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If you’re at all invested in the happenings and successes of the music world, there’s a strong chance that you’ve heard Diplo’s name more than a few times. However, not everyone has an understanding of who Diplo is or of the projects he chooses to involve himself in—maybe you’re just not that interested in the world of dance or electronic music.
Nonetheless, Diplo has led an interesting (and undoubtedly eventful) career. It is certainly a saga worth learning about, and who knows—it may even inspire you to check out some of Diplo’s work. After all, he’s been involved in a wide array of musical projects over his long and fruitful career.
Who Is Diplo: The Basics
Let’s start with the fundamentals before we get to know Diplo just a bit better.
Born Thomas Wesley Pentz in 1978, Diplo’s production style began to develop early in his life. In particular, exposure to home-grown rap played a prominent role in Diplo’s eventual creative direction.
Although he was born in Mississippi, Diplo spent a good chunk of his upbringing in Florida. This is how he acquired a taste for Miami bass, a localized and lesser-known subgenre of hip hop. Again, this interest would later seep into Diplo’s own projects. He’s been quite open about the influences he’s had, which have had a notable impact on his production and songwriting style.
In 1997, Diplo attended the University of Central Florida. This is where he started his college career, although it’s not where he wrapped it up. Still, his time at UCF was valuable, as it allowed him to begin dipping his toes into the world of music and entertainment. More precisely, his UCF days were when he took on his first role as a DJ; he worked for a local radio station based out of Rollins College, known as WPRK. Nonetheless, this isn’t where Diplo first began to attract attention.
Diplo’s Burgeoning DJ Career
Eventually, he would opt to transfer to Temple University in Philadelphia, where Diplo would finish his college career. After this move, he began to see a shift regarding the outside’s perception of his early work. Finally, his strong skills as a DJ were beginning to see some well-earned attention.
He saw success performing a slew of gigs as a DJ in Philadelphia, including the gigs he performed with fellow Philly-based performer, DJ Low Budget. Under the moniker of “Hooked on Hollertronix,” Diplo and DJ Low Budget decided to throw their own parties, giving them greater freedom over what they could and couldn’t play during gigs.
These parties were so successful that Diplo was able to release his earliest mixtapes—with DJ Low Budget, and then on his own. From here, Diplo’s career continued to grow as he began to receive recognition from major publications, such as the New York Times and the Emerald City Journal.
Eventually, this would all culminate in the release of Diplo’s solo debut, “Florida.” The album was released on Big Dada Records’ Ninja Tune imprint and would further help kick-start the DJ’s renowned career. Then, not long after, he’d build The Mausoleum—a Philadelphia-based recording and video studio, gallery, record label office, and event space. With the creation of The Mausoleum, Diplo made music the focus of his career, moving forward.
Major Lazer
Now, let’s move forward just a few years. With a highly successful career established—where Diplo had already worked with a slew of significant artists to create new music—he decided it was time to formulate a new project. Today, the group is composed of Diplo and two other DJ artists (Ape Drums and Walshy Fire).
To bring Major Lazer into being, however, Diplo initially collaborated with Switch. Unfortunately, Switch left the project after around three years; Jillionaire is another ex-member of Major Lazer, who took part in the project for several years. He departed in 2019.
Major Lazer was first created in 2008 and the project continues to thrive. This unique and experimental project wasn’t made to stick to a single sound or genre. Instead, over the years, Diplo has used Major Lazer as a vehicle to try out a wide variety of different musical styles, including (but not limited to) dancehall, EDM, trap, reggae, soca, and electro house. Going into the project, Diplo hoped to highlight some of the lesser-known musical genres of Jamaica to draw attention to the island’s thriving dancehall scene.
The debut Major Lazer album was released not long after the group’s inception, in 2009. This record was titled “Guns Don’t Kill People … Lazers Do” and was packed with dancehall-inspired electronic music. Major Lazers’ debut was soon met with critical acclaim, becoming both a commercial and critical success. In addition, the reggae community has also credited the album with helping bring reggae to a new audience—previously, the genre wasn’t commercially successful in the United States. Still, with this early release, Diplo was able to begin changing that. The world began to see him as a talent to be reckoned with.
Diplo’s Other Projects
Naturally, given his creativity and powerful ambition, Diplo wasn’t content sticking to just one music project—no matter how successful. In addition to Major Lazer, he is also a member of Jack Ü. Jack Ü is an electronic music duo that Diplo formed with Skrillex in 2013. However, the group has been on an indefinite hiatus since 2016.
Additionally, Diplo was one of the founding minds behind LSD, a pop supergroup. LSD is also composed of singer-songwriter Sia, as well as Labrinth, a British rapper and musician.
Most recently, in 2018, Diplo announced yet another musical project: This time around, it was a band named Silk City. Silk City is another duo, although this time, it’s made up of Diplo and Mark Ronson, the famed DJ, and singer from the United Kingdom.
Diplo’s Recent Performances and Tour
Coming out of his pandemic-induced hiatus, Diplo has returned to the familiar world of touring—a world that is close to his heart and that he’s excited to get back into. Throughout 2022 and the remainder of 2021, Diplo has tour dates across the United States—as well as a performance in Paris this October.
Recently, however, Diplo did run into a bit of performance-related controversy. Fortunately, the issue seems to have been resolved, despite the lasting concern of fans. Diplo had a show abruptly canceled by the Baltimore Orioles, based upon allegations that were swiftly proven to be false. Although Diplo decided to move on from the debacle, not everyone is pleased with the outcome. Many individuals believe that the Baltimore Orioles owe the artist an apology, given the hastiness of the cancellation—all based around misinformation, in the end.
A Return to Normal
In any case, Diplo hasn’t let this issue slow down his return to touring and performing. Instead, he’s continued to give his fans the performances they’d missed out on throughout the pandemic.
As successful as Diplo’s career has been up until now, it seems that he has no intentions of slacking off. On the contrary, he has continued to release new music from his various projects and perform frequent shows. In any case, fans of Diplo are eager to see where he takes his work next.
