I remember seeing Diplo play Jhb year before last. I also remember seeing all the people that paid good/dirty money that came leave just before he played, cause once the crowd had seen The Real Estate agents for the 5th time. They must have thought it's midnight and if I leave now I can catch the last 15mins of dry humping on E-Tv.
It was easily one of the most fun evenings I had in Jhb (in the 4 years i spent there), I danced to the entire set stopping twice, once to call a mate and let him know he was in for a blast in Dbn, where Diplo was going to play the next night and another to stop and pose for a picture that Diplo took of myself with my beautiful girlfriend, which I'm sure I have since been cropped out of.
Even though it was one of the greatest nights i spent in Jhb I remember it also as the night it dawned on me that the city bitch slapped a true artist and gentleman. Since then Diplo has delivered M.I.A, Santogold to your doorstep and opened doors for BLK JKS that only he could.
All I can say is, don't take these artists for granted because when another artist asks Diplo "Hey Wes I've been invited to play Johannesburg, you've played there what's it like?" he might reply "Fuck it play Durban", because in Durban he killed.
I do realise Diplo's productions can be an acquired taste for some, but when his selection is as eclectic with the likes of The Cure, Rage Against the Machine, Nirvana getting dropped alongside Soulja Boy, LA Priest and Joakim, you cannot help but be entertained. His creativity in in his Dj sets inspired me to start djing again after a 3 year hiatus.
Sorry for a rather somber post, but I wouldn't want repetition, nepotism or the over reliance of the familiar to get in the the way of creative individuals, something new and potentially the greatest night you could ever have in Jhb.
UPDATE: I tracked an old post on the Mad Decent blog and found a quote from Diplo that would fit in with this post, "anyway that was day one in africa.. then i played in Joburg and durban (one of the craziest parties ive done) and its going down right no over here. and ill have more later.. basically its a complicated place"
The Pixies - Hey (Diplo's Devil Remix) (320kbps MediFire)
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