Diplo

Diplo was born Thomas Wesley Pentz in Tupelo, Mississippi in 1978. His stage name "Diplo" is derived from his childhood fascination with dinosaurs. "Diplo" is short for Diplodocus, a dinosaur similar to a Brontosaurus that lived in western North America during the Jurassic Period.

Diplo's rise to fame began with a change meeting with Sri Lankan rapper M.I.A. Diplo was spinning at a club in London when M.I.A. walked in and heard two of her songs over the speakers. She realized that Diplo's songs didn't really fit into any particular genre (much like her own), which made her interested in working with the DJ. Together, Diplo and M.I.A. created the hit song "Paper Planes," which peaked at #4 on the Billboard US Hot 100.

In 2010, Diplo told Pitchfork that he doesn't care about what critics have to say about his music. "If you rated someone's popularity by how much hate they get from journalists, I'm f--king super-popular," the DJ said.