Diplo Wants You to Steal His Music and Thinks Hate Is Okay Because of Kanye

Producer and DJ Diplo has been making headlines this year working with some of the hottest acts in music (such as Justin Bieber and Skrillex), so it’s no wonder that his name seems to be on everyone’s minds. Recently, Diplo (also known as Thomas Wesley Pentz) spoke to The Sunday Times about his thoughts on music piracy, Kanye, dancehall and negative press. Interestingly, Diplo has no qualms about music piracy, and is in fact in support of it. He thinks that his earnings from legitimate sales are negligible compared to the results of fame, where his paycheck is largely from selling out shows and merchandise. Read more below, and head over to HYPETRAK for more information, where you can also take a listen to Major Lazer’s new album, Peace is the Mission.

Music Piracy
“I don’t care if anybody – and you can quote me on this – trades my records, leaks my records. I don’t care. I can’t make money off the sales, but I’ll make money off doing shows, or selling merchandise.”

The Status of Dance Hall Music
“People don’t respect dancehall in general – they don’t treat it like real music. Everybody is sampling it, everybody is taking the culture. Even rap. Kanye’s ‘Yeezus’ had three or four dancehall features on it, though you don’t really know they are there.”

Negative press from not crediting the creator of a GIF
“People who didn’t know who I am know who I am now, even if they hate me. Is that a bad thing? Actually, no, in 2015 it’s not. Kanye proved that. All you need to do is be in their minds.”