MAD DECENT


Text: Lacy Matsumoto
Image: Aaron K Yoshino


Running around the island, jumping off of Waimea rock, hanging out with the Kahala Hotel’s dolphins, and trying to eat turtles, is how Diplo, aka Wesley Pentz, spent his short stay on O‘ahu. Diplo is one of the hottest music producers in the scene. With a world-wide tour schedule, Grammy-nominated songs like “Paper Planes” with M.I.A., and a resume of remixes with artists like Britney Spears, MSTRKRFT, Chromeo, and Kanye West– he has held his own in the music industry.

Diplo lives a fast-paced life. Aside from his live shows, he spends a lot of time in the lab. “I’m in the studio with Missy Elliot, but besides that I am working with Ms. Bank$, Snoop Dogg, and Kid Cudi,” says Diplo. Not to mention, he’s busy with his Mad Decent record label, throwing block parties in Philly, and going on an Asia tour with Dim Mak’s Steve Aoki in September. Plus, he’s still working on making new music with rising artists like Maluca, and of course the superstars like M.I.A. and Santigold.

For those of you who sweated, danced, and drank the night away at the Diplo show at Nextdoor, you got a small taste of the producer’s Mad Decent originals, as well as his newest musical experiment with Major Lazer. “He’s a Caribbean ex-commando with a lazer for an arm that put together a crazy dancehall record and is the biggest don in the dancehall scene. He got me and Swtich to produce his record and we did it with about 20 of the hottest artists out of Kingston and NYC,” says Diplo of Major Lazer. The album sounds like dancehall-meets-electro, and it’s no joke. Pulsating dance beats with vocals by Santigold, Vybz Kartel and Nina Sky create a whole new dancehall genre, and always gets everyone grinding and sweating.

Currently, Diplo is between LA and Philly but has Hawai‘i on his mind. “I’m gonna have some kids there, I should spend some time there for sure!”


ディプロ
彼は世界的に大人気なDJ/プロデューサー、DJとしては世界中を飛び回って。プロデューサーとしてはMIAのトラック“PaperPlanes”でグラミー賞にまでノミネートされ世界中のアーティスト達から声がかかっている。今回の彼のハワイのショウはダウンタウンのNextdoorで行われ中に入れた人たち汗だくで激しく踊りまっくていた。九月からSteveAokiとアジアツアーを始めた。