saw increases in streams throughout last year. His follow-up single "Take Your Time" is currently No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100.

6. Bebe Rexha

Taylor Swift isn't the only scorned lover who can write and sing one hell of a post-relationship song. Enter Bebe Rexha, who just followed up her "I Can't Stop Drinking About You" breakup anthem with the powerfully catchy "I'm Gonna Show You Crazy." You may already know her as the voice on Cash Cash's "Take Me Home" and the co-writer of Eminem and Rihanna's "The Monster."

7. James Bay

Hold back your feelings when listening to James Bay's soulful "Hold Back the River." I dare you. It's impossible. The British artist recently won the 2015 BRITs Critics' Choice Award, an honor that "Stay With Me" superstar Sam Smith won last year. He'll continue his momentum with his Chaos and the Calm album, due out March 24, the same month he'll entertain crowds at SXSW.

8. SOAK

SOAK, a folksy Irish teen, oozes poised emotions beyond her 18 years. Born Bridie Monds-Watson, her "B a noBody" contains sad lyrics yet she performs them in a beautifully mature way that gives listeners a sense of hope. SOAK was named one of Apple's new artists to keep on your radar in 2015. She has already toured with CHVRCHES, Tegan & Sara and George Ezra. Though quiet in her music, anticipate her making a loud imprint with her upcoming album.

9. Kygo

When EDM stalwart Avicii pulled out the TomorrowWorld last fall, festival organizers tapped Norwegian DJ and producer Kygo to fill his big shoes on the main stage. At the time, Kygo got the crowd riled up with a tropical dance version of Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing." Flash-forward to now and Kygo is attracting quite the following online with "Firestone" (featuring Conrad), which has amassed 22 million Spotify streams and reached No. 1 in Norway. His other impressive credits include producing official remixes for Coldplay ("Midnight") and Ed Sheeran ("I See Fire"). Come summertime, expect his sensual vibes to be dominating playlists and dance floors.

10. Jhené Aiko

With three Grammy nominations for Best R&B Song ("The Worst"), Urban Contemporary Album (Sail Out) and Rap/Sung Collaboration ("Blak Majik" with Common), Jhené Aiko's velvety runs could soon be getting long-overdue critical reception. The nominations alone could also give her well-deserved mainstream exposure outside her genre as as well as the Grammy bump -- an increase sparked by Grammy viewers. This musical mother, whose performance style has been compared to the ethereal Sade, experienced a career roadblock a decade ago, with her planned debut album never being released. Now, she's ready to show everyone what they've been missing.

11. Mikky Ekko

This singer-songwriter, best known so far for writing the 2013 Grammy-nominated hit "Stay" for Rihanna and then performing it with her at the Grammys, will release his debut album (Time) on Jan. 20. Mikky Ekko's vulnerable lyrics and yearning vocals get an assist from familiar hitmakers, including Benny Blanco and OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder, on Time. And it's about time Mikky gives the world more of what they fell in love with many months ago with "Stay."

12. Fifth Harmony

Fifth Harmony's long-awaited debut album, Reflections, will finally arrive this month, two years after the Simon Cowell-assembled quintet finished third on The X Factor. The release comes on the heels of the group claiming its first top 40 hit with the Meghan Trainor-penned "Sledgehammer."

13. Shawn Mendes

Shawn Mendes, whose first EP in July 2014 reached No. 1 on iTunes in 37 minutes, was discovered on Vine and subsequently signed by Island Records. The 16-year-old's rabid fan base will grow even larger this year because he's the opening act on some of Taylor Swift's "1989 World Tour."

14. Mark Ronson

Remember this name and face because you'll be hearing and seeing Mark Ronson's name and dome (pictured on the right in the video, above) all year long. Already riding high on the commercial and critical success of "Uptown Funk" with Bruno Mars, the English producers' upcoming Uptown Special album appears to be the project to reinvigorate his career, which really gained steam back in 2006 producing the brunt of late Amy Winehouse's Back to Black album and then in 2008 with his sophomore outing Version. Ronson's new project features a much-anticipated collaboration with Stevie Wonder as well as the groovy "Daffodils" tune with the psychedelic Kevin Parker.

15. J. Cole

J. Cole's latest project, 2014 Forest Hills Drive, claimed the distinction for the most first-week Spotify streams for an album in its debut week last year with 15.7 million streams. Released only in December, the nostalgic album, touching on his journey toward fame and the ridiculousness of rap rivalries, went on to become the top-selling rap album of the year, and it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. This is the album you should buy to hold you over until 2015's slew of rap and hip-hop projects from Drake, Lil Wayne and Kanye West come out to dominate your playlists.

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