Diplo: Thomas Wesley Pentz, Grammy-winning DJ and producer behind Major Lazer, Jack U, and hits for Justin Bieber, Beyonce and others.
What this episode covers
Diplo traces his path from a rebellious kid sent to military school and college dropout to one of the world's most iconic DJs. He credits relentless work ethic, an obsessive hunger to learn music history, and a willingness to bring underground genres to new markets for his success. He discusses the financial instability of early music years, the toll of doing 300 shows a year, and how COVID and becoming a father forced him to slow down. He reflects candidly on mental health, the deaths of young rappers he worked with, his emotional guardedness, and finding love mainly through his children. He closes by promoting his new self-titled dance album, 20 years into his career.
The guest's own work
Florida
Diplo
“my first album was called uh florida it was on it was on ninja tune and it's so weird like i remember being just like so stoned”— Diplo
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
Calm
Calm
“you started talking a lot about mental health over the last couple years your partnership with calm as well”— host
Avicii: True Stories
Levan Tsikurishvili
“reminded me of the avicii documentary that i saw which was a real pivotal moment in my life”— host
Minecraft
Mojang
“sitting with my son my seven-year-old and like watching cartoons or watching him play minecraft on his ipad”— Diplo
George Foreman Grill
George Foreman
“i was in the middle of like george's like uh the griddle he was doing the former grill era”— Diplo
Big reveals from this episode
- Diplo was a troubled kid bounced between schools and sent to military school at 14, where he says he mostly learned from 'a bunch of terrible kids.'
- For three to four years his music income was so inconsistent he risked homelessness: 'one month i'm not doing good i don't care i can't pay rent i'm homeless.'
- He funded his early career flipping vinyl, selling records to Kanye West and Questlove when they were starting out.
- He ran at '200 miles an hour' until COVID, which he calls the best thing that happened, prompting him to buy a house and reassess his life.
- Working a circuit of young rappers (Lil Peep, XXXTentacion, Lil Xan, Trippie Redd), he watched many of them die and felt they needed 'a big brother.'
- He says he never felt life-changing romantic love and first truly understood love only when his sons were born.
- Diplo describes himself as emotionless with 'scorpio tendencies': 'there's like nothing you're gonna get nothing from me most of the time.'
Worth remembering
- He studied anthropology and filmmaking at Temple University before dropping out, obsessed with documentary filmmaking and culture.
- He traveled to India near the Pakistan border doing Red Cross earthquake relief, then explored by motorcycle buying rare vinyl.
- He bought cheap Indian soundtrack records and resold them in London for hundreds of pounds as a traveling 'hack.'
- His first real production was 'Bucky Done Gun' with M.I.A., a Brazilian funk record that became a hit there.
- He says a producer's job is to 'predict the future' since a record takes months to reach people after release.
- Beyonce sampled his Major Lazer track 'Pon de Floor' years later, turning it into a massive hit.
- He had a UK number-two hit, 'Looking For Me' with Paul Woolford, his biggest solo record anywhere.
- He trained with boxing trainer George Foreman Jr. during the George Foreman Grill era.
- He references 'gold medal depression,' echoing UFC champ Israel Adesanya saying the worst day of his life was the day after winning the belt.