Diplo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can. (October 2007)
Diplo
Diplo in 2005
Diplo in 2005
Background information
Birth name Wesley Pentz
Born Flag of the United States Mississippi, U.S.
Genre(s) Hip hop, trip hop
Occupation(s) DJ, producer
Years active 2003–present
Label(s) Big Dada
Associated acts M.I.A., Bonde do Rolê, Spank Rock, Amanda Blank, Plastic Little, Santogold
Website Official site
For the British international monthly publication see Diplo magazine. For the international monthly publication nicknamed Le Diplo, see Le Monde diplomatique. For the Puerto Rican poet known as Diplo, see Ramón Rivero.

Diplo (born Wesley Pentz, also variably known as Diplodocus, Wes Gully, and Wes Diplo) is a Philadelphia-based DJ and producer. Together with DJ Low Budget, he runs Hollertronix, a club and music collective. In addition to his solo career, he dated and worked with the British-Sri Lankan singer and artist M.I.A. which brought him increased recognition.[1] Pentz's alias, short for Diplodocus, derives from his childhood fascination with dinosaurs.

M.I.A. approached Pentz when he was DJing one night at the Fabric Club in London. "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, were going in the same direction right now in music, it was amazing."[2] he said of their meeting. Coincidentally, Diplo was playing her single "Galang" as she entered the club.

As a DJ, Diplo is characterized by his eclectic, often 80s-oriented mashups, mixtapes, and live sets.[citation needed] On his full-length solo effort, Florida, his sound is closer to sample-based cinematic instrumental hip hop, such as the work of DJ Shadow.[citation needed] The record Florida was pressed twice,one with a CD and one with a CD/DVD,the DVD was created by System D-128 another artist that has collaborated with Diplo on some musical recordings but mostly video projects from the information provided currently from the internet. Before the Diplo Florida DVD there was another DVD that surfaced called "Diplo Banned in Libya" which was released by Money Studies, the 1st label to release a solo project by Diplo under the moniker Diplodocus, it was a 45 called "Thingamajawn" which there is a full length music video for as well. Similar to the Florida DVD "Diplo Banned in Libya" is an experimental mix of videos created to some of Diplo's work from Florida and other sources that are unknown.[citation needed]

Born in Mississippi[3] and raised across the southern United States, Diplo picked up much of the local culture while growing up there. Music styles such as dirty south, crunk and Miami bass are now key ingredients of Hollertronix's output. Pentz's solo work is also influenced by Southern Gothic and other southern literature. Additionally baile funk or funk carioca is a strong musical influence on Diplo, which he encountered while DJing at a house party with Hollertronix[2] and has used for sampled beats in numerous productions.

Diplo can be attributed with playing a key role in bringing the musical genre Baile Funke from Brasil to the United States.[citation needed] After traveling to Rio de Janeiro and experiencing the music first hand in 2004,[citation needed] he released a number of Baile Funke mixes, such as “Favela on Blast: Rio Baile Funk 2004” and “Favela Strikes Back,” which introduced Funke to some listeners in America.[citation needed] He later went on to produce the mix Piracy Funds Terrorism Vol. 1 with M.I.A, which included some Baile Funk themes. Diplo is additionally in the post-production stage of producing a documentary on Bailke Funke, entitled Favela on Blast, which will continue to bring attention to the genre. [4]

Diplo is signed to the Ninja Tune imprint Big Dada. Since working with M.I.A., he has gone on to remix and work with other artists. In 2006, he started his own label, Mad Decent, signing Brazilian baile funk group Bonde do Role and DJ Blaqstarr.

He attended the University of Central Florida and Temple University in Philadelphia. He is now touring with the French hit group Justice presented by Myspace.com

Contents

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] EPs and Singles

  • "Newsflash" (2003) (as Diplodocus)
  • "Epistemology Suite" (2003) (as Diplodocus)
  • "Thingamajawn" (2003) (as Diplodocus)
  • "Diplo Rhythm" (2004)
  • "Reload It" 2005 (as Diplo)

[edit] Mixtapes

[edit] Remixes

[edit] 2005

[edit] 2006

[edit] 2007

[edit] 2008

[edit] Soundtracks

[edit] Podcasts

Diplo presents these podcast serials.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Dan DeLuca,"Musical Diplo-mat", The Philadelphia Inquirer, Jan 19, 2006, Pg C01
  2. ^ a b Pytlik, Mark (4 April 2005). Interview: Diplo. Pitchforkmedia.com. Retrieved on 6 September 2007.
  3. ^ Dan DeLuca,"Musical Diplo-mat", The Philadelphia Inquirer, Jan 19, 2006, Pg C01
  4. ^ Wolk,Douglas (17 December 2004). Booty Call. The Village Voice. Retrieved on 14 February 2008.

[edit] External links

Languages