Mixing Pleasure with Business

When “Paper Planes” landed on music platforms in 2008, Diplo’s prominence was meteoric. The Philadelphia DJ who had been making mixtapes, producing records for local rappers, and spinning underground sets quickly caught the world’s attention.

But Diplo’s roots in music stretch back much further. Born Thomas Wesley Pentz, he developed his music appreciation as his family moved around the U.S., and he was exposed to different genres. Along the way, he traveled parts of the world and built a massive record and CD collection, which he sold to record collectors or used to create mixtapes.

During his early career, he chose the stage name “Diplo,” a shortened version of the dinosaur Diplodocus, his favorite dinosaur as a child. He realized when he used the formal designation of the dinosaur to promote his music, people had difficulty pronouncing it, so he deviated to the abbreviated name, and it stuck. Fittingly, his first tattoo was the black contour of a Diplodocus, Diplo said in an interview with Jamie Foxx for Inked Magazine, as he pointed to his right forearm.

By the time “Paper Planes” stormed the charts, he and British singer and rapper Maya Arulpragasam, better known as M.I.A., were dating and simultaneously recording music. Then opportunity knocked.

“(XL Recordings’) Nick Huggett, for some reason, decided to invest in me,” the DJ shared with Journalist Guy Raz in 2023. After working with M.I.A. in his home studio, he presented the music executive with a mixtape that Huggett called “unusable” and “a disaster,” so Diplo decided to sell the album, “Piracy Funds Terrorism,” on his own. “I must have made $200,000 by bootlegging this mixtape,” he told Raz of the 2004 album that went viral and global. It was “the CD that funded my entire career,” he later said on an Instagram post about the album.

That career consists of countless lucrative collaborations, including the 2012 song “Climax” he produced with Usher that went 3x platinum in 2024, and the 2018 Grammy Awards winner for Best Dance Recording, “Electricity” with Dua Lipa and Silk City, an electronic duo consisting of Diplo and Mark Ronson.

And that’s just scratching the surface.

Lazer Focus

Shortly after “Piracy,” Diplo and Dave “Switch” Taylor recorded an assortment of demo tapes and formed the group Major Lazer. “They were sort of this hybrid of London-underground-Jamaican sounds that we liked, stuff that I was hearing in Philadelphia, and then I went to Jamaica and started cutting them one by one with an artist,” Diplo said in 2024 on Major Lazer Official’s YouTube channel.

In 2009, Major Lazer’s first album, “Guns Don’t Kill People… Lazers Do,” generated rowdy punk/electronic music that bore the provocative anthem “Pon de Floor.” “That song just started taking off on its own; it was kind of a joke song,” Diplo explained on Major Lazer Official. “It really worked in this new hybrid of dance music with European DJs mixing with hip hop acts, and a little bit of reggae and Jamaican flavors.”

Switch left Major Lazer in 2011 and was replaced by Christopher “Jillionaire” Leacock and Leighton “Walshy Fire” Walsh. What followed was an extensive list of Major Lazer collaborations and major hits, like the controversial 2015 hit song “Lean On,” made in collaboration with MØ and DJ Snake, and the 2012 No Doubt song “Push and Shove” with Busy Signal.

Jillionaire left in 2019, and Eric “Ape Drums” Alberto-Lopez subsequently joined the group. And just this year, the group’s first female performer, British-Jamaican artist America Foster, came aboard. “We linked with America in London a year ago, and she just became a more and more essential part of my crew — she pops up everywhere!” Diplo said. “She’s unbelievably talented and an insanely creative thinker. (I’m) so stoked for the world to hear her voice.”

It’s been nearly 10 years since Major Lazer was actively producing new tracks, so new music is long overdue. “I just think this was the year where it felt like we needed to come back with something just crazy, because Major Lazer was always sort of like the punk of dance and electronic music,” Diplo said.

“The group has always been one of my most fun projects, and one of the coolest parts is how it’s evolved over the years through different members and musical waves,” the artist continued. “‘GANGSTA’ is a little bit of a return to Major Lazer’s roots with one of our oldest collaborators, the Kingston legend Busy Signal, and also a whole new world as America’s first release with the group.”

Fans were fired up this summer when Major Lazer released this new track, “GANGSTA,” which also features Kybba. The group has recently drawn in crowds in Brussels, Canada, and Las Vegas, with more touring anticipated in the coming months and in 2026. “We’ve always said Major Lazer makes the world smaller by making the party bigger,” Diplo said. “There’s room for everything and everyone.

Pompey: A Sanctuary in the Jungle

When he’s not in the studio or on the road, you might find the DJ at his Caribbean hideaway, Pompey. “It’s sort of my sanctuary for working,” Diplo said. “It feels like a piece of art because we really worked hard on developing the style, the Brutalist style that we put in the jungle in Jamaica. It’s very Brazilian, very Mexican style, poured concrete, a lot of art, and just sitting in the middle of the jungle.”

Pompey’s luxuries stretch far beyond the 50-acre property’s nucleus, a large, heated infinity pool with a spacious outdoor entertainment and dining area. Inside the home are five large, meticulously designed bedrooms, a spacious living room with a grand piano, an elegant library, and a grand industry-standard recording studio. The floor-to-ceiling windows, terraces, and a rooftop space offer stunning views of the surroundings, overlooking the jungle and The Blue Lagoon.

Guests of the property indulge in farm-to-table cuisine, collected from the on-site organic farm and orchard, and prepared by in-house chefs. Wellness opportunities abound, from the yoga pavilion, hiking trails, private gym, sauna, cold plunge, and hyperbaric chamber. They can also explore the area on horseback or on one of the property’s ATVs.

This sanctuary is close to Diplo’s heart, offering serenity, creativity, and access to a sustainable lifestyle. “It’s just a great place for me to go and retreat when I need to get some time alone,” he said, highlighting that others are also welcome to immerse themselves in the tranquil retreat.

“You can rent it to make music or do an event. We’ve got a lot of people making their albums there,” Diplo said, adding, “For me, it was, I think, my favorite work of art. I’ve been working on that place for nine years, building a Brutalist construction in Jamaica of concrete, wood, building my first farm, learning how to farm the land. It’s been kind of my dream.”

Diplo in Motion

In September 2024, Diplo blended his passions for fitness and music with the Diplo Run Club (DRC), debuting in San Francisco to a sold-out crowd, making it one of Running USA’s top 5K races. After the success of this race and the following race in Seattle, DRC added new stops to its 2025/2026 lineup, including recent races in Philadelphia and Seattle, with San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, Miami, and Phoenix fast approaching.

DRC was conceived by inspiration when Diplo attended the Miami Marathon. “We ended up in the club afterwards because it was still going from the night before. I was like, ‘This is a cool concept.’” Diplo shared on Instagram. “And then the next year, it was a big deal. People all ran and went to the club. And I was always like, ‘How can we transcend this kind of always wanting to go out night late?’ We can do both.”

The DRC 5K takes runners through historic districts, scenic routes, and famous sites, with a high-energy finish with Diplo + Friends performing on stage. “It’s a 5K — really easy — and then you get to just rave with me at the end for two hours, and you can go to bed at like 1:30 p.m.,” the DJ said. “You get a margarita too.”

While DRC has a Spotify playlist, you might be surprised by the sounds Diplo absorbs while racing. “Brown noise,” he said. “I personally like to listen to nothing. I like the sounds of the earth, running around, people yelling at me, I hear cars, birds, things like that. I just like to have that… It’s a symphony of sounds every time I run.”

The Secret Sauce

If variety is the secret to happiness, then it might be fair to say Diplo is euphoric. “I guess there’s about four different genres going at any point in my career,” he said of his projects. “I was born in Mississippi, grew up in South Florida, and spent my teens and 20s bouncing around the world — Philly, India, Tokyo, beyond. I’ve never paid attention to genre borders, or physical borders, really. I just catch a vibe with whoever I’m working with — I love just following a song where it goes.”

Diplo recently started his new project d00mscrvll, which includes the new song “BRAIN,” featuring Artemas, as well as “Flashlight,” featuring Juicy J and Project Pat. “It’s like Memphis Funk meets TikTok music,” Diplo said of the sound.

And then there’s his project with Bailey Zimmerman, “Ashes,” an outright country music record. “And there’s some K-pop,” Diplo added, saying, “Whatever you like, I probably produced something other than that in the last couple of months.”

From rap to funk, country, and pop, Diplo’s discography is diverse, so his personal playlist is true to form. Musicians like English rapper fakemink, country singer Cameron Whitcomb, multi-disciplinary artist Rival Consoles, English rock band Sleep Token, and Swedish EDM musician DJ Seinfeld have been occupying his eardrums as of late. “I mean, it’s random,” he said. “I just like anything that has a really strong brand and message that’s easy for me to understand.”

Diplo typically plays around 200 shows per year, but he’s been working on a “huge project” at his studio this year. “It’s been very hard to sit down and get that work done,” he admitted. “You know, people think, “How do you always travel?” I’m just like, “Man, being in a studio locked in for weeks on end is actually much harder than catching flights for me.

“Playing shows around the world brings me my inspiration and energy for everything I do, but my greatest inspiration is my kids,” Diplo shared. “There’s nothing that makes me feel more whole and centered than hanging out at home with them, so it’s been amazing to do more of that this year.”

And yet, the work never stops. “You have to always put the work in to make the music,” Diplo said, “so this is my year to do that.”