317. - Diplo

All right, this episode of How Long Gone is brought to you by Stateside with Kai and Carter, a new podcast from The Guardian. And they are using this podcast to slow down the news and wrestle with the questions that we all have about what's happening in the world. And they do it three times a week, Jason. Does that sound familiar to you? We don't really talk about, you know, a lot of international global news items and climates and cultures and sports and things like that. We do talk about fashion and wellness, but for everything else, Kai and Carter are a great place. All right, so who couldn't use more news? Listen wherever you get your podcast. or watch on YouTube. Bike to business. Chris Black, them jeans. What the fuck is up, Jason? I'm just seconds, minutes off of a cardio. I made sure that because we had a busy day today. of podcasting. I have to have a pizza party later on that you'll be attending. So I really need to wake up and get my exercise in or else I'd be a full stress case today. I know. I'm glad to hear that you're taking care of your mental health on your own. It's really important for people to focus on that. Yeah. I don't need a hunter. No. Yeah. Only because I can't afford him right now. It's not really about what I want. It's about what I can get. You know what I mean? For the money that I have. It's different. Well, I mean, it's interesting that we're podcasting right now because some news just broke that HBO has chosen to um against all odds renew the worst television show i've ever seen okay which one is that there's there's a lot of shows on hbo yeah no you're right but it's one that you like maybe you could guess okay so it's like a new show it's a new show but it's based on an old classic oh thank you God, it is in just like that. It's really happening? Yeah, no, it is. John Oliver, unfortunately, didn't get canceled, but curse Trevor Noah's on a different network. So, yeah, congratulations, Jason.

Your terrible program that bastardizes the legendary run of Sex and the City is back. But I will say the one positive thing is that I feel like it could give us a chance to maybe get Che Diaz on this podcast. I think Che is probably still on a media blackout per her management, which is wise. I don't want to meet Che. I don't want to see what's behind the curtain with Che. Unfortunately, the Che discourse got so annoying that I was hoping she would. die oh okay not not literally not literally end her life like one of the theranos scientists no it became it became too stupid it became too much every meme was bad every gay guy thought he was a stand-up comedian with a che diaz meme so so it just kind of it imploded In a good way for her. No, no, no, no. It wasn't her even getting roasted. It was like the... She was in the zeitgeist and lexicon shining so brightly that it burned out quickly. Yes, and it wasn't her. No fault of her own. You can't control that kind of stuff, unfortunately. I think Che is the real puppet master here because she just laid back in the cut silently, you know, plotting these 5D chess moves. And now, you know why? Because season two and just like that... Guess what contract we're going to take another peek at, you know what I mean? Yeah, Che better have gotten a salary bump. You know what I mean? Between Che and Miranda's son, those are the two that deserve the pay bumps the most. Che, she's fought for, and I think she's secured. She's getting $3,500 an episode now. They are getting $3,500 an episode, Jason. Maybe you're right. I'm not totally sure, but we can get HBO. We can probably talk to somebody, HBO, kind of crack the books. Let us know. Kind of let us know what Che's deal is looking like. I'll talk to some agents that I know from Starbucks in Beverly Hills. You should talk to your dad and get a hold of the accountant community. Because if we're cracking books, let's skip the middleman and go right to the juicy part of that strawberry. Great idea. My dad's really connected in the Hollywood Jewish accountant scene. Well, actually, I think I was having either a dream or some kind of stoner thought about what it would be like to have a TV show.

men style show that's about advertisers marketing people what if there's a show just like that but it was about accountants only and it's like the network of accountants especially of the Hollywood types and those are the real people moving the world along I like where your heads are I'll trade you the 2011 audit of this person for this. I need to figure out how much this person's making on that. And the accounts are the ones that really get it done at the end of the day. We need a business manager reality show is what we need. Because then you get the calls like, Kodak Black calling his business manager because he's trying to buy three horses in Tampa. And the business manager's got to be like, Kodak, bro, no, you donated a million to Trump, you can't spend half a million on horses. Accountants get bogged down in numbers or business managers get to see things. They get to tell Dua Lipa no. And that is more interesting. Well, I think you could be projecting, Chris, because you are kind of a business manager in training, and you want to get that 4 a.m. call Tampa time, and you're like, half a million for three horses in Tampa? I can get that done for $18,000. I can get that done. Kodak, go back to bed, and we'll talk about this tomorrow. Kodak, they don't accept Discover cards at the horse store. All right. Every business manager skims a little something off the top. You know what I mean? Right, Chris? Well, I mean, look, bro. It's a job that... We can talk to our guest about this. He might have some... Let me put that on my notes. Business manager skimming money from you. Okay, got it. The fucked up thing is, if I'm a business manager, if I got somebody that's making that much bread, then I'm making that much bread. But I think you see too much, and you know that Elton John's water budget is $7.50, and you're like, this motherfucker's spending $7.50 on Mountain Valley, and I'm only getting, you know.

3%, we got to do I want more when the reality is you're getting plenty. I think when you have, like if you're the business manager of Kodak Black, for instance, he's so off in another world and Kodak is depending and trusting his business manager so much. I'm assuming, I'm only assuming because he hasn't been on planet Earth in a few years now. It must be tough to resist the urge to do a little moving some things around. I mean, I'm an honest man, and I'm afraid that Kodak Black would kill me with his friends, but it would be tough to resist a little. I'm not saying I stole $2 million from him, but... You know, a light little 20, you know, I'll get a, if he's, if he needs to get a new computer, I'll, I'm going to get a new computer. Yeah. One for you, one for him. I mean, I think there's also kind of the kind of thing where you could maybe, you know, it's, it's like, Oh, this lunch, you know? Yeah. It was, yeah. Beverly Hills Hotel is a $1,500 lunch for me and a couple of buddies, but we talked about Kodak. Pull out the black card. I mean, the problem is that if you're a true celebrity, you shouldn't pay attention to anything except whatever your craft is and making sure you look good. So you've got to get people around you that you truly trust. Yeah, and our guest today has been working on his craft of electronic dance music for a long time. The beginning of time. So from a basement in Gainesville to the EDM stages of Europe to the beaches of Mykonos to the – how many – also, how does this guy – why does this guy have so many fucking CDJs when he plays? Can you explain that to me? Well, I'll put that on my notes. Because I don't get it. How many CDJs can a guy use? Okay. Well, with the CDJs, usually at the most – Somebody will use us four CDJs, two on each side, which is very rare if someone's actually using all four and needs all four. I would say most people, you know, 95% of the time, maybe 97% of the time, you just need two. This guy's got six. I swear to God I saw six. Well, that's the problem is once you have these festivals and these big electronic dance music parties where there's like 20 DJs playing and every DJ is a DJ who requests four CDJs.

Then suddenly the mezcal starts flowing, the ketamine starts flowing. Some people that are wearing Burning Man goggles and no shirt are all there. And then next thing you know, this guy wants to hop on. and this chick wants to hop on, and this person wants to hop on. Oh, oh, so you're switching between, so it's different people doing different sets. Yeah, it could, because it could be, it's like something beyond a B2B set. It's just kind of like a party, like, hey, we're all here, and we're all just going to, you play it for a few, I'll play it for a few, I'll be over here working my thing, you work your thing, and then. So is it kind of, is it like, does that work like when the, you know, when you're like doing an extended jam as a band, and then you all kind of look at the drummer and you just know? when it's over and it's time to kind of walk away? No, it's quite the opposite. Where Diplo looks over at Kygo and says, all right, bro, it's time for us to kind of head backstage. There's some things waiting for us back there kind of thing? I think it's more of you have to literally... You have to physically stop somebody from playing or they'll just keep playing. You have to tackle. When you're watching the band in the pocket and everyone looks over to the drummer, you take a little fill for a minute, and then I'm going to play my little bass line and do-do-do, and then... That's like a band that respects each other and everyone is moving in sync. But on the DJ stage, it's every person for themselves. Everyone wants to drop the sickest song. I understand. And it's going to be so fucking sick. So it gets competitive because it's solo artists versus solo artists versus a band. working together for a singular goal. Yeah, everyone wants to kill it the hardest, and you don't care about the crowd because they're all stupid, but you care about your peers on stage. So you want to impress them so badly. Sure. So when you and Z-Trip were going back-to-back, and he kind of stunted on you with an Aerosmith, ZZ Top, Run DMC kind of hybrid, what does them genes come out with to kind of shut down the haters? Well, after I'm done kind of...

Patting dry my khakis because I've wet myself. My dockers are soiled. All I have to do is play any cool song with no mixing or scratching, and then that's how you defeat somebody like that. So you just put on Levitating, and you're good to go. Not even the Elton John version. Just the regular kind of radio. Yeah, if somebody's doing a Run DMC mashup with Biz Marquis mixed up with Beastie Boys, all you have to do is play any song that's... halfway cool and you and you've won the medal that's great because i can't wait to ask our guest about what songs are cool right now because i feel like he could say 10 things that i won't understand the words like i've never heard these words together before all right well let's let's give our special guest west aka dj diplo a zoom call we got dj diplo up before noon which i think i feel like i don't know what his schedule is like but when he's at the malibu house he's waking up earlier than we are chris he's already he's already fucking hit the three footers that are going to the left and then to the right so uh is that a ball is that a bong or a wave it's both okay i got it let's talk to him this episode of how long gone is brought to you by a new podcast from the guardian stateside with kai and carter this is covering a lot of our bases jason it's a it's trying to slow down The news and wrestle with the questions we all have about what's happening in the world. And I know you particularly have quite a lot of questions. A lot of questions. But how often? Because we do this podcast three times a week and that's a sweet spot. How many times do they do? Three times a week. And I have a feeling just based on the platform and these talking points that they're maybe going to be covering different stuff than we do. That's just a guess. The Guardian is not some billionaire owned. They're not afraid to say what they want to say, brother. Yeah, Rupert ain't sniffing around in what journalists Kai Wright and Carter Sherman are up to over there at Stateside. But yeah, listen wherever you get your podcasts. You can watch it on YouTube. It's three times a week. And who couldn't use more news? You know, especially when it's not, you know, from here, let's say. Give it a listen. Give it a listen. This episode of How Long Gone is brought to you by Squarespace.

Obviously, Jason, you and I spend a lot of time on the World Wide Web. So do our peers, our listeners, our friends, our colleagues. Obviously. Maybe even your parents if they're freaky. And if you're doing anything in the world, writing, taking pictures. I do topless boxing. You need a website. Exactly. A website that works, that does what it's supposed to do, that allows you to be creative but also business-minded. Jason, there's one place to go for that, Squarespace. Yeah, Chris, I'm over here. I'm modifying calculators and putting Claude inside of them so you could cheat at school. And I just want a place where I could, you know, have everything all in one place. I can have the SEO tools so those future graduates can find me. And, you know, I'm able to accept, quote, unquote, donations for my services that might be gray area. You know what I mean? And then email campaigns. Hey, I got a new 2.3 version upgrade. Boom, boom, boom. Get the analytics going. Raise some money. Show your investor all of your cool analytics of what's going on. They're going to want to get in early. And we can use Blueprint AI to make your website look as professional as your competition, if not more. So, head to squarespace.com slash howlong for a free trial. When you're ready to launch, use offer code howlong to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or a domain. Oh, this is huge for me personally. This episode of How I'm Gone is brought to you by TaskRabbit. Oh, baby, let me tell you something. This is not a joke. I use TaskRabbit a lot because I can't do anything. You need some art hung? TaskRabbit. You need a fucking... Something put together? A cabinet? Got to reach that cheese grater on the top shelf? TaskRabbit. Anything you need, TaskRabbit can take care of it for you. And, I mean, it... How it works, TaskRabbit connects you with skilled taskers in your area. They can help you move. They can assemble furniture, repairs, yard work, mounting, and more. You can search for a tasker based on cost, skill set, availability, and past client reviews so you know exactly who's showing up and can have confidence that they know what they're doing because taskers have assembled over 3.4 million pieces of furniture, completed 700,000 home repairs.

handled 1.5 million moves, and the numbers are just going up, Jason. Yeah, throw a little money at the problem. It's not so expensive, and that job that you really don't want to do is something that another person out in the world is very good at doing and would gladly do it in exchange for a little bit of money. So when life happens, your to-do list grows. Get ahead of it now and get $15 off your first task at TaskRabbit.com or grab the TaskRabbit app using promo code How long taskers book up faster, especially for same day tasks. So book trusted home help today. That is $15 off your first task using promo code how long with the TaskRabbit app or at TaskRabbit.com. You haven't worn a shirt in four months, bro. Come on. You want to go camera on or camera off, Wes? Oh, shit. I'm off, bitch. It ain't nothing to take the shirt off. Jason, I don't understand, though. Do you just take the shirt off as soon as you come in the house post-workout? Because you don't work out. I timed the workout in the podcast. There wasn't enough time to shower. So the shirt was soaking wet, obviously. So I had to throw it and then... And then just go, so I'm not just sitting here for an hour with a wet shirt. I usually wake up, and I did my run this morning. I just timed it right so I was able to take a shower. You should try that. Good for you. Yeah, it's no problem for me. Fuck you. What's up? What's up, Wes? How are you? I'm good. How do I make my thing go? Do not disturb. Here we go. I got that now. Who's Ethan Jacobs? Why? Has he got a shirt off, too? Ethan Jacobs works for the PR company that you work for. He works for you, actually. And he was just setting it all up. Ethan, don't fucking talk, Ethan. Shut the fuck up, Ethan. Ethan lives in K-Town, and I tried to get him out of his shirt, but it didn't work out. You eating some yogurt over there, Wes? Yeah, I'm eating yogurt. I'm on this carnivore diet, but I got this full-fat yogurt.

That I could eat. The yogurt, that's for the supplements so they can be absorbed into your body? I have no idea. I just ate so much steak like last few days. I just don't want any more steak for breakfast. Like crazy. Are you on like the Heidi Montag, like the raw? Or you're eating cooked steak? You're on that Jordan Peterson. I'm cooking it. I'm really adhering to it. I'm doing like 80%. Like I'm eating some bread yesterday and shit. I don't care. You have a little cheat day. So how does it feel when you just have water, steak, and salt? as your only thing that you put in your body honestly probably the best i've ever felt like this diet for me because i guess just depends on what kind of body you have and i just like i'm like high energy you're you have a sick one big body bro and then it just works i mean i look at my doctor was like oh your blood type you should you totally should do it the first couple weeks i did it i just like had bad stomach problems because you're not used to it usually i was like kind of leaning towards more vegan really Like, fuck it. It was like making me, I didn't, I didn't feel good. So this is a doctor, this is a doctor assisted thing. You didn't just look this up on the internet. This is like. Actually, you know who told me about it was Rick Rubin. He switched from being vegan for like 17 years to meet overnight. And he's like, it's the best thing I did. I was like, oh shit, let me try it. Really? Yeah. I met him in Costa Rica and he was like telling me, and this guy, one of the carnivore guys like out there surfing all the time and like trying to preach. sure his thing i think he got kicked off the internet recently because he's just like too crazy with the raw food thing that people are like trying to do and getting sick but i didn't really listen to him i got his number but rick was like yeah i just do brisket and this they adhere to it hardcore like their kids eating liver like their five-year-olds like eating liver and he loves it they're like a science experiment that family i just felt thought if he's gonna do it

you're gonna rip it and it was i'll try it because rick's like the goat so everything he does i gotta try it i gotta try it i trust like god sometimes you know so i gotta do it i can't wait till you get a nice beard going then we'll be waiting for we'll be waiting for that problem is i can't grow any facial hair that's all you got this is like the full beard right this is like the full the full thing i thought you were just going for like a 90s goatee kind of look look no i just actually have no i have like no facial hair i'm like missing testosterone I'm going to ask for my assistant for bringing some peanut butter. Hold on. So you just ring a little bell, and then she brings you peanut butter? That's nice. Yeah, I got a peanut butter bell. Did you surf this morning? I went out there. The tide was too low, so I was going to go out. I was like, I didn't know this podcast was happening today. I'm about to go out surfing right now. Bro, how do you not know this? I don't understand. Who's failing in the chain for you to not know this is happening? If you want to know, her name is Katie Egg. She's one of my major assistants, and she literally told me when I was in Vegas, like, oh, do you want it? She question marked. do you want to do this podcast tomorrow? And I was like, uh, no, I'm be like DJing like an hour before I can't do that. And I was like, I was like, it came a day and I was like, Oh, and then, you know, Jason told me, Oh, it's on schedule for a while. Like I was like, Oh, then they just didn't really do it that serious. So now we're here though. Whatever we got, we got here. No, you're right. You're right. No, the journey is not important. It's the destination. I understand that. Thanks for taking the time to make it happen, bro. The waves aren't that good. It's like low tide. It's super sketchy out here in Malibu. So basically, you're only doing this because the waves aren't good. That's fine. I can't. Thank you, Mother Nature.

for that blessing. Ways are not happening today. You guys got lucky. So can you walk to the beach from your house? Like you're right on there? Yeah, you can walk, babe. Okay, that's sick. It's like a weird pad. I got like a river behind my house. Like it's usually dry, but in January it runs. Okay. And I can walk that little river, but there's so much poison ivy that like one of my friends, Sarah, went and did it a couple times. She got so bad poison ivy. It takes like three days to know you got it. And you like, it's crazy. You have like hives on your arms and there's poison ivy. This part of Malibu is very wet. It's like a microclimate. Like it's always wet in the morning and like shit grows here. There's like coyotes and we got parrots out here. I don't know what's going on. So it's a very moist tropical climate. Which I guess works well for you. Well, I'm saying because the rest of Malibu risks fire all the time. You risk burning your house down, actually. It's kind of dangerous to live here. Did your move to Malibu, was this because of the surfing lifestyle, or was it just time to go guru style? I'm on guru, novice level right now, so I'm trying to get... I thought moving to Malibu would be the first step, and then Beard would come, and then eventually I would start to say things that made sense that were kind of mindless, and then eventually people... Profound. And then people just kind of come to Malibu and work with me, even though it's like there's no Postmates. When rappers come, they're really pissed because they get here like 10 p.m. They're like, what do you mean nothing's open? I was like, yeah, this is Malibu. Shit's done at like 830. And then Postmates is like, you got to get it from like Gore Hills, like 30 minutes away. It's like living in like a small town in like Wyoming or something. You got to like literally drive. If I go to a hospital problem, I got to like go. 40 minutes to get. No, these people don't talk about these downsides about living in Malibu. I think Malibu, it's this, I mean, obviously it's amazing, but it really is a removed small town. I committed to living in Malibu, but what really you do is you're so rich. That's right. You just have a house here and you come here like within June. It's a weekend house. None of my neighbors live here. Nobody, I'm the only person that actually got the winter in Malibu. None of these people, the guy behind me in a huge rock band from the eighties.

Never, never there. Never been there. So you can only afford to live in Malibu year round is what you're saying. Things are going well. Our heart goes out to you. Our heart goes out to you. I know it's tough out here, but I got no, it's like kind of lonely in the winter, but now I got people, you know, we got, I know the locals here now, you know, so house is right around here. That's a good spot to link people up. It's only 15 minutes from my house. And honestly, it is the surfing lifestyle. I kind of was like, why am I living in Hollywood? This, you've been in my house, my old house. It's kind of like you have a view of the Hollywood Hills. view of hollywood it's such a bachelor pad like thing to have this like it's so corny to live up there i felt like i'm not like what i don't need to live up here my family it wasn't you it wasn't you my kids got nowhere to go i got no driveway i got no like people homeless people crawling up the side of my house i don't know what's going on I just blew my whole load and spent my money and moved to Malibu. I was like, fuck it. Eventually, the beard will come, I thought. Keep eating that meat. We were doing the Twitch thing, I feel like, when you bought this house. And I feel like it was a whole thing. Because it hasn't been that long. It's like a year ago. Like two years ago, I bought it. But I moved in like a year and a half ago. What was the renovation situation? Well, first of all, there was a person that lived there before you, right? Is that a person of note? Yeah, the house was once owned by Kid Rock. I think he did a lot of cool stuff to the house. There's a huge poster of Kid Rock in my house. When you say cool stuff, are you being for real or are you using sarcasm here? He did some renovations that you were into. The architect itself was before Kid Rock and he built this whole house in this Jamaican Balinese vibe. So he got all these ornate wood carvings and some random doors. Some Tulum shit. Yeah, it looks like Caribbean. The yard is super nice. there's amazing trees here and it just feels like you can like you can literally grow your own food i feel like in the backyard if you want to like totally lock yourself into malibu so how did kid rock fuck this paradise up he actually toned it down like it was a little too balinese and he like took some of the walls out from what i've seen and like when i like look at the house the old house pictures you can find

Do you think he lived there full-time, or is this a part-time? I think he did. He actually must have got it, like, a little bit in the bad market place. So he kind of lost a little money on the house, and then the next people picked up the slack. And then he was there. I think he was here. People I know that came over were like, oh, yeah, that's a... I don't know what Kid Rock's first name is. Bob. We call him Bob. If we're friends, you call him Bob. They're like, oh, that's Bob's house. And I was like, oh, yeah, it's my house, I guess. People know the house. People come over like, I've been here before, you know? Well, there's only so much room in Malibu. I mean, you know, there's only so many houses in Malibu. Okay, I'm going to name drop this. Like, Randy Gerber, I was at his house, and he told me, I was like, oh, I've been to Bob's house. Like, that's, like, the kind of thing you hear. and passing in Malibu. What's Randy up to now? Is he still, is the tequila thing? Is he just, is he out on that? Or is he still running it? I'm not speaking of Randy's business. I don't really know what he's doing, but I mean, he's totally happy. He has the coolest family. the dopest house in malibu he still does he has like an office i think casamigos has an office in malibu above cafe habana because that's also oh yeah he owns i knew he owned cafe habana for i knew about that i forgot i mean he's like kind of like malibu like real like real malibu guy like he's like putting the he actually putting the culture here you know like cafe habana is the only place open like late night you can go get a um you can go do karaoke and shit on tuesday so basically you have to have a chef to live in malibu is what you're telling me you don't because i live right next to um i live next to pavilions and there's good food there and there's actually If you want to be a rapper lifestyle and be vampire, yes, you do. So Bossa Nova doesn't deliver to Malibu. No Bossa Nova. No Fat Sal delivers to Malibu. None of that. Dave's Hot Chicken. That's too bad. Dave's Hot Chicken is a new thing. I've been out of here since Dave Hot Chicken got hot with people. Bossa Nova was the big one, but there was another one that I really got all the time.

rappers got healthy in the end they started all going to that one place the um the vegan place and cafe no not like there's like three of them ones in large smart ones in uh where they ask you to where they ask you the question when you order oh cafe gratitude i love cafe gratitude rappers started really getting into that when i was leaving really really that's that's surprising once you get bossing over like 700 sessions in a row you start going like wow i'm like I don't feel good. I don't feel good. I ate a French fry sandwich for breakfast at 5 in the morning. It's weird. I'm not. My stomach's kind of turning over. Well, what do you miss about the east side, Wes? There's got to be a couple things. It was a good Gelson's by our old house. In my 40s, I mean, like, I haven't been. I've actually never even been in the air one. I don't ever go to a grocery shop, and I order the groceries. That's pretty normal, right? You order the groceries and they come to your house. You don't have to go to the shop. It's been normalized now. I mean, for a celebrity person. Also, you're like one of the busiest guys all over. You're traveling. I don't expect you to be. I go to the supermarket. I still gravitate towards the toy sector. I haven't been there since I was like. It's the last time you bought. Yeah, it was the last time I bought the groceries and begged my mom for chocolate bars. Yeah, the delivery thing has taken over, especially if you live remote. I mean, there's like a movement in LA. It feels like if you're like a 20 to 30. There's a lot of energy. I love energy, right? I'm DJing a lot. I'm always traveling. But when I'm in the city, like you just go to this place and go to a session or this, the accessibility is so good. And like you get inspired a lot. I think that LA does have a lot of inspiration once you're old enough to. weed out the like bullshit you know and then from the good stuff because there's so many creative people in la but i just it's really hard to find them because so much people out in the streets out at events are such freeloaders right like there's nobody that has any has acquired any skills in la don't come for me on my own podcast bro i'm not gonna fuck it but you guys obviously know what you're doing i'm saying like

I'll give you an example. I go to Nashville, and I'm, like, going to, like, sessions with, like, all these amazing guys doing, like, 10 sessions a day. They dress like crazy. They wear, like, cowboy boots and fishing shirts, and, like, they know the lyrics of Money Bag Yo song. They're just, like, like, a peep. Money Bag Yo. And I'm, like, going at night. I'm going to, like, honky-tonks. There's guys with dreadlocks that sing fucking country songs. There's, like, hippies. There's girls. Every girl, like, knows how to play the fiddle or, like, dance. They're really doing it over there. And, like, everybody I meet is literally good at something, and they have a day job in Nashville. Fast forward to, like, going to, like, I'm not going to name any, like. Hwood properties. You go to these places and they're actually dope. I love that team, but nobody there has acquired any skills. They're literally there to get free drinks and talk about themselves. I got used to creative people all the time and I wasn't finding many out in the trenches. Well, it turns out the Hwood group, the Delilah, they're not. It's like, what do you do, bro? I'm like, my friend makes hoodies. that's about it i mean i'm i love some of the hwood guys and i'll tell you what in vegas though the delilah's is one of my favorite places in the city like las vegas delilah's is like sick so if you ever come to las vegas it's just like they designed it like uh indiana jones temple like you know when he's like in that that hong kong that cafe whatever during the war war ii and it's like people are singing like jazz it's just like that like it looks like okay 20 million build out all this amazing art from like the old school vegas it's really It's really the dopest place in Vegas right now. Okay, shout out to Vegas Delilah. I mean, the L.A. Delilah is great, too. If you want to see some Clippers eating dinner with some OnlyFans thoughts, it's a great place to go. There's not even real Clippers, like benchwarmer Clippers. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like, I think I've seen you before. You are tall. I'll give you that. It's like the guys who are from Serbia and then dudes that are barely D1 level guys. When's the last time you did an interview that you enjoyed? I'll be honest. I put out an album right now.

and i'll be very honest with you guys it's literally because you guys because well i know jason's a dj but it's a collection of like dance singles right so i totally am it's a veil of an album it's not i might try to lie to anybody and it's like a collection and it's easy to distribute but like i'm not first of all album isn't even really a like i don't think the idea of an album is even a a good concept anymore because no one we don't live in a world where albums are made we live in a world where like singles are digested in five seconds and 15 seconds especially with electronic music 100 but even anything hip-hop like single you know even like camila cabello whoever it is has a good single you don't you don't go check our album you're here on the radio you really don't i just check out her instagram you might you might you might go see arcade there's some bands that are like that have religious followings and they still cut dope albums they're so tiny that that market so you can't really do albums anymore and my plus mine's a dance one i literally threw it together with all the songs that i wrote over the last two years that no one's no one's i'm not you're not pitching dance records to people anymore like you're not like so the days like chris brown and black eyed peas cutting like a dance record on the radio is like not here i'm playing i'm making these records for like me to make money on the road and like people like to build a build a build a club system whatever like for my my parties make people i feel good in my my shows but like it's not really an album so i'm like kind of like kind of like negotiate with people like why is this album like they're trying to talk about the album cycle i'm like it's not it's kind of fake all these interviews i'm done for like billboard or whatever and then people actually this one girl on billboard was so dope though she like knew everything about like my florida album so she was kind of like she knew what was going on and like some people very rarely like really know my career path because it's been a really meandering like

mess of stuff i got reviewed on pitchfork for the album which is like actually was one of the best reviews number wise i've ever gotten a pitchfork because they gave me like they'd give me like like lots of threes and fours but and i wrote to them i was like because they kind of like called bought the album whatever and then they kind of used a press photo from like my country project so it looked really stupid like i'm like cowboy adam like so like they made me what they made me like they try to make me look like dumb and i just was like why are you guys even reviewing like you guys are like it's how irrelevant are you anyway but it was i was kind of thinking myself yeah maybe i shouldn't have like it's it's an album it's out because it's basically a playlist you can play on spotify it's a collection of great records or pop leaning ones are forward and the back ones are like the seth troxler and like the who made who like the more the deep cuts and like you have to really love dancers to get into so for the real heads it's like kind of like what a playlist is you have your top songs and it kind of goes and meanders if you want to follow someone you go You keep on that trail, and it gets weirder and weirder, you know? You start at 2 a.m., and then you end up, you know, the people that are there at [redacted address] that's, like, pavement. And by the end of it, it's like a dirt road. And then by the end of that, it's like you're listening. Dirt road, go past Burning Man, and then you're just using a machete to knock. And it's like you're on your own. Then you're on a shaman's journey. It's just that you're at the trash fence. Okay. Well, I've been doing press for the album, and it's, like, weird because I'm like, what is? It doesn't really make sense. I mean, I got to do radio promo, which is, like, kind of, like, lame, too, because I'm like, who's going to play it? But, like, everybody wants me to do it. I'm like, I'll try it once, and then it doesn't work, and I'll try it again. I'm like, why am I doing all these, like, dumb shows for radio? Whatever. I play the game. I'm being really honest with you guys. No, I mean, that's kind of what I was feeling, because I feel like for, like, DJ people or producers or anything, like, you have a lot to say, but I don't know. I feel like the press that you end up doing ends up not giving you the outlet to, like,

you know just do what you want to do they just ask you a bunch of dumb questions all the press wants is like me to say something crazy and then that's the headline and people go and click on it and like yeah that's like that's the game so i'm like how do i say something crazy it's like not embarrassing myself but then to get people to like go check me out and then say they hate me but then listen i mean i like that i'm i'm glad that at least you're trying to find that crazy thing to say that won't get you that won't get you know, in the scare quotes. I will get canceled, but I will get people to click on it. Yeah, because most people just give up, and they're like, oh, I'm just not going to say anything. Yeah, I did this album, and it was great, and Miguel's super nice to work with, and you should go check it out on iHeartRadio. I got me something I write about, like, how the song got made. I'm like, it was just like, I sent my voice note, and he, like, sang a song, and it was like, we did it. Walk me through your inspiration. It's like we went to, like, an ashram in India and, like, had the candles lit, and we, like, had, like, the orchestra singing. We took ayahuasca. Miguel and I went to Bon Ivera's house for four months, and this is what came out. We lived in a tunnel. We had no internet, and we just played. Well, it's good. I mean, I like that you're still trying, and you're still being yourself, and you haven't given up. I think that's good because a lot of people get scared off. If they're not scared, they're just like, oh, it's just too much work. It's just easier to be like, yep, it's all good. I love it. You don't have to do it. You don't have to do it. It doesn't matter. The record will do what the record's going to do. I think I'm lucky because this is the first record I'm mad decent to label them. And they've worked really hard to get to a place where they can actually promote a major label. Because back in the day when we did Major Lazer, the side project I did, we were going with Spotify partnership. We did it independently. No label or anything. And back then, the labels were still fighting with Spotify. Spotify was starting to pop.

in Australia and places where they like Derek said the deals done and we crushed it like we used to get I mean Lena was the first I think one of the first or second song that was a billion streams and that's like with no label help so it's those things are possible with the right energy the right people like we kind of like had an idea of like conceptually how do we market this but then the labels were like oh we can do this and make the money they own all the masters they're like this is so lucrative so like labels have you know they remember when labels were like tanking like eight years ago we were like oh but record industry is done it's broken now they're making more money than they ever did like since like the 70s like they're just crushing yeah because they figured out how to make the monetize on everything and i mean at the same time it really hurt indie labels because there's no reason to sign with someone like indie because majors don't do shit but they'll put you in all the playlists and they'll get you the right placement and stuff like that so it's a tough business and major labels it's like literally like it's like they might as well just be data miners because that's all they do. They look at data and they work on artists that way. They don't give a shit about, oh, this is great. There was this guy who used to work at Interscope. He did Smashing Pumpkins and he helped make Aftermath. His name was Mark. He was a real A&R that loved somebody in the studio with Smashing Pumpkins and helped them build a project and found something like MIA. I really believe in this artist and I'm going to help them grow. Because I have a good feeling about them. That job has completely disappeared. That doesn't exist anymore. It's software. It's literally software. When I talk to people at the labels, they're all day long. They're hiring. We're looking for more community manager and data people. They're not looking for creative, which is good and bad. It's going to always change, but that's just where we are right now. I think it's bad that do you love music is not a requirement to work at a record label like how it used to be. It's fine because you've got to make money.

But it is also depressing. But they literally plug songs into, like, a machine, and it tells you if it's going to work or not. Like, it's, like, insane. It's, like, it's not even fun. It's just, like, a data entry job at a certain point. That's why podcasting is a new frontier, Wes. You ever think about getting into it? Yeah. Zane Lowe? Just so you know, you might actually know this, but I had one of the first music podcasts. It was called Mad Decent Worldwide Radio. We did it on Apple when it was, like, an Apple podcast type of thing before it was even music. I remember that. And my podcasts were so... I listened back to one that day. I did like three real ones where I was like, it was like, it was documentary style filmmaking. I would go to New Orleans. I would interview hot boy Ronald and these bounce legends. And I would go to the parties and play songs after I talked to them a little bit. And it was like 45 minutes of me playing songs, me like narrating, me asking questions to the bounce DJs. And that was like episode one, New Orleans. Then I was like Baltimore club. I went with Scotty B to the paradox club, talked about the birth of it. Talked to Kay Swift before she passed away. And like, I did that one and I did one about Cumbia, which I couldn't really talk to anybody. I didn't speak Spanish. And I did all this shit. I don't know if we had anybody listen to it, but then the rest of them would just be mixing world music. After that, I did a year of that. But I spent a lot of time on that because I had time and I was really interested in that discovery side of it. Then, of course, I just moved to production and I just got busy in that. But I loved that. I don't know if people would be into that anymore, but I feel like I could do something that was on that line. That's a TV show now. that's the thing that's literally yeah you're right it's a tv show and yeah i was just gonna say do you wish you still had time to do stuff like that because i know you kind of have a documentary bug in you i think i would i mean i keep putting out albums because that's literally the easiest form of like making money and like i actually love it i can tour touring is like instant like the distribution of me on a show playing my music is like that's the chain of people my music of people

I don't have to rely on like label. I don't have to rely on the radio. I don't mind anything. I'm like, this is it. And I understand that. I understand how that works. People will still book you to DJ until the end of time, whether or not you release any new music. You're right. But you, I mean, I've, I've, I've been the one of the luckiest guys that's like been on this like slow climb. Like, and I, and like the minute I'm like on this, like, I'm like, I'm ready to bow out. Like I'm, I'm, I'm ready. And I think with major laser, we, that we had that we peaked. I think we peaked when we did the, um, the cuba concert we had just had like lean on we had light it up and we kind of put out albums now but we don't have a we don't have a message or like a real direction of how to reach people and i think i'm like the first to admit that like that project was so dope we did 10 years of it and we really like i saw it hit the peak and then we do cooler shit now like we're like working i'm a piano artist and he's like this isn't stuff that's going to break mainstream like we did uh two albums ago right right and you've got to really know your you got to know your wealth your weight you know like what what you're good at and that's like that that project peak while the diplo brand or whatever like it feels like it's just kept growing because all the other djs weren't able to adapt like i was like i love this music i love the chains when i was a dj man when i first started djing with you even yeah i was playing like we were playing it was like baltimore club and bodily funk and everything and then it became like hip-hop and i started producing and like i always change i've never been wanted to stop with one style and stick with it. That's what happened with EDM. These guys were like, they saw workers working, they saw the show, they saw the fees, and they just like, like, I want to go see, like, I didn't see, but my friend was at Zedd concert at Hakkasan or whatever. He was still playing, like, Booyah by, like, the beat. He's like, these records that are, like, such house records from, like, 2011. Like, the whole set was that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's, like, insane to me because some of the kids don't really know or care, but, like, there's no progressive idea. Like, how do I make new records? How do I play new records? And they might fail, but that's, like, what a DJ's job's always been. Like,

be excited about music and to give music to people and fail sometimes like you know i play records all the time i'm like this doesn't work i'll move on sometimes i have a happy accident like i was playing a house party in london i started i moved into i'm a piano at a house music and it went fucking crazy and i was like damn let's stick with this and i moved out of that something and i just you try things and you need some little steps like little house parties to really experiment that's when you as a dj can like play with things and play with people's like ideas about what they're listening to. You're like Dave Chappelle of DJing. You got to drop in to do that 3 a.m. set. I'm just going to smoke cigs and let it rip. 100%. We'll just figure it out. We're going to figure it out. That's why my tour managers always quit and hate me because I will not, I'll like, after the party's over, we'll find a frat party to go to and I'll play whatever it is. I always will do that. At least a sorority party, bro. Come on. South by Southwest, I ended up going after my show, an NFT show. We went to a house party. It was so tiny and small. They gave me a little cash. I was just me. 40 like college kids i'm playing like shit i just make whatever i play whatever you know and they like loved it but that's when you're like oh i'll play a demo and i'll play this i'll play that that's like actually why i started dj in the first place yeah i always we're talking about the idea of business techno on the intro before you popped on and it's it's very similar to that of like i could never understand these djs like like the zed situation where you're just playing the same songs that you've been playing for the last 10 years and just because the crowds fucked up and they dislike it i can i can understand i can understand it when the check clears but it's not inspiring but i mean if you're on that level like where you were at or zed or all these people like i would i would go crazy not entertaining i have to like entertain myself it has to be fun and exciting for me 100 i would i would lose my mind i think that's like what happened to someone like

abichi right like he i think he's like such a creative mind and he was always such a creative person that he really got fed up with the whole i gotta go to the stage and pretend i like these old songs and play this and this and that because i'm sure he was do you remember when he played ultra and he first started the country stuff yeah he was like booed off the stage like people were like what the is this he played like wake me up and and i think like that's that was probably his like highest form like he was such a creative person he did that and like he didn't get the response he wanted of course not because the edm fans are kind of like they're mindless they don't really care they're just there for like the confetti and the lights in their face on drugs so they're not really thinking like what's the great like they're not like if they want to see bicep play or whatever they're like heads like they're like oh i want to be fucking fucked up with some synthesizers but they're there for like the main stage and i think he probably was like this sucks and of course those records were like massive after a year huge the guy knows what he was fucking doing but yeah like i think calvin harris same way like i think he also like probably he doesn't really play in vegas because i think he's sick of like why am i playing like feel so close or whatever i mean he has to be for him because he you know he does whatever he wants but um i would never be able to do that like i am sick i'm already over my album i already only playing it for like i'm like trying to find remixes every song i'm like and you got to find that balance but um you know then you get like just you just change things out every day i make my set before i play it like in vegas i spend really three hours to make a two-hour set because i just love i want to be yeah because i wanted to like there's like little sections like just 15 minutes like oh this works i'm gonna go there and then move on and then this section and i don't know if this is too technical for your podcast like about this dj like we talk about fucking edm every fucking episode and i haven't i haven't dj'd in years whether i like it or not we talk about edm every episode let's not talk about edm i had like a photographic memory kind of thing so i would have to make the playlist right before i dj'd or at least the same day open format djs are always the guys who are like the fucking game changers like people like

like vice or did you fashion these guys who are like making that changing constantly for whatever place they're at in these markets like arizona and markets like palm springs like they're like taking the chances and playing new records and breaking records before the main stage guys are they're fast they're doing like seven shows a night there might be like an all urban club might be like all that deep house club they're able to like adapt and that's where i came from that's what i did in philly at the beginning i had to do that and play like the all white club and like the art gallery area the next day and then play the palmer the next day and like you had to like be able to do everything and that's what the real dudes did like the wizard like that dj like if you know who that is like the guy from detroit that had the radio shows and of course bambada these guys were like cutting the most insane shit in the middle of clubs and that changed the way music ever existed like from then on like what they did gave forth what hip-hop culture is like i tell people the story i used to write for fader magazine back when i was like still like like early in my career when you're a young boy i was a young boy i did an interview for um with florian from craftwork on their release of their live album that came out in like 2004 or something like that and i just talked to florian we talked about the about like his live album and everything it was like the first real craftwork album in a long time and i was like can you tell me about like your relationship with malcolm mclaren and like he was like yeah so malcolm was like this guy that loved craftwork like loved what we did like he was into the craftwork started as like a crowd rock band they were like live They migrated to synthesizers and they started doing this crazy shit at the time. Like, of course, you know, Trans Europe Express, but they had a record called Metal on Metal that was before that. And that record was like four minute long. Just had that one rhythm and then like some synthesizers. And Florian said, yeah, so I was in New York for some promo and Michael McLaren said, come with me to this place. And they took him to like South Bronx. There's the two white guys in the club. He brought them to like the party that Bambada was playing.

And he's like in the club and like they hear metal on metal playing. He's like, Oh, this is so weird. Like all black people dancing to this fucking synthesizer, like dark song. I've never even seen a black person. Yeah. And he's like, after seven minutes, I was like, wow, this song is only four minutes long. What's going on. And he said it went on for 15 minutes. Cause Ben Bada was like playing it backwards and cutting like the best parts and like making it go something crazy. And he was like, right. Then he like learned like about what the hip hop, cause that was doing the, you know, sampling without any, instruments they were just literally like just two records yeah two records going on and like making something new out of like that oh you know a totally different style for a whole different demographic that then digest the song and make something other creative genre i think it moves also to detroit and that's when you have like the advent of techno because those guys were like obsessed with some of that german music and then back to germany like you know in the 90s and became like really dark german white techno but then but the way that music neanders was always like fascinating to me and that was the job of the dj originally it got they got lazy and became like he became a superstar you had press photos and they're all like the same photo like you're this with your head on your head whatever and then it became like a a pretty stale genre but we were the ones that like were the pioneers of all of this so i always respected that when you say we you mean you and i strictly me and you in bambada yeah yeah them jeans diplo bambada africa bambada as well he he did a lot of stuff premiere guys who like myths mix house and hip-hop are like um and the producers also like you gotta give up to like pharrell and timberland those guys like really fucking came to hip-hop production from the craziest world music mind state ever they're like really changed the way we think about music and missy being the catalyst for like oh She could translate this weird shit, this weird Indian sitar Japanese intro to mainstream crowd. She also speaks Martian. She speaks a different language. She was the one that made it all make sense because she was hitting the top tens with bizarre ideas. Avant-garde. Very avant-garde. Speaking of Vegas, do day parties pay less than night parties? No. I think day parties pay the most. They pay more than night parties. Because day parties you have unlimited cabanas you can sell out.

Unlimited? What do you mean unlimited? Well, you have, like, if I play EBC, you have, like, cabanas, like, all around. Like, you only have so many tables. XS only has so many tables, and you can hit the cabanas later, but, like, you definitely, because you can sell out, and then, like, it's so busy. Like, we had Jack Yu one year after EDC weekend. It was, like, a Monday night. We had, like, everything sold out. All the cabanas sold out. And we got the fee for, like, a Monday, so we got really fucked in the deal. But you can do all of it. But EDC, I think the beach clubs are kind of, like, the staple. They've always been a thing in Vegas. It's, like, the big thing. So you go there. People spend more time there, too. When you go to, like, see the nightclub, you only do two hours. That's right. So if Jason and I get a cabana, we're there all day. Well, the cabanas are pretty fire because you have, like, a private room. Yeah. You have a TV, so you can literally watch sports and, like, get food. People go there and watch when it's football happening. When it's football happening or battle, you have the TV on. It's like all your homies got 10 people in there. It's pretty fun. Get the Georgia Tech game up on the 42-inch Vizio. Then if you want, you go down to the main dance floor and you rave or whatever. Just because day parties can make more money because there's more cabanas, more bottle service, they can pay you more money as well. That's nice. I think so. I'm very interested in your relationship with Vegas. such a twisted place well it is twisted yeah how do you how do you make vegas palatable like mentally how can you handle it because you've had you've had to make it your own you'd have to you've had to hack it i've been i've been a resident of the win for over Maybe over eight years for sure. Maybe nine. What do you mean a resident? Like you have an apartment there? I've had a contract with them for that many years. I keep doing it. No, Jason. Resident DJ. You know the terms. I mean, I figured if you have a residency for eight years. No, I mean, I live in Las Vegas mostly. The Balibu house I have here is a studio. But actually, I have a house in Las Vegas that I do live in. I bet you do. I bet you do, Chief. After this podcast, I'm going straight there.

So I have a flight to go there, and I'm going to go back to my house. So you're going to your Vegas flat right after this. Okay. Anyway, listen to me about this. I have eight years there. The first gig that they gave me at XS was the Monday nights because they had Wolfgang Gardner. They had Aoki. They had Cascade. I was like a really brand new guy like 10 years ago. I was like kind of the guy I was playing. Honestly, I was the guy I was playing hip-hop. I had Express Yourself out at the time. this like bounce record i had i was the guy that was like not playing the mainstream peak hour and they were like but my agent got me in there because he must have booked somebody else they like they had me i did the monday nights the monday nights were called the industry night it was called madison mondays i did like a year and a half of that And it started to get really busy. Like, it was, like, getting, like, as busy as a Saturday night. They didn't make much money because it was free if you're, like, local to Vegas. And, of course, it was, like, the strippers and the waitresses that worked on the weekends. They spent their money to party on a Monday. And they knew I was, like, kind of, like, more interesting music because they hear the same shit every night. So it became, like, this crazy night for, like, girls because, like, all the strippers and waitresses would come out and they would get so fucking drunk and, like, going crazier than everybody else. They were the hottest people in Vegas. And the bussers. And you don't understand that even the busboys are making, like, Maybe five grand a weekend. What? Busboys. Are they stealing or? No, because you get like all the tips are like liquidated. Oh, got it. Wow. Okay. Busters get a certain percentage. I'm not in another demographic. Someone's going to correct me when they hear this or whatever. But busters make money too and everybody in the club makes money. Like, you know.

i make a headliner i'll make the most and then everybody else makes money the promoters make money you don't make that much money on the week the mondays though so i was having this cheap gig and finally that started to sneak me in on saturday and i was doing my best to like negotiate my my style was like mainstream and that's always like what you do as a dj you got to like find a negotiation like how far can i be myself and how much can i do to make people stay and keep this crowd happy and that was like the finesse you have to do and every time you do it like fast forward eight years later i've done every kind of party there and now i'm playing like almost two and a half hours of like straight up house music because some of mine some really deep techno like leaning records some vocals yeah i saw it when i was there a few months ago you were playing a lot of deep i feel like i don't really i don't really pander pander anybody i play hip-hop sometimes If I, if I feel like it, but it's really, I'm still like stuck on like older hip hop. I don't really feel like there's a lot of big hooks. I agree with that. That's a problem that we talk about a lot on this podcast. There's no songs. It's just vibes. I wish it was. I mean, I'm thinking like, I love, I produce some of these guys like Zan, XXX, Trippie Red. They don't deliver with big hooks that people can sing to. Like play Bacardi. God love him. If you're under 24 years old, he is the God. Like he's like, I can't understand it. I don't, I don't get it. He's their burial. I'm, yeah, I'm, I'm there. in association because i'm a dj so i play i like know some records i don't get the energy and it doesn't work in a big room at all doesn't work in a big room even if i play baby king or whatever yeah yeah yeah it's just so slow and so it's just made for like bros to mosh to and that's like Vegas you want girls to dance yeah the last real movement was like was like Sheck West Mo Bamba like that was like the last kind of like hook that was played and I'm great song I'm a little embarrassed when I play it still you should uh I bring it back sometimes I should but then I still play like No Hands by Waka Flocka and freaking there you go um Roscoe Dash Roscoe Dash was the guy I had like everything like head records in a row with like hook after hook after hook he's still playing I don't even realize it I love the way that booty go

What a great line. Those are fun records. A little bit of YG. You know, he's got some big hooks for the club as well. But I wonder how much of that is, is it really true that there aren't these big songs, big club hooks? Or is it that we're just old heads? I've been an old head. I'm 43. So I've been an old head since we're 30. So I think I've been through all the eras where I don't get this and I do get it. I think everybody likes their era the most. Whatever they consider the best time in their life when they were out every night. For me, that's like some Drake songs that had big choruses. That's why Golden Era Hip Hop still goes number one. Nostrop's album is number one. Triple Quest had their first number one album because the Golden Era of us as teenagers we love tribes so much we supported them when they came out on that new album what like four years ago those golden era guys they still I think Jadakiss had like a number one like a couple like a year ago even he wasn't even that big when he was at his peak but people support them because like that's the classic rock of our generation Jadakiss is my Fleetwood Mac rumor Wu-Tang Wu-Tang is my 100% like my Creed is Clearwater like I like all right guys all right guys calm down let's support them forever and of course but of course as a dj like i also like grew up into house music and it's like it's something you get into maybe when you're older and you understand it more so like now i like louis french kiss is like it's like a classic to me like when i hear that record i play that record still out and i played some of these old like dennis ferrari hey hey is like probably one of my top five songs of all time and it still works for any generation so there are some long-standing classics and you mix those with some new ones and then um you learn more every day like even with like the new album i have like records like with Seth Troxler that I like desire because I used to work with Italians Do It Better. I used to work with those guys and I was like,

I knew Johnny Jewel and his girl. I love Desire. Great record. I told Seth, my kids go to school with Desire's kids. We can get her on the record. That was literally my connect. I loved the idea. He made the bass line and it became something that would never happen in my career. But then because I had this connection with Italians Do It Better, they used to play my Madison mausoleum back in the day. To knowing them as adults, to knowing Seth now as a DJ. I didn't know him that well until four years ago. to making all that made sense. Like, it's just all those pieces in my past come together sometimes, you know? Like, you know, when I did the Justin Bieber record, like I, the link was like, I used to work with Khalees and that was Scooter Braun's artist. Oh yeah. That's how I knew Scooter. I didn't know Scooter Braun managed Khalees. In fact, that was his first act. And then when he started managing Bieber, he was working, I was working with Usher and I met Bieber through Usher. And then from then on, Scooter just like knew I was like part of the squad. So when they gave us, when Bieber was like in a little bit of a, a lull, we get, we got, um, where are you now? And I was like, I convinced Skrillex, like, yo, let's fucking make this. It makes no sense, but let's do this record. And all those things from my past came together to, like, make something from the future. It's like, you kind of, like, got to always utilize all the things that created you. You know, like, your whole, like, we've been in this game so long. All the arrows in your quiver, don't be afraid to use them. Yeah, you got to just use it. And also just be fucking... the people you work with like you know miguel this is my first record i did with him but we've been working together it's been like 10 years since i was in studio with him and read one and like and you never had one that went until this record we wrote i wrote the record for our grime called on that was like on the uh yeah yeah like three or four years ago and then we did some writing for other people together but never his supplement we're just homies i was like damn this miguel nice guy isn't he nice look i've always said about miguel he's the nicest guy who's gonna fuck your chick it's it's it's it's incredible it's incredible it's incredible it's incredible it's incredible i've never seen i've never seen anything like it where i'm like this guy is is really

great at talking to me and the whole time he's just thinking like i'm gonna if i want to if i want to i can i can smash your chick that's the vibe and i i appreciated it i really enjoyed the whole experience he's a real one and he takes his time to like build the relationship you have with him and he takes time for everybody i feel like that's something you lose with a lot of artists even like someone like aesop rocky being with him in china when he was like really big i mean sorry wasn't really big yet he was doing alexander wayne party we were together like 12 years ago i first remember him saying thank you to everybody on staff with alexander wayne like at the end of the show i was like insane being so polite just think like it was like crazy like that era very gracious it's somebody so much humble people that i met that you wouldn't expect i'm sure rocky is just the same right now as well he's probably just the same now no i think i think he is i think i think he has a lot of like i think he has a lot more like uh-huh yeah you can't really reach him you know like you have you like if you do i i still see him and he's like all right what up or for the same way i was sitting next to him at a fashion show in paris he's like remember that we did that festival express tour i made new level on the train with you and you know it was like crazy my first time seeing these concerts just remembering the moments and like remembering you know who they are i think there's there's like some of those guys you wouldn't expect it but they're fucking so humble and gracious like you said jason some people aren't though some of the new guys aren't you're right Oh, of course. Jason's really, really gracious and humble. That's part of the reason that I'm so – It's true. That we still work together. It's not a joke. That we work together. Yeah, why are you laughing, bro? It's not funny. Chris is into doing. I'm into being, if that makes sense. Now that you're in Malibu, have you ever gone on any spiritual journeys? Are you licking any frogs? Are you doing ketamine therapy? Anything cool like that? I didn't lick any frogs yet, but –

that's working okay i'll never do it again i did it i did it once or twice but i'll never do it again because the experience was so hardcore that like i know what it was what it was for like i kind of like got what you yeah we're here to do this and you did this and now it's all good yeah it was so strong to where i have like flashbacks to it sometimes i've done ayahuasca and i've done other things but that was like the one thing i was like wow you really find like the like borders of like your power of your brain i guess does that make sense like you like how you're talking about you got the the street the dirt road and then you're exactly you're in the wilderness and if you're so far in the wilderness you find a hole and you're in outer space at that point and it's like it just you don't really realize like how powerful your body is because you kind of like when they say you experience death i think it's because you experience the capability of dying which you never really realize so of course you're close to it and then you're like damn there's like There's like infinity and nothingness. It's hard to explain. Many people have been trying to explain it for your centuries. I don't think we're going to get there today. You got to do it. I think just try it. I think it's not for everybody, but ayahuasca is a much simpler version. When I thought ayahuasca, I was like, that's so crazy. We did this. I was in this deep trip, and then the toad was like 100 times. So ayahuasca is a pretty scary thing to most people, and you're like, ayahuasca is like, oh, this is so crazy. It's funny. I feel it won. Yeah, the frog shit. yeah but it but it lasts like a half an hour and then it's like it's like 10 minutes the problem i was like five hours were you throw how much throwing up did we do on the toad none but the but i have a video of me on it and it looks i look like a toad eyes are wide open like someone recorded it and um i have the only copy thank god let's hope you have the only copy it got out this is this looks this is

People would not think of you the same. It's so crazy. You're like, hey, man, I've known you for a long time, but when I saw you toaded out, I was like, I don't know. Bro, you went full toed. You went full toed. I had to mute your Instagram after that. You do poop a little bit on yourself in ayahuasca. I did a little pooping and peeing on myself, I guess. Okay. Well, as a father, you know how that, you know, it's nothing. You know how it goes. I'm glad in the 11th hour we got that pull quote from this entire hour-long interview. Diplo shits himself on drugs. Yeah. He makes a big mess, poo-poo and pee-pee. Both, both. Chris wanted to know, when you see a video or a photo of you in the club, you and Troxler, whoever else it might be, all of the 17 guys wearing very long shirts, why are there so many CDJs? Oh. Why do you need so many CDJs? How many can one man use? They can't all be running at the same time. Well, a quick answer is that sometimes you do have a... one cdj is yours one cd what like one set of four is yours and one set of four is the other guy so you you move it in so we got eight we got eight cdjs for each yeah but that's if you're headlining a festival and they switch the line over to that other guy oh i see okay that's like it looks like that sometimes and they're switching over how often are you playing four songs at once well i i found myself i found myself doing three a lot okay okay because i'm doing like i'm playing i'm playing like i'm playing like the loop of deep inside to do on on key on a drum beat at the end and then i'm mixing that that one's a little choppy so i'm like doing that and it's like i've done that that's like every set i'm probably playing like three records at once like three or four times in a set mostly okay it's because acapella loop is happening you don't really drink when you dj anymore right not really but i mean i started drinking again like during covid but uh out of strictly boredom i'm trying to get out of that that bad habit Yeah. I drink at dinner. A little bit of wine, a little natty wine. A little bit of wine. I'm a white guy from Florida. I have a little margarita addiction sometimes. See, I can't wait until you're 60. You got a little gut on you. And that 11 a.m. margarita comes out over in Malibu. You got a chair that's halfway in the water. Guinea, you know. I kind of over the margarita. That was a big deal for COVID. I must have drank 100 margaritas.

in a weekend when do you when do you how much how much property do you have in florida i've i've got some land in florida my uncle uh i bought for him before he passed away that's like really beautiful like 20 acres on this river that My dad's always there. It's not really anything there, but it's kind of like just for the family. I bought it for my family. You're going to end up there. I have a feeling that you could end up there. Just drink margaritas by the river? Yeah, I think that's maybe your final form. That is kind of what I'm looking forward to. Like that, dropping the country songs and sitting there and fishing off my dock. That's like life. Yeah, once you have a dock, things are different. That's when you've really, that's success. Fuck this, fuck eight CDJs. The dock is when you know you've made it. Yeah. I got eight docks, bitch. Dock now, bitch. All right, Wes. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us. We had a blast, and we appreciate you coming on the new album, which is not an album, just a collection of singles. It's out now. It's self-titled. Just called Diplo, right? Find it on Spotify. Yeah, it's not hard to find. It's good to be there. It's not hard to find. It'll be there. He's a streamer. Yeah, man. Thanks for joining us. It was a pleasure. All right, guys. Love you. All right. We'll see you soon. Bye. Love you. What do you think?