Ep. 234: Diplo | Branding Decides Who Wins

And The Writer Is... Diplo! This episode isn’t about hits. It’s about how culture actually gets made. Taste, burnout, and building culture without permission. From growing up in Florida crate-digging scenes no one cared about, to turning underground instincts into global movements, Diplo breaks down the uncomfortable truth behind longevity in music: following your taste when everyone else wants safety. We get into: The real physical and mental toll of nonstop touring in a world that never shuts off The power of branding and how he did it (and why you have to, to) Breaking scenes before they’re acceptable Burning out, disappearing, and rebuilding without chasing relevance Why instinct beats public approval every single time And the reality of turning risk into influence and underground energy into global impact This episode is for anyone building anything. Thank you for listeningA special thank you to our sponsors… Our lead Sponsor, NMPA— the National Music Publishing Association. Your support means the world to us. And @splice — the best sample library on the market. Period. Chapters 00:00 – Diplo Is Here 01:02 – Episode Intro 01:45 – AI, Sora, and the Future 03:18 – How Diplo Uses AI in Music 06:15 – Using Prompts to Produce 07:44 – How Diplo Got Into Music 10:32 – How Ross and Diplo Met 14:05 – Life as a World-Touring DJ 16:04 – Dr. Luke Signed Me to Steal My Drums 16:36 – Diplo’s Origin Story 17:13 – Riff Raff, Culture, and Being Hated 18:43 – Making “Where Are Ü Now” 20:04 – Creating Jack Ü with Skrillex 21:37 – Orlando DJ Gigs to Philadelphia 24:33 – First Session with Vybz Kartel 27:23 – Branding, the Internet, and Selling Mixtapes 35:01 – The Story of “Paper Planes” (M.I.A.) 36:44 – How to Find Success in Music 37:57 – NMPA + Splice (Sponsors) 39:25 – “Climax” and Finding His Strengths 43:54 – Why He Started Mad Decent 46:41 – Learning Music and the Birth of Major Lazer 49:30 – The Story of “Lean On” 53:04 – Diplo’s Cheat Code for Creating Fearlessly 54:06 – Country Music 55:28 – “Heartless” and Morgan Wallen 56:19 – Collaborator Rapid Fire 1:00:28 – Diplo’s Branding Advice 1:03:32 – Charli XCX 1:05:00 – How He Doesn’t Lose Himself on Tour 1:06:59 – Nothing Is Perfect. Everything Gets Better. 1:07:19 – Diplo’s Run Club 1:08:00 – Diplo’s Final Advice Hosted by Ross Golan Produced by Joe London and Jad Saad Post Production by Pratik Karki Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.