Diplo Doesn't Care If You Leak His Records; Talks Kanye, Dancehall

Diplo has had a very busy 2015, releasing two albums before the halfway mark of the year and playing a host of shows as himself, Major Lazer and Jack Ü, the "Lean On" DJ's duo with Skrillex. Diplo, real name Thomas Wesley Pentz, recently spoke to The Sunday Times in London to promote Major Lazer's album Peace Is The Mission about a variety of topics including the controversy that has followed him recently, music piracy and his lack of patience for dancehall haters because even Kanye West is riding the gravy train.

Diplo has given out plenty of free music over the years in the form of edits, remixes and sometimes originals through his Mad Decent label or his various monikers. Even when he asks fans to pay for the content, Pentz admitted he has no problem if fans steal his music.

As he said: "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."

This is isn't surprising considering his ability to fill out venues all around the world and his steady Las Vegas residency.

With his project Major Lazer, Diplo has drawn upon dancehall and other Caribean influences for the trio's music. He defends the genre, noting that even Kanye West used several samples on his album Yeezus.

"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."

Diplo caused some controversy last year when he used a gif on Twitter without the creator's permission, which led to a rather testy back and forth. He acknowledged the power of controversy and how it can help your career by bringing in more potential fans.

"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."

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