Having sold out in just two days, those of you lucky enough to have grabbed tickets at the SU Shops around campus before they sold probably already know who this musical mastermind is. But for those unfortunates who either didn’t get a ticket or whose ears have yet to be graced, don’t worry, I’m here to fill you in.
Thomas Wesley Pentz aka Diplo is a Los Angeles based American DJ and producer. He’s been popping in and out of the charts over the course of the last five years with singles of his own and as a featured artist on numerous tracks with artists as varied as Madonna, Skrillex and M.I.A. While his own work stays mostly in the EDM genres of trap and Electro, his work as a producer covers a broad spectrum touching on a bit of anything and everything. Well known features include “Earthquake” with DJ Fresh and ”Boy Oh Boy” with GTA, though these now pale in comparison with Diplo’s own solo achievements over the past year.
Major Lazer’s summer hit “Lean On” racked up over 560 million views on YouTube, a number which is still growing. Produced by Diplo, the track has received so much airplay oncommercial radio that it threatens to go the way of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” and Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” in becoming such an earworm that people become genuinely sick of it. Despite this, there’s little awareness among the listening public of who Major Lazer are.
Diplo created Major Lazer alongside English DJ and producer, Switch, back in 2008 with an album release the following year. Though by 2011 the pair parted ways, the name lives on in collaborations 
with Jillionaire and Walshy Fire. The hits don’t stop here however, a relatively lesser known collaboration with Skrillex under the name Jack Ü has wielded tracks including “Where are Ü Now” and “To Ü” with big names like Justin Bieber, Kiesza and AlunaGeorge. With 160 million views and counting on YouTube, Jack Ü is a name that’s no doubt going to be on everyone’s lips very soon .
So, there you have it. Look and listen, and to those of you who will be bopping away, getting sweaty and sexy in The Academy on October 12th I shall see you there.
Luke Fitzpatrick is Promotion & Coordination Officer with UCD Ents, you can check out his Blog here.
