Diplo
Blow Your Head Vol. 1: Diplo Presents Dubstep
Mad Decent

With Blow Your Head Vol.1: Diplo Presents Dubstep, DJ Diplo is caught red-handed trying to make a quick buck off the growing popularity of the electronic dance music phenomenon.

Aside from attempting to promote his brand, Diplo’s goal here was to introduce his dubstep-illiterate fans to a new style while taking an abbreviated crack at it himself. With the exception of a couple new Diplo collaborations, most notably with an equally guilty Lil Jon, the album is nothing more than a collection of some of the more mainstream-friendly classics from the genre.

Diplo somewhat redeems himself with the Lil Jon collaboration “U Don’t Like Me.” The track pours on enough earthshaking bass lines to get your whole body vibrating, while Lil Jon’s patented ravings make it seem like you’ve never left the Top 40 for the underground.

The second collaboration, titled “Sunset” and put together with dubstep producer Borgore, starts off serenely before exploding into a filthy orgy of searing bass-lines that veers dangerously close to random noise.

After the two collaborations, the album merely compiles an assortment of older dubstep tracks and does some halfhearted remixes. The deejay focuses on the less grimy aspects of the genre; the tracks generally feature more vocals than might be found on a typical dubstep album. The songs feel less like dubstep and more like your basic club anthems. DJ Diplo is clearly trying to water down the genre for the masses and promote his own brand with minimum effort, to the consternation of diehard aficionados everywhere already taking issue with the track listing. You’re better off exploring the genre for free on Pandora. (4/10)