Biography

Introduction

Thomas Wesley Pentz, better known by his stage name Diplo, is a Philadelphia-based DJ, producer and songwriter. Together with DJ Low Budget, he runs Hollertronix, a club and music collective. Among other jobs, Pentz worked as a school teacher in Philadelphia. In addition to his solo career, he dated and worked with M.I.A.. Pentz's alias, short for Diplodocus, derives from his childhood fascination with dinosaurs.

Career

Born in Mississippi and raised across the southern United States, Diplo picked up much of the local culture. Baile Funk or Funk Carioca is a special interest for Diplo (Diplo is also a Puertorican Comedian Ramón Rivero (May 29, 1909 – August 24, 1956)), which he encountered while DJing at a house party with Hollertronix and he has used for sampled beats in numerous productions.

Diplo can be attributed with playing a key role in bringing the musical genre funk carioca from Brazil to the United States. After traveling to Rio de Janeiro and experiencing the music first hand in 2004, he released a number of baile funk mixes, such as Favela on Blast: Rio Baile Funk 2004 and Favela Strikes Back, which introduced Funk to some listeners in America. He later went on to co-author the mixtape Piracy Funds Terrorism Vol. 1 with M.I.A, an underground success which included some Baile funk themes. Diplo additionally produced a documentary on Baile Funk, entitled Favela on Blast, (2009) which he hopes will continue to bring attention to the genre.

He released a full-length solo effort, Florida in 2004.

After hearing one of his songs, M.I.A. approached Pentz when he was DJing one night at the Fabric Club in London. "Besides me being a white dude from Florida and her being a Sri Lankan girl in England, everything else was the same: [We were both] film graduates, [listened to] all the same music when we were kids, were going in the same direction right now in music, it was amazing." he said of their meeting. Coincidentally, Diplo was playing her single "Galang" as she entered the club, which he got from a worker at i-D magazine. Diplo also toured as M.I.A.'s DJ during her 2005 Arular Tour. He has also worked with fellow Philadelphians Spank Rock, Amanda Blank and Santogold.

In 2006, Diplo wrote a blog post on Maya saying

All you little fuckers...M.I.A. came out of nowhere and tore all your asses upside down made music that was interesting for DJs that wasn't completely hollow...all you fuckers who sit home and talk shit and don't actually put your heart on the line everyday as a musician need to eat shit. Peace.

In 2006, he started his own label, Mad Decent, signing Brazilian baile funk group Bonde do Role, DJ Blaqstarr. Pentz has been involved in social relief projects, and in 2007, started the Heaps Decent Project with partners Andrew Levins and Nina Agzarian, following gigs on the Winter 2006 Big Day Out festival tour. Work has included recording songs with inmates at a juvenile detention centre with M.I.A. and he has expressed interest in taking the project to other countries.^{[citation needed]} Diplo is signed to the Ninja Tune imprint Big Dada. He has gone on to remix and work with other artists.

He attended the University of Central Florida and Temple University in Philadelphia. He has also toured with Switch and Justice. He is also set to release an album collaboration with Switch, recorded in Jamaica (as Major Lazer) which has been in production for over a year. He is currently touring throughout 2008.

Diplo is just one of 9 artists who participated in thetruth.com’s Remix Project, where he remixed the Sunny Side song "Typo".

Discography

Albums

Florida (2004)
Decent Work for Decent Pay (remix compilation) (2009)

EPs and Singles

"Newsflash" (2003) (as Diplodocus)
"Epistemology Suite" (2003) (as Diplodocus)
"Thingamajawn" (2003) (as Diplodocus)
"Diplo Rhythm" (2004)
"Reload It" 2005 (as Diplo)
"Blow Your Head" 2008 (as Diplo)

Mixtapes

AEIOU (2003)
AEIOU Pt. 2: Making Music Your Own (2004) (with Tripledouble)
Piracy Funds Terrorism (with M.I.A.) (2004)
Favela on Blast (2004)
Favela Strikes Back (2005)
FabricLive.24 (2005)
Mad Decent Radio, Vol. 1 (2006)
I Like Turtles (2007)
Top Ranking: A Diplo Dub (with Santogold) (2008)
Benzi & Diplo Present: Paper Route Gangstaz: Fear And Loathing In Hunts Vegas (2008)

Remixes

2005

Disco D - "Lets Hug It Out Bitch (Diplo Remix)"
Edu K - "Popozuda Rock n' Roll (Diplo Remix)"
Gwen Stefani - "Hollaback Girl (Hollatronic Remix)"
Kanye West - "Gold Digger (Diplo Mix)"
Spank Rock - "Put That Pussy On Me (Diplo Tonite Remix)"
Three 6 Mafia - "Stay Fly (Mad Decent Remix)"
Biz Markie - "Vapors (Diplo Remix)"
Walter Wanderley - "Popcorn (Diplo Remix)"
Modest Mouse - "Float On (Diplo Remix)"

2006

Beck - "Wish Coin (Go it Alone)"
Bloc Party - "Helicopter (Diplo Remix)"
Clipse - "Queen Bitch (Diplo Remix)"
CSS - "Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above (Diplo Remix)"
Daedelus - "Sundown (Diplo Remix)"
Hot Chip - "Over And Over (Shake It Over And Over)"
Justin Timberlake - "My Love (Diplo Remix)"
The Beatles - "Twist and Shout (Diplo B'more Edit)"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Gold Lion (Diplo Remix)"

2007

M.I.A. - "Birdflu (Diplo remix)"
Claude VonStroke - "The Whistler (Diplo Remix)"
Daft Punk - "[Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Daft Punk song)](Diplo's Work Is Never Over)"
Peter Bjorn and John - "Young Folks (Diplo's Drums of Death Remix)"
Znobia - "Tchilo (Diplo Mix)"
Bart Simpson - "Do the Bartman (Bartman So So Krispy Remix)"
The Decemberists - "The Perfect Crime No. 2 (Doing Time Remix)"
Bloc Party - "Where Is Home? (Diplo Mix)"
Black Lips - "Veni Vidi Vici (Diplo Remix)"
Hot Chip - "Shake a Fist (Diplo Remix)"