110 newyork| december9–22, 2019
actual“yeehaw,”amblesintotheelevator,
expectingthedoorstoopenontoa team
generatingideasforhim.He isthefirst
onetoarrive.
“Why amI at thisthing?No one’s here,”
hesays,sittingat theheadof a mostlyempty
table.Diplohastoleavein 20 minutesfora
music-videoshootina desertstatepark
outsideLosAngeles.It turnsouttheteam
haschangedthetime.Theymet theday
beforeat a meetingDiplocouldn’t attend.
If Diplolooksoutofplaceintheconfer-
enceroom,atleast hisweekenditinerary
seemsincharacter:“I wasinVegasonFri-
daynight,” hestartstoexplain.“I didn’t go
tobeduntilsix,andI hadtotakea flightat
nineinthemorningtogotomy son’s birth-
day.I wasthereuntilsix.ThenI wentto
yoga.ThenI wentoutwithher”—hepoints
toSara—“Saturdaynight.What werewe
doing?”Hecontinueson,notwaitingforan
answer.“Oh,a birthdayparty.ThenI went
toanambientra veuntil,like, 7 a.m.”
Namea spring-breakpartyoraninter-
nationalmultiday festivaloranelec-
tronic-musicbacchanal,andDiplohas
performedthere.Afewyearsback,he
renouncedthekindofEDM-DJstuff
you’dexpectfromhimas“corny”andhas
beenworkingmostlyasa producer, he
says, buthestill probablytakes 300
flightsa yearforwork,a stathethrows
outasoftenasa tallguyrepeatshissix-
footheightondatingprofiles.
Then,aswe’retalking,heslipsintohis
phonemid-conversation.He’spronetodo
this.Oneminutehe’s talkingabouthislove
ofcountrymusicorBurningMan,andthe
nexthe’s suckedintoa vortexofInstagram,
DMsfromgirls,videosofhimperforming,
videosof otherpeopledancingtohisperfor-
mances.Hisheadsnapsbackupasbaby-
facedwritersstart rushingin.Laptopsopen,
introductionsaremade,peoplestarttossing
outepisodeideas.It takeszerotimeforallof
them,Diploincluded,toassemblebehind
onecomputertowatchdifferentYouTube
videos,geekingoutaboutanimation.
Bytheendof themeeting,they’vedecided
tomakeanepisodeinwhichthemainchar-
actergetscanceledaftersendinga problem-
atictweet,andaswewalkouttothecar,
Diplokeepsriffingontheprospect ofhis
owncareerdemise.Itwouldbeginwitha
badtweet, asinthecartoon,thenhismusic
wouldstart tosuckandthenhe’djust be
gone,hejokes.Maybehe’d evenstageit him-
self,hesays,doit asperformanceart.
It ’s hardtoimagineDiplowouldever
torpedohiscareer,at least intentionally.
Hehasbeenimmersedinthemusicworld
sincehewasbouncingaroundhighschools
inFloridainthemid-1990s,drivingto
Orlando with his friends whenthey
weren’t hangingoutat theBarnes& Noble
inDaytona,wherehelived.He startedDJ-
ingasa collegestudentat theUniversityof
CentralFlorida,eventuallyrelocatingto
Philadelphia,wherehemajoredinanthro-
pologyat Temple.In 2002,heanda friend,
DJLowbudget,startedthrowingtheleg-
endary Philly-basedpartiesthat gotbig
enoughtoletthempushmixtapes,which
gothimfamousenoughtostarta label.
Therewasa timewhenDiploseemedto
influencetheway most musicsounded,an
erabookendedbytwomajorcontribu-
tions,M.I.A.’s “PaperPlanes,” whichhe
producedin2007,and“LeanOn,” by
MajorLazer,DJSnake, andMØ,in 20 15.
Thosedateshappentocoincidewitha
timewhenDiplowaswidelyconsidered“a
dick,”a publicopinioncarefullychronicled
ina 2015Gawkerarticleexpressivelytitled
“DiploIsa Dick.” He waspaintedasan
entitledspring-breakparty fixture(andin
factplayedoneina cameoin 22 Jump
Street). He seemedtobetheincarnationofbottle-serviceclubs,cocainepostnasal
drip,and4 a.m.mistakes.
Butnowadays,thisDiplodoesn’t have
muchinterestinbeingthat guyanymore.
He’s inhis40s.He’sa dad.He’sstilla DJ,
butheseemstotreatitlike a job—one
thathashelpedputhisnet worthat a
reported$29million—nota personality.
Hereliablyshowsuponawards-showred
carpets,alwayswelldressed,occasionally
baringhischestunderneatha suitjacket.
He’snotreallythePlatonicidealofa
shame crush anymore.Instead, he’s
openlysharinga moreself-conscious,
nerdy,dad-cowboyupgrade.
Diplo’s internet presence is also a
slightlysofterversionofwhat it usedtobe.
Peopleseemtoapproveof, andactually
like,theInstagrambrandhe’s beensolidi-
fying.In additiontoshirtlessthirst traps
withself-deprecatingcaptions,heposts
memesandconnectswiththeyounger
musiciansheworkswith.He’s proneto
long,earnestcaptionsabouthiskidsorhis
ownmusicalheroes.
“I’mstillfiguringit out,” hesaysaboutgivingfansa personalviewofwhohe
reallyis.Hestudiestheinternet. He, like
everyone,thinksthekidsonTikTokare
geniusandbeginstoexplainhistheory of
TikTokchaos: “It’slike beyond races,
beyondgender.TheyhaveoldChinese
guysdoingdances,thenalltheseyoung
peopledoingthesameones,andthekids
accepteverythingonit soit’s notlike one
wave.” He sighs.“It’sbeautiful.” ForDiplo,
socialmediahasoffereda way tostayin
theconversationaroundmusicevenif he’s
nottheonedrivingit.Evenhisembraceof
cowboybootsandflaredjeanstapsinto
TikTok’s energy;he’s rightthereintwo-
stepwithLilNasX.
Diplo’s gothalfa dozenversionsofhim-
self, eachwitha definedstyletogo with
themusicaloutput.ThomasWesleywas
supposedtobea short-livedproject—a
customsuitfora Stagecoachperformance
of“Heartless,”a songheproducedwiththe
countrysingerMorganWallen,butthe
st ylestuck.
Theway heseesit,hehasthreeoptions
athisage:“acowboyormotorcycle-gang
memberorsomething,oryou’rea corpo-
ratelawyer.”He hasreallyleanedinto
cowboy,showingupontheredcarpet ina
canary-yellowsilksuitwithnoshirt anda
cowboyhatandmatchingboots;that
sameoutfitbutinpurple;anda particu-
larlynotablewhitecustomsuitheworeto
theVMAsthat wasneon-embroidered
withthemolecularformulasfora bunch
ofpsychedelics.It’sallridiculous—the
longhair,thesinglegoldtooth,thehats,
thesuits—butit worksforhim.whenwearriveat thenationalpark
ina desertoutsideLosAngelesforthe
videoshootwithCiaraandtheBrazilian
artist Iza,forthesong“Evapora,”which
heproduced, Diplo’s mainobligation
seems to be goingthrough racks of
clothestopicktheperfect outfit tostand
amongthetumbleweeds.Thevideois
convenientlyoutlawthemedandoffers
Diploanotheropportunity toincorporate
a cowboyhatandsomesnakeskinboots
intohislook.Hegoesthroughtheracks,
quietlysinging“RiseandShine”ina Kylie
Jennervoice.“Ooooooh,” hecoosat the
clothes.“Thisislike,I’manayahuasca
cowboy”or“Jamaicancowboy” or“dashiki
cowboy,” hesays,handingitemstohis
st ylist.He triesona pairofpantsthat
cradlehisthighssocloselyit feelsmore
obscenethanhavingseenhiminnothing
butbaby-blueboxerbriefsforthepast
twohours.
Newlybuff DiploissomethingDiplo
noticeswe’veallnoticed.His bodyis a by-
product ofadultresponsibility andmain-The CULTURE PAGES
“It’spretty
sa d I haveto take
myshirtoff to
have morelikes”
onInstagram.