HIP HOP DINO
Diplo’s one brash electro/hip hop animal behind the decks and at the helm of Major Lazer, but not only is he mad, he’s pretty decent as well. Away from the party, the man’s also a big advocate of giving back to the community, which is just more reason to love him. We score a handful of minutes with Diplo to find out more.

Hey Diplo, this is the third time you’re in Singapore. How come?!
People just keep booking me (laughs). There are always cycles. I think 2009 was the most productive year I had. I made it to the Grammy’s for a record I made in 2008, I put on Major Lazer, I worked with Robyn and Snoop Dogg, and I made a bunch of singles for Mad Decent so it was a prolific year for me.

Before making music, you were a schoolteacher. What did you teach?
I taught everything. It was an after-school programme for kids, so I was teaching music and computer, and taught kids how to create stuff. It helped me get a sense of what I was doing with music back then. That was six years ago.

Was the pay bad?
Yeah, but a teacher’s pay was better than a lot of other jobs I had. The hours were so wacked, though! DJs only work two hours a night while teachers have to work up to 10 hours a day. Plus, the rewards are pretty bad because the kids hate you and they don’t ever learn.

Ah, a teacher’s work is never done…
Actually, I recently went back to Sydney and I worked with a couple of aboriginals and poor kids. We have a project for kids who want to make music and rap called Heaps Decent. So I still do these programmes and I love doing it, but when you’re working as a schoolteacher, it’s a very cold job and you have to live by the book. The school system in America is kinda f**ked up, but working with kids is amazing. And when they come to Australia to DJ, everyone I know will come forward to volunteer – A-Trak’s done it, Lady Sovereign and M.I.A. all have workshops for kids, so it’s really cool.

Read the rest of the interview in your March issue of JUICE, now out at these spots.

www.myspace.com/diplo

Text: Dianna Tai
Interview courtesy of: Don Wong and Vijay Singh

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