THE WANDERING MINSTREL
Diplo reflects on his historic concert in Cuba, Rihanna and his eclectic career
Globe-trotting EDM LOS ANGELES star Diplo recently checked another locale off his performance wish list: Cuba.
In March 2016, the Grammywinning producer-DJ and his trio Major Lazer became one of the first American acts to take advantage of easing travel restrictions by staging a free concert in Havana.
The extraordinary performance, along with Cuba’s youth culture and music scene, is documented in the film Give Me Future. It premièred on Apple Music last week.
Earlier this month the Trump administration in the U.S. imposed travel and commerce restrictions on Cuba that will make it harder for Americans to visit the island nation. The stricter rules mark a return to the tougher U.S. stance toward Cuba that existed before former U.S. president Barack Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro restored diplomatic relations in 2015.
Q Does the change in travel sanctions make it even more special that you got in when you could?
A We tried to go and set up another kind of event next month, but we were in the process of pulling the trigger on that, and then the reversal of a lot of those rules came down. So yeah, it’s not cool, but you know, it changes back and forth almost every presidency, so we’ll see if it switches up again.
Q Was Cuba one of the hardest gigs to pull off?
A Production-wise ... we’re talking about four barricades for almost half a million people. And these barricades were just dragged out of some storage and painted white the day of the show. So I couldn’t believe it was all handled and put together and everybody was safe and the concert went with no problems.
I travelled from Pakistan a few days before the show in Cuba. We had been to Bangladesh last year.
We did a whole tour in Africa. So we did shows everywhere from Nigeria to Uganda. But this was definitely the biggest and the craziest situation.
I did a show in Mongolia about two, three years ago and that was one of the wildest places to play. ... No one knew who I was when I did the show. They just kind of were confused and all showed up.
Q Any plans to work with Rihanna? Did she really compare your song to airport reggae?
A I thought it was a really funny story. ... She’s such a good person. She’s a good sport and I know her personally. ... Every time she’s working or writing an album I’m always kind of involved, sending records and demos … sometimes they like something and sometimes they don’t. But you never know. For me, I’m just happy making my own records, too. ... I’m not always looking to have a big pop star on my records. You don’t need them either, to be honest. We’re working on a couple ideas actually with (Rihanna’s) team right now, so we’ll see. But you never want to say you’re going to get anything because it’s always going to be a sad story at the end of the day.
Q How about a reunion with Justin Bieber?
A I would love to. Sometimes we trade text messages. They’re always pretty weird. I don’t know. He’s a fascinating kid and to be honest, he’s so good at everything he does — whether it’s playing sports or playing guitar. I mean, he can make anything great. I love the guy. ... For me, he’s just kind of a cultural icon so any time I get a chance to do something like that — even with Madonna or working with Beyoncé — any time I get the opportunity, I’d love to try something. But it doesn’t always work out. I’m just happy to make music in general with anybody.