Diplo recently got a lot of negative attention from Daft Punk fans after he took his opinions on their new album, Random Access Memories, to Twitter. As everyone knows, this album has already received an incredible amount of critique after being live streamed online earlier this month. However many people felt what Diplo said in a few of his tweets regarding the album was a little too much.
Diplo just took to Facebook to better explain why he said the things he did. He starts off by saying that “going on rants never usually works” for him. I personally wouldn’t consider this a rant, but more of a self-explanation as to why he has the opinions he does on certain genres of music. Nonetheless, he starts out by talking about his favorite poet growing up, William Blake. In school, he had a teacher that did not like William Blake; she felt basically felt that he was an overrated poet. Diplo said that because she had her own opinion, it made his own opinion of Blake more valid. It made him want to stand by his opinion no matter what his teacher or anyone else said. The message to his followers here was that no matter what anyone else thinks, you should stand by what you strongly believe or feel inside.
Diplo goes on to give Daft Punk and their album much praise, mentioning how his favorite tune from them is surprisingly “Make Love.” He also states how “Doing It Right” is his favorite tune of the year thus far. More importantly, he gives his explanation of his review of their album via Twitter:
“Right now, I don’t want music that represents excessive blissed out easy listening…Maybe I’m in denial because I’m old, but this album was obviously for people who enjoy breezy walks with their pets smoking cigarettes in Malibu… I do not… I don’t need Daft Punk to remind me that I’m old, I still like to turn shit upside down and make some noise.”
What people need to understand is that he is not completely hating on Daft Punk and their album. He is simply giving his opinion that he prefers music that creates a lot of energy, as opposed to easy listening, chill music such as Daft Punk. If you listen to any of Diplo’s music, especially his mixes or his radio show, then you know how energetic and upbeat it is.
Diplo explains his perception of social media, which he feels is a “performance art.” If you follow him on Twitter, then you know how obnoxious, random, funny, and even offensive some of his tweets can be. You also know that most of his tweets are sarcastic. This is how he brands himself through social media: making fun of it by using it inappropriately. People that don’t follow him and his music won’t know where he’s coming from with some of his tweets. His tweets regarding Random Access Memories were (and still probably are) seen as having dislike for Daft Punk, when in fact he has much interest in and respect for them and their music. The only reason they gained so much attention was because they were controversial to many, especially loyal Daft Punk fans. Diplo said that he’s even a little jealous of Daft Punk “because their fans did blindly get moved and angry when someone doesn’t like their idol.”
The bottom line that Diplo is trying to present here was mentioned in his example of his and his teacher’s different opinions of William Blake: Everyone has their own opinion. Regardless of what other think, you should stand by your opinion if it is what you truly believe in. If someone has an opinion you may not like, you shouldn’t just bash them for it. You should get to know their standpoint as to why that is their opinion.
You can read Diplo’s entire “rant” here.