Diplo
Renaissance Man meets Bart Simpson down South
Wes Pentz aka Diplo was born in Tupelo, Mississippi. Most of his childhood was spent in Florida, where his father still owns and runs a bait shop. His youth was spent discussing ‘gators with his uncle, working in pop’s store and dreaming of dinosaurs living hidden out in the swamp. As he grew up he began to channel these obsessions into music (Miami Bass being a touchstone, of course) and film.
After a brief stint at film school and a season out on the shrimp boats, the need to escape from America for a while led to some time in Japan, from where he sent the beat doodles he had been working on to Big Dada in the UK and was promptly signed. He returned to the US and moved to Philly where he and another DJ, Low Budget, began their now-legendary Hollertronix sessions. The Hollertronix mix cd, “Never Scared” followed and later in the year the lost classic “Epistemology Suite” EP became his first release for Big Dada.
The rest of it — seven more paragraphs
“Florida” followed soon after, the debut album which he described as “based loosely on Wiliam Faulkner’s ‘Go Down Moses’ with a definite red clay shrimp and manatee dirty south feel.” Featuring vocals from Martina Topley-Bird, Vybz Cartel, PEACE, Pantera Os Danadinhos and Sandra Melody it showed the breadth of Diplo’s imagination and the depth of his influences. It was welcomed ecstatically by those who found it but is still to reach the audience it deserved.
Since the record was released, Diplo has: - Toured with Prefuse 73, RJD2, Roots Manuva and M.I.A
- Performed in: Brazil, Japan and China (as well as the more run-of-the-mill places)
- Made the following critically-acclaimed and hard-to-find mix cds: “Favela On Blast” “AEIOU” Vols 1 & 2, M.I.A.’s “Piracy Funds Terrorism” and “Hollertronix 2”
- Has produced for: Kano and M.I.A.
- Has remixed: Gwen Stefani, Le Tigre, DJ Shadow (amongst others)
- He’s even started writing a regular Dirty South column for Hip Hop Connection
Their Resident Advisor profile, in full and unedited.
Records out on fabric Records, Ninja Tune, Big Dada, Mad Decent, Downtown and Just Entertainment. — their own list on Resident Advisor
The nights
2026
- Sat 18 JulCipriani 42nd St.first time
2025 — 1 night
- Thu 25 Sep 2025Marqueefirst time · Marquee New York
2024 — 2 nights
- Sun 22 Sep 2024Brooklyn Miragetheir 4th night · Avant Gardner
- Sat 21 Sep 2024Brooklyn Miragetheir 3rd night · Avant Gardner
2023 — 2 nights
- Sat 14 Oct 2023Brooklyn Miragetheir 2nd night · Avant Gardner
- Fri 13 Oct 2023Brooklyn Miragefirst time · Avant Gardner
Their rooms
One tick a night, on the one axis this page has — Aug 2023, where the listings start, to Jan 2027, the last night anybody has announced. The shaded end has not happened yet.
- Brooklyn MirageOct 2023 – Sep 20244 nights
Once each: Cipriani 42nd St. and Marquee.
Who they play with
Three nights on the books, and no name on more than one of them.
- Sat 21 Sep 2024Adam Ten · Jaded · TSHA
- Sun 22 Sep 2024Hugel · Airrica · Cole Knight · Sinego
- Sat 18 Jul 2026Nelly · Twinsick · Gordo · The Chainsmokers · 50 Cent
Twelve people have stood on one of these bills; none has stood on two.
The nights, the rooms and the bills are the listings themselves. The biography, the labels and the photograph are Resident Advisor's. Nothing on this page was written for it.