The word on the street last Saturday night was that the local police department was planning to raid the newest club in the ATT4Fun building, Elektro, sometime between 11:30pm and 12:30am before the DJ Diplo show. Diplo, whose real name is Thomas Wesley Pentz, was supposed to go on at 1:30am. At midnight, the lineup to get in was stretched around the corner — but not a police officer in sight. For the next 90 minutes, those with table reservations jostled, scrambled and elbowed their way in, but a lot of those who had purchased presale tickets were left standing outside in the cold.
At 1:45am, the lights went on in the cramped club and a voice similar to the woman who announces the MRT stops said in Mandarin and English that everyone who did not have a table had to leave. She added that the “Xinyi police department would like everyone to keep their noise levels to a minimum,” instructions that were met with a collective groan. Revelers went to hide in the bathrooms, hallways and any nook and cranny they could find.
A little after 3am, the quick claps of Take U There, Diplo’s trapped out collaboration with Skrillex as Jack U, played over the speakers. It was then that Elektro went berserk. By the end of his first song, Diplo had already stage dived into the crowd.
Photo courtesy of Danny Chu
Diplo may only be ranked 32 on DJ Mag’s list of top 100 DJs, but he is a prime example of why that list is outdated because he is a kingmaker in music these days. He collaborates with stars like Beyonce, Justin Bieber, Snoop Dogg and Madonna, as well as some of the hottest underground artists like Grandtheft, Party Squad, and M.I.A. While many big name DJs play the hottest tracks, Diplo’s goal is not only to rock a crowd but to introduce people to something new and different.
As soon as he hit the decks, Diplo had everyone in Elektro on the dance floor as he played hip-hop bangers (0 to 100 by Drake, Turn Down for What by Lil’ Jon and DJ Snake), trap monsters (Summer by Calvin Harris, Pon De Floor by his side project, Major Lazer) and remixes that only he does (No Type by Rae Sremmurd, Try Me by Dej Loaf). At one point, Diplo called out for people to “twerk” next to him and two sumptuous women with shorts that left little to the imagination got up and did their thang.
While it was aggravating to actually get into Elektro, once inside the set Diplo played was the perfect soundtrack for wanting to fight, almost getting arrested and having the time of one’s life.
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