Diplo is one of the biggest DJs in electronic dance music, but his views on the scene don’t correlate to his success. In an interview with GQ, Diplo went in depth about his real thoughts about the dance community and DJing.
Ultra Music Festival is what started it all for Diplo:
“I’m into Ultra. I grew up on it. They offered Major Lazer a headline slot on Friday night. I want to do more dance-music festivals this year, just to be involved. I skipped it the last three years — we kept away from the EDM scene, ’cause I hated it.”
Even though he loves Ultra, he felt like the vibes were off and the event was not on point, especially when talking about the DJs and festivals today:
“They’re not fun. The music felt like it was on a loop. It felt soulless. I mean, DJs in general, the culture’s really ugly. It’s cheesy. Corny. It’s embarrassing. You know, I never wanted to be part of the DJ world. I just fell into it.”
Diplo has also critiqued Insomniac’s Electric Daisy Carnival when he made a comment that the main stage looked like, “Walt Disney present[s] princes’ castle on crystal meth,” even though he played again this year. He went on to explain why he came back to EDC:
“I’m doing it again this year because I’m trying to see if I can help steer the direction. Instead of complaining about it being cheesy, I’ll see if I can help make it better. EDM’s changing. Three years ago, they just paid everybody, because all the corporations and clubs wanted a piece of it. Now they realize only a few of us can make money for them. It’s a business. I’m just trying to be smart about it.”
Diplo once again spilling some truth about the industry. If you haven’t seen “What Would Diplo Do?” get on that now, even if Diplo thinks it’s hard to watch, it accurately depicts the craziness of being a DJ in the electronic music industry and culture. Take a look at the interview by GQ here and get a little more insight on Diplo’s life.
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