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DJ Mag Top100 DJs
42
Diplo
17

From: Los Angeles, USA
DJ style: Eclectic

Wesley Pentz Jnr is a busy man. Making his name as Diplo, today he’s best known as a serial collaborator. In 2018 alone, he announced two new groups — LSD, a pop project with Sia and Labrinth, and Silk City with Mark Ronson, dedicated to slick commercial house. These stack next to his ongoing, bass-heavy link-up with Skrillex as Jack Ü, and his main concern, Major Lazer.

Though Diplo originally made his name as a DJ and beat-maker while living in Philadelphia, merging niche dance music genres from around the world into explosive hybrids — as on his work with M.I.A., debut album ‘Florida’, his Hollertronix mixtapes or still-excellent Fabric mix — he’s now far more influential as a pop producer, working with megastars such as Beyoncé and Drake. In fact, as unlikely as his beginnings in the dance underground would have it, he’s probably more of a household name than any other DJ in this list. Worth an estimated £20m, and with a residency at XS in Las Vegas, he’s more likely to be propping up the top 10 chart with Justin Bieber collabs or megahits such as ‘Lean On’ these days than he is occupying the playlists of his original hipster fan base.

Words: BEN MURPHY