Diplo says Major Lazer “would be cancelled before we started” if the project began in 2024Diplo feels that if Major Lazer were to start out today, they’d be “cancelled” from the get-go.
The project, which was launched in 2008 by both Diplo and London-based producer Switch, grew off the back of their work with M.I.A. Their first record, Guns Don’t Kill People… Lazers Do, landed 15 years ago, and was recorded in Jamaica. Influences of Jamaican dancehall music can be heard throughout, and Jamaican artists were featured on all tracks.

READ MORE: Diplo shows off his analogue library and home studio on his 62-acre private estate in Portland, Jamaica

The album hosted hits such as Hold The Line and Pon De Floor, the latter of which was later sampled on Beyonce’s Run The World (Girls). In an interview with Billboard in honour of the debut’s anniversary, Switch recalls, “The first time in Jamaica there [were] a few raised eyebrows [laughs].”
Diplo adds, “In Jamaica there was a bunch of progressive producers at the time so they were doing interesting things, so people were actually leaning towards whatever stands out. Our records were really standing out. We would record them how we had them and then we’d go back in the studio and [Switch] was a pioneer at remixing his own records, so by version six or seven, it was totally insane music. For instance, Hold The Line, it just gets weirder and weirder and we [were] like, ‘okay, this is just weird enough. This is going to raise eyebrows.’”
Asked if the two ever felt like they were outsiders to the musical community that existed there already, Switch responds, “We heard Pon De Floor on the radio in the gas station, and that was a little moment…It was penetrating this market that we felt was very special.”
“We realised they were supporting us,” adds Diplo. “We were committed. We were going there a lot. We weren’t just dropping in, we were there every month.”
He later adds, “With our videos and everything we did, [Major Lazer] would be cancelled [nowadays] before we even started, because people wouldn’t have given us a chance. They would have been like ‘We don’t really understand this and this isn’t correct.’ But back then, nobody really gave a shit. They were like, ‘I like the way this sounds.’ Today there’s too many tastemakers and rules.”
In case you need a reminder of what Diplo is hinting at, you can check out the video for Pon De Floor below:

The post Diplo says Major Lazer “would be cancelled before we started” if the project began in 2024 appeared first on MusicTech.