Diplo

About Diplo

Thomas Wesley Pentz known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ, songwriter and record producer based in Los Angeles. He is the co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer, a member of the supergroup LSD with Sia and Labrinth, a member of electronic duo Jack with producer and DJ Skrillex, and a member of Silk City with Mark Ronson. He founded and manages record company Mad Decent, as well as co-founding the non-profit organization Heaps Decent. His 2013 EP, Revolution, debuted at number 68 on the US Billboard 200. The EP's title track was later featured in a commercial for Hyundai and is featured on the WWE 2K16 soundtrack.

Diplo worked with and dated British musician M.I.A., an artist who is credited with giving him exposure in his early career. Later, he and fellow M.I.A. producer Switch created a Jamaican dancehall project and cartoon series titled Major Lazer. Since then, Diplo has worked on production and mixtape projects with many other pop artists, such as Gwen Stefani, Die Antwoord, Britney Spears, Madonna, Shakira, Beyoncé, Ellie Goulding, No Doubt, Justin Bieber, Usher, Snoop Dogg, Trippie Redd, Chris Brown, CL, G-Dragon, Bad Bunny, Joji, MØ and Poppy. His alias, short for Diplodocus, derives from his childhood fascination with dinosaurs.

After hearing one of his songs in 2004, M.I.A. approached Diplo when he was DJing one night at the Fabric Club in London. Coincidentally, Diplo was playing her songs "Galang" and "Fire Fire" as she entered the club, which he got from a worker at i-D magazine. Diplo added, "She came through and she wanted to meet me 'cause she'd heard my single and the funk mix from one of her A&Rs and she just thought I was right up her alley. Besides me being a white dude from Florida and her being a Sri Lankan girl in England, everything else was the same: [We were both] film graduates, [listened to] all the same music when we were kids, we're going in the same direction right now in music, it was amazing... I always wanted to make a beat with her, but all my beats were really shitty at the time." The two eventually collaborated on a mixtape, Piracy Funds Terrorism Vol. 1, where Arular track acapellas were mashed with other artists' songs. It was listed among 'Albums of the Year' by The New York Times and Pitchfork Media. The two continued to work together after the release. He was the tour DJ on her 2005 Arular Tour.

Diplo continued to work with M.I.A. and, through her, met London DJ Switch. Together, they created the Grammy-nominated track "Paper Planes", peaking at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2015, during an interview with Rolling Stone, M.I.A said that Diplo resented her rise to fame in 2005, that he tried to hold her back, and fought with her about becoming successful.

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