Q&A: Diplo On The Joys Of Dancehall, Kanye West, Social Work, Owning A Label, And Twitter
Q&A: Diplo On The Joys Of Dancehall, Kanye West, Social Work, Owning A Label, And Twitter
Where do we even start with someone like Diplo? Wes Pentz is a DJ at his core, but he’s also a producer (having worked with Lil Jon, Kanye West, and most notoriously M.I.A.), the founder of left-field record label Mad Decent, and one half of dancehall production pair Major Lazer. Back in the mid-aughts, he and fellow Hollertronix cohort/Philly local Low Budget adopted an attitude of doing whatever the heck they wanted, just as long as it sounded interesting and made people dance. From their first mixtape Never Scared to their sweat-box dance parties in a small Ukranian club, the pair threw together ’80s hits, rap, Baltimore club, reggae, rock, and everything from snap to baile funk side by side.