112 newyork| december9–22, 2019
tenance,butdoeshemindthathe’s consid-
eredanobjectifiablefigureasa result?
“Nope.Totallylike that. Totallylovethat,”
hesayswithimmediateenthusiasm.“But
it’ s prettysadthat I havetotake my shirt
offtohavemorelikesthanotherphotos.”
Hisroleonthisshootcouldbecatego-
rizedasnonessential;he’s just meantto
posebehindCiaraandIzawhilethey look
likegoddesses,sohehasdispatchedhis
tourphotographer, JoeLarkin,tomake
useofthedowntime,wardrobe,andWest-
ernsetfora photoshootbetweentakes.
Whenthecameraisrolling,however,
Diplo,usedtodancingfromthewaistup,
keepsforgettingtoengage hislowerbody.
“Wes!Moveyourleg,” yellsSara,witha
constantsmile.Diplorespondsbyleaning
back,puttingonehandintheair, andwav-
ingbackandforthlike a glitchy windmill.
“Ugh!Dosomethingelse,” shecommands.
Weleavethedesert at sundownand
headbacktoDiplo’s house,whichalso
servesashisstudio,hisoffice,anda crash
padforfriends.Whenwearrive,abouta
dozenpeoplearehangingout,workingat
themassivedining-roomtableorplaying
chess.There’s talkofgoingtotheJonas
Brothersconcertat theHollywoodBowl
laterthat night—Diplohasbeenfriends
withJoeJonasfora few years.
Diploordersdinner(veganThai),and
Sarais dispatchedtogivemea tourofthe
house.I takeinthedécor:A Chanelsurf-
boardis mountedonthewalllikeart, and
about 40 pairsofshoes,rangingfromkicks
toGuccidressshoesandallhiscowboy
boots,arelinedupfromthedoortothe
couchinhislivingroom,alsolikeart.
Diplo’stwosons,Lockett,9,andLazer,
5,livenearbywiththeirmother,Kathryn
Lockhart. Diplowasn’t alwaysthemodel
ofdedicatedfatherhood,buthe’s beenget-
tingbetterabouttimemanagement,he
says,tobeconsistentlypresent.“They’re
notstupid,youknow. They’llbelike, ‘My
dadnevergavemethat realtime.’ ” With-
outprompting,heacknowledgesthat he’s
gottheeasierpart oftheco-parenthood
deal.It hasbeenharderonLockhart,and
he’s oftenmadeit hardforher.
AnAtlantanativeandaspiringactress,
Lockhart met Diploin 2008 backstageat
oneofhisconcerts,wherethey wereintro-
ducedbya mutualfriendinthebandBlack
Lips.WhenI askherlater, overthephone,
whatshethoughtofDiplowhenthey first
met,sheanswersdirectly:“Ididn’t like
him,actually. He wasvery ...Wes.”Thena
differentsort ofWesbegantoemerge. He
courtedherthroughMyspaceandFace-
book.“I ed rea fy
musicne ovie he p-
penstobecool,”sheadds.Theydatedfor
two years and had Lockett in 2010. Nei-
ther had planned for the child but gave it a
go. Eventually, they split in 2014, when she
was two months pregnant with Lazer.
“There was a lot of hurt,” Lockhart says of
the time. She’d put her career as an actress
on hold to accommodate his schedule and
raise their kids, and he was often absent,
working. She was often upset by things
people said to her on social media and in
the press. Shortly after the split, it was
rumored he was dating Katy Perry (Perry
later put Diplo third on a ranking of men
she’dsleptwith,afterOrlandoBloom and
John Mayer).
But Lockhart has seen a shift in Diplo
lately, she says. He’s more forthcoming
with his emotions in “the way he wants to
make everything run smoothly for them
and put them over his needs.” Now, Diplo
says, he knows that all his familyneeds is
full security. “She just wants to know that
whatever I give—if she needed anything,
I have it for them,” he says.later that night, a group of us head to
the Jonas Brothers concert. As wewalk up
to the stadium, chatting about the music
Lockett likes (not the JoBros, as it were),
Diplo stops suddenly, in awe of thedeafen-
ing wall of shrieks and the roar of pure, rag-
ing hormones from all the fans going crazy
fortheJonases.They’relosingtheirvoices,
minds,andshitoverthem.Diplojoins
them,screaming,“Woooo,Jonases!,”ashe
strutsby. He is snappingphotoslike a proud
fatherofthreefullygrown,tight-pantsed,
gyratingpopsingers.He takesvideosthat
heimmediatelyuploadstoInstagram.He
makessureSara cansee.He’sdancingand
laughingandpassingjoints.Whenthere’s a
problemwithourseats(afriendofNick
Jonas’s wife,theactressPriyankaChopra,
claimsownershipoverthem),it’ s Diplowho
tries to pacify. “We’re allhomies,” he
declares,tryingtomake roomforeveryone
likea dadsolvinga dispute.It doesn’t work,
andsheendsupflippingusoff. Somewisp
ofhisoldenergymust remain.Maybeit’s
thegoldtooth.
Acrosstheway, I canseea manaround
Diplo’s age, ina blueArgylesweaterwitha
zipneck,withwhatlooktobehiswifeand
son.Thekid,about10,hasfallenasleep
halfway throughtheshow, butthisguyis
stillgoing,white-winesippycupinhand.
Heraisestheroofina comfortinglycheesy
way. I lookbacktoDiplo,whosuddenly
seemstohavemoreincommonwiththis
sweaterdadthanhisformerself. Theerst-
whileDJ–producer–internationalbooty
callarcheshisbackandraiseshishandto
theskyforthe500thtimethat day and
keepsondancing. ■The CULTURE PAGES
An Idiot’s Guideto Diploby justin curtoWhy is he
called Diplo?
Short for diplodocus, a long-necked
sauropod, the stage name
of Diplo nods to his interest in
the dinosaurs as a child.Where did
hecome from?
Aftergrowingup in Florida, Diplo threw
parties in Philadelphia in the early
aughts with DJ Lowbudget as Hooked
on Hollertronix. Parties gave way to
mixtapes, with one, 2003’s Never Scared,
ranking ninth on that year’s New York
Times top-albums-and-songs list.Doeshehaveany
actualalbums?
There’s onlyoneoriginal
Diplostudioalbum:2004’sFlorida,
whichSpinfoundtobe“relatively
tepid”andgavea B-minus.Hashe
wonanyawards?
DiplohaswonthreeGrammysoutof
ninenominations:twoforhisJackÜ
workwithSkrillex,plusonethis
yearfora SilkCitycollaborationwith
MarkRonsonandDuaLipa,“Electricity.”Whydoeshematter?
Someoftheheavyhitters
Diplohasworkedwithinclude
M.I.A., Sia,Beyoncé,Madonna,
Drake, LilWayne,Robyn,SnoopDogg,
andUsher. He hasbeenrumored
t aincollaboratoron
Lad s sixthalbumforyears.
PHOTOGRAPHS: NINA PROMMER/PATRICK MCMULLAN (SKRILLEX); DAVID CROTTY/PATRICK MCMULLAN (LADY GAGA)