In a recent interview with Oxford Union, Diplo explained a near death experience before he was a DJ. Diplo, real name Thomas Wesley Pentz talked about his life before fame. Funny enough, he never even thought being a DJ could be a career! Before producing music, Diplo’s life included a day job at Subway and selling vinyl records in England. All of this traveling brought him to new parts of the world and ultimately an experience that nearly cost him his life.
Before traveling to England to sell vinyl records, he first searched and collected unique records all over India. Like any other eighteen year old, he was full of curiosity and free of fear. While in India, he met up with friend/tour guide Brent. One day, Brent suggested they take a swim in the Ganges River, claiming it was safe (It’s not!).
“Right when I got into the water I was sucked down like 20-feet,” he recalls. “[It was] complete pitch black darkness, I couldn’t see anything, I for sure knew I was dying… I remember swimming and choking to death in the water and I remember seeing a little girl pointing at me from the riverside screaming that there’s a dead guy in the water.”
Thankfully, he was able to pull himself onto a large rock where a boat came to his rescue. After this frightening encounter, he decided it would be best to separate from Brent. “I decided I had to get rid of Brent,” he said. “He was crazy.”
Watch the full hour long interview below:
