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 listening

A 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

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