Black Friday 2024: Save Big on DJcity 6-Month & 12-Month Subscriptions
Attention DJs! Whether you're just starting out or already a pro behind the decks, DJcity’s biggest Black Friday sale ever is here! For a limited time, sna...
Diplo hits ’em with the dab in Paris. (DMahoney)
Billboard has named Diplo “Dance Artist of the Year” in their third annual Power List of DJs and Execs. The magazine also interviewed him for their current cover story.
The attention makes sense. Since 2015, Diplo’s groups have scored two worldwide hits: Major Lazer and DJ Snake’s “Lean On” featuring MØ and Jack Ü’s “Where Are U Now” featuring Justin Bieber. The tracks have amassed more than 758 million and 3.4 million combined streams and sales, respectively. In March, Major Lazer performed a historic concert in Cuba, becoming the first US act to do so in decades. Now, the group is working with Bieber and MØ together on “Cold Water,” the lead single off Major Lazer’s upcoming fourth album.
Here’s what we learned from the interview:
1. He’s focused on producing for his own groups now.
“Beyoncé is the only artist I’ve produced for the last year, because it’s more lucrative for us to make our own music now. When we put out a song with Beyoncé, cool, we’ll get a fee, we’ll get some [publishing] splits, but Beyoncé is going to make a billion dollars touring it. If I make a song and it’s my song, like ‘Lean On,’ we’re going to make money off the synchs, the Spotify and we get to headline festivals on it. That’s the model I want to explore.”
2. He’s still an independent artist at heart.
“It’s complicated because we just want to [release ‘Cold Water’] indie. And convincing Team Bieber to do that is hard. We don’t need to have some guy tell us, We don’t need to have some guy tell us, ‘Oh, this is what the market research says.’ I’m on the ground. I see it.”
3. He finds greater purpose when performing in places where other big American acts don’t go.
“In Pakistan, people were in tears. I’m not like the Red Cross, but the kids in Pakistan and Cuba want this. It feels like I’m doing something that’s important — I’m helping them create something that wasn’t there before.”
4. He doesn’t like the EDM scene.
“The DJ world is the corniest f–ing group of people. We’re not celebrities, we’re not famous for any good reason. We’re just … really lame. Besides people like Dillon Francis, who makes fun of the whole thing, or Calvin Harris, it’s a sinking ship. It’s a really lame culture. I’m sad that I’m part of it, but I play the game.”
5. He uses Spotify and his own shows to find the next hit.
“I think Spotify has been killing it with playlists. With Mad Decent we’re putting out like 400 songs this year. And we’re just doing it because we can find out which are playlist-friendly . . . Labels pay a lot of money for market research. I get it for free. Just give me an afterparty to DJ at.”
Related: Diplo Discusses Major Lazer’s Historic Cuba Concert
Attention DJs! Whether you're just starting out or already a pro behind the decks, DJcity’s biggest Black Friday sale ever is here! For a limited time, sna...
Back in 2023 Mojaxx did a video highlighting some of the best deals he’d found for DJs whilst scouring the web, and some of you seemed to find it useful. S...
*** UPDATE: check out our updated 2024 playlist here! Wedding season has arrived! DJcity’s Remix Director Sir Marcus has put together a list of wedd...
Christmas season has arrived! DJcity’s Remix Director Sir Marcus has put together a list of holiday tracks for your festive DJ sets. The collection include...
Here is DJcity’s annual chart of the top 50 most downloaded songs of the year. The list was determined by subscriber downloads (the tracks are not DJcity’s...
These are DJcity's most downloaded tracks of November 2024. Our monthly charts feature top downloads from around the world, plus regional charts for Latin...
At DJcity, we are always working to make sure that the way our record pool functions reflects the needs of our users. Therefore in our latest update, we sw...
*** October 2024 Update: We now offer a new annual plan with even more savings! Click here to learn more. Here at DJcity, customer satisfaction is...
Notable tracks that were added to DJcity this week. View them all here. Download the tracks below. (* indicates DJcity Exclusive) Kendrick Lamar - squabbl...
Wedding season has arrived! DJcity’s Remix Director Sir Marcus has put together a list of wedding-friendly tracks guaranteed to freshen up your DJ sets and...