Skrillex and Diplo have dominated the EDM world separately and now together as Jack Ü, with their hit “Where Are Ü Now” featuring Justin Bieber peaking at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spending two weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart.
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The duo sat down with Charlie Rose on Wednesday and talked about combining forces, working with Bieber, the genre’s relationship with drugs and staying true to themselves in the industry. Here are five things we learned about Jack Ü from their talk with Rose:
1. Diplo doesn’t consider himself a musician.
“I’m not a musician, per se, but I’ve always been obsessed with music,” Diplo said. “You have to create an atmosphere. The music that we make is a little more complex than just laying down some chords.”
2. Jack Ü was formed after many years of being friends — and outsiders in the EDM world.
“We’re peers. We’ve always been outsiders in this dance world,” Diplo told Rose. “It was real special because we have real strong quality control. It’s not good enough until it’s good enough for both of us. It takes a lot of work.”
“There’s no rules [with Jack Ü], besides we make good music,” Skrillex said. “There’s no rules.”
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3. The producers believe Bieber is in a better place now than where he was a few years ago.
“He’s one of the most talented people I’ve ever been in the studio with, 100 percent,” Skrillex said.
4. Diplo says he has “leverage” over artists to give them their best, but only because he gives them respect and trust.
“When you’re working with an artist, it’s always like a sense of negotiating,” Diplo said. “A lot of times a big star will take up most of the space, and you will only have a little say in the work, but with [Jack Ü], we did 95 percent of the work and the direction it went.”
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5. Skrillex doesn’t do drugs.
“There’s always been drugs [in relation to music]. This year there happened to be molly. Before there was Skrillex, MDMA — ecstacy — has been in rave and underground club music since the beginning. [EDM] got bigger out here, so inevitably, that culture came along with it.”
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