Diplo

Background

Thomas Wesley Pentz is the son of Barbara Jean (née Cox) and Thomas Pentz and was born in Tupelo, Mississippi. He has German and English ancestors. He attended Hendersonville High School in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and graduated with honors. M.I.A. approached him while D.J.ing at the Fabric Club in London in 2004 after hearing one of his songs. Pentz was playing her songs ‘Galang’ and ‘Fire Fire’ at the time. Eventually, the two collaborated on a mixtape called “Piracy Funds Terrorism Vol. 1,” in which Arular track acapellas were mixed with music by other artists. The “New York Times” and “Pitchfork Media” both named it one of their “Albums of the Year.” Following the release, the two continued to collaborate. He was the tour D.J. for her Arular Tour in 2005.

He continued to collaborate with M.I.A. and met London D.J. Switch through her. They collaborated on the Grammy-nominated song ‘Paper Planes,’ which reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and has gone on to release four full-length albums. He went from being an obscure D.J. to becoming a successful producer, working with musicians such as Beyonce, Shakira, Robyn, Kid Cudi, Bruno Mars, No Doubt, and Snoop Dogg. Diplo was named one of the “40 Reasons to be Excited About Music” in the April 2010 issue of “Rolling Stone.” Around this time, he had his first child, Lockett Pentz, with Kathryn Lockhart. The couple later welcomed another child named Lazer Pentz in 2014.

Diplo and Skrillex formed Jack Ü, a two-piece American music group, in 2013. On September 15, 2013, Jack Ü made his debut at the Mad Decent Block Party in San Diego. In 2016, the team received two Grammy Awards for “Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack Ü.” Diplo unveiled Silk City, a new collaboration duo with him and vocalist Mark Ronson, on January 2, 2018. On May 23, 2018, the duo released their debut single, ‘Only Can Get Better,’ which featured Daniel Merriweather. ‘Electricity,’ their fourth single, features British singer Dua Lipa and was released on September 5, 2018. ‘Electricity’ received a Grammy for ‘Best Dance Recording’ at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in 2018. Diplo was a member of another trio named LSD, which debuted in 2019 and included him, Australian singer Sia, and British artist Labrinth. The group has so far released five tracks, one of which, ‘Thunderclouds,’ was included in a Samsung Galaxy Note9 commercial.