The name Diplo may not be immediately familiar to the average music lover, but the disc jockey is behind the beats of some of your favorite songs. The record producer has produced the songs of many great music stars from Beyonce to Justin Bieber, Gwen Stefani, Madonna, Britney Spears, and most importantly M.I.A., who is credited with putting him in the spotlight.
Diplo is the leading member of the electronic dance hall music project Major Lazer. Together with his DJ colleague Skrillex he is also part of the electronic duo Jack Ü. Together with Sia and Labrinth, Diplo belongs to the supergroup LSD. He produces under his label Mad Decent. Here you will find everything worth knowing about the two-time Grammy Award winner.
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Who Is Diplo? (Age)
On November 10, 1978, the DJ was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, the son of Barbara Jean (née Cox) and Thomas Pentz. He was named Thomas Wesley Pentz Jr. but chose Diplo as his stage name because of his fascination with the dinosaurs that belong to the genre Diplodocus. Pentz has German and English roots.
As a young boy living in Miami, Diplo started DJing. He attended the University of Central Florida and later Temple University in Philadelphia, where he began to make a name for himself as a DJ. Soon, he teamed up with DJ Low Budget and they started djing together under the name Hooked on Hollertronix.
When they performed at parties, the two quickly gained popularity and soon released mixtapes, one of which caught the attention of the New York Times, which rated it as one of the ten best albums of 2003. Diplo soon attracted the attention of artists from various genres and set up a studio, The Mausoleum in Philadelphia. The collaboration with M.I.A. in 2004 really helped Diplo to greater recognition, as their title “Paper Planes”, which reached 4th place in the Hot 100, received a Grammy nomination.
In 2006 he founded the record label Mad Decent in Los Angeles and has managed to remain relevant over the years.
Diplo Net Worth
Diplo is one of the richest disc jockeys in the world. Since Forbes began following the wealth of the world’s great DJs, he has added to the list several times. In 2016 he earned $23 million, making him the sixth highest-paid DJ in the world. He maintained the position in 2017 when he earned $28.5 million more.
Diplo earns much of his wealth from touring, but in recent years he has been able to diversify his sources. The DJ invests in Matchabar and earns from a handful of endorsement partners, including Barcadi. He has also shifted his focus to the television industry and is the producer of the Viceland TV series “What Would Diplo Do? Forbes estimates his 2018 revenues at $20 million, making him the seventh richest man of the year. Diplo’s net worth is estimated at $26 million.
Baby Mama, Wife, Son
Thomas Pentz had the privilege of romancing with some of the greatest music stars, but none of them were married by him. One lady, however, who is often regarded as Diplo’s wife, is his ex-girlfriend and baby mama Kathryn Lockhart. The two were in a back and forth relationship for years and were even described as a deliberately separated couple.
They started their relationship in 2009, about a year after Diplo ended the relationship with MIA. They continued to date again and again until they finally stopped dating in 2014. At the time they started their relationship in 2009, Kathryn Lockhart was working as a bartender.
About a year after their relationship began, in 2010, she gave birth to her first son, Lockett. Diplo later revealed to the media that it was not her intention to make a baby, but when he found out that she was pregnant, he couldn’t have wished for a better person to make babies with. After the arrival of Lockett, Lockhart’s full-time job of becoming a full-time mother moved the couple together, but their relationship did not last beyond 2014.
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Around the time Diplo was flirting with pop singer Katy Perry, it became known that Lockhart was pregnant with Diplo’s future second son. Lockhart gave birth to Lazer Lee Louis Pentz in 2014. Diplo would briefly continue with Perry. Lockhart now has a company that plans children’s parties. The DJ brought the boys as his date to the 2017 Grammy Awards, and they put on a show.
Height
Diplo stands at a height of 5 feet 10 inches, which is about 1.8 meters. He weighs about 190 pounds. The DJ is known for his distinctive light brown hair and blue eyes.