Diplo is the stage name of Thomas Wesley Pentz, an American DJ, producer and songwriter from Tupelo, United States, born in 1978. He is based in Philadelphia and works across electronic music, hip-hop and related club styles.

Projects and collectives

Diplo runs Hollertronix with DJ Low Budget, combining a club and music collective. He also creates and manages the record company Mad Decent and the non-profit organisation Heaps Decent. His aliases and projects include Major Lazer, Jack Ü, LSD, Hollertronix and Silk City.

Career

He works as a school teacher in Philadelphia in addition to his music career. During his rise to wider attention, he works with British artist M.I.A., whose support helps bring him to prominence. He later forms the dancehall project Major Lazer with Switch, who also produces with M.I.A. Diplo then continues to work on production and mixtape projects with a range of pop artists.

Name

His stage name, Diplo, is short for Diplodocus and comes from a childhood interest in dinosaurs.