Before worldwide stardom and innumerable A-list collaborations, before mobilizing an endless parade of twerkage with Major Lazer, even before his revolutionary work with M.I.A. on “Paper Planes” and Piracy Funds Terrorism Vol. 1, a 25-year-old named Thomas Wesley Pentz released an album called Florida. It was a strange, compelling trip-hop record, notable, in 2004, for its multi-genre fluency. But the other striking element—then and particularly now, for those who have followed Pentz’s career as perhaps the best-known DJ of his generation—was the sadness at the album’s core. Damn, it’s true: Even Diplo gets the blues.
Fourteen years later, Diplo has released another solo record named for a state. The modest-seeming California EP harkens back to the mood of that first album, channeling the DJ’s sadz through understated downtempo production and a star-studded guest list. Here though, Partyboi Diplo has asked his energetic vocalists to change things up, like Judd Apatow trying to coax depth from Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen in Funny People. In a smart opening gambit, he enlists Lil Yachty, Mr. Happy himself, for the hook on standout “Worry No More,” which also features early Diplo collaborator Santigold. It’s a straightforward song about chasing your dreams, embellished with familiar dancehall touches. But Yachty’s plaintive singing steals the show and gives the track an emotional weight rarely present on a Diplo record. His delivery is heartfelt, as if he’d never made it big in the first place.
For years, Diplo’s brand has been reliable enough that, if you were DJing a party and running out of ideas, you might be willing to throw on his latest release without vetting it first. But try it with California, and half your guests could be sniffling by the end of the third song, “Look Back,” a vocal showcase for DRAM, who rips into it with the force of Cee-Lo on a juice cleanse. A similar turn comes from Desiigner, who sounds completely morose on “Suicidal”—and not that xanned-out type of morose either. He’s genuinely torn up.
It’s hard to imagine that Diplo, whose success has been built almost entirely on his savvy ability to give the people what they want when they want it, just decided one day to make a sad record. He’s been paying attention. He knows that emo is now openly beloved, that the SoundCloud wave has made even Swedish moper Yung Lean seem as if he was critically underappreciated. (He wasn’t.) With their naked SoundCloud aping, California tracks “Wish” and “Color Blind” make Diplo’s calculations a bit more obvious, reminding critical listeners of the producer’s parasitic tendencies. “Color Blind” in particular, feels like an overproduced mainstream ripoff, its rainbow synth and handclap chorus a poor match for rapper Lil Xan’s bummed delivery.
And yet. It’s not unimaginable that Diplo, who turns 40 this year, has grown reflective. In a recent interview with the BBC DJ Annie Mac, the producer expressed envy of his younger collaborators. “They have all this freedom,” he said. “They’re not afraid to try anything.” By contrast, he saw himself as “working on borrowed time.” So as this brief EP draws to a close with the cathartic “Get It Right,” a potent mix of piano keys, stadium-status drums, a power chorus from MØ, and one of those pitched-up bridges that Diplo so adores, don’t be surprised to find yourself actually, emotionally, moved. Damn, it’s true: We all get sad sometimes.
