News

Andrew Kevin Walker’s screenwriting credits include “Seven,” “Sleepy Hollow” and “8mm,” so of course it only makes sense he would return from his post-“Wolfman” hiatus with an animated comedy voiced by Paul Rudd and Patton Oswalt. “Nerdland,” which stars the two as besties about to turn 30 with little to show for it, has just released its first trailer. Watch it below and let the disenchantment wash over you in waves.

Read More: Patton Oswalt Relives Bittersweet Emmys Win After the Loss of His Wife on ‘Conan’ — Watch

Living in Hollywood and coming to terms with the fact that their supposed talent is going to waste, the two hatch a plan to finally become celebrities by seeking not fame but infamy — a process that includes driving around with cameras and imagining all the terrible acts they might observe or take part in. Hannibal Buress, Mike Judge, Riki Lindhome and...

Edx has returned with another deep, sexy edition of his No Xcuses podcast. It’s been several months since we premiered one of these shows for the Swiss DJ/producer, and this edition of the series features a number of quality tracks.

In this instalment, Edx spares no expenses in getting the party started, kicking the mix off with his Miami Sunset remix of Spada’s “Catchfire.” His rendition makes for a powerful reimagining of the original, priming the listener’s ears for what’s to follow. The track can also be streamed or downloaded on its own.

Other memorable moments on the mix include Night Safari’s “Daylight to Midnight” and Hi-lo’s “Renegade Mastah,” as well as three IDs about which concrete details have yet to surface. As always, the whole of the mix rides a fine line between club-friendly house music sensibilities and high-energy Edm.

Switch on...

Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas, or Edc Las Vegas as it’s more commonly referred to, is quickly approaching, and much like Ultra, the event is more than just a festival. In fact, nearly the entire week is dedicated to the ever-growing industry, with the EDMbiz conference taking place in the days leading up to Edc followed by the festival itself as well as numerous pool parties and nightclub parties.

And so, it makes sense that all the various venues are starting to put together their Edc Weekend lineups, and first out of the gate is the Wynn, which boasts some of the hottest places to party in the city. Between its Encore Beach Club, Surrender, Tryst and Xs Nighclub, the hotel has put together a rather incredible lineup that includes some of the biggest names in Edm at the moment. From Diplo to Avicii, it’s an impressive group of artists,...

Major Lazer is currently gearing up to release their new album. Titled Peace Is The Mission, it’s set to drop on June 1st and boasts a number of big name collaborators. Already, we’ve heard the excellent “Lean On,” which featured MØ and DJ Snake, and “Night Riders,” which brought in 2 Chainz, Pusha T, Travi$ Scott and Mad Cobra. Now, we have the album’s third track in the form of “Powerful.”

With Ellie Goulding on vocals and Tarrus Riley providing the hook, the song is certainly a bit of a departure for the dancehall group. A bit of Major Lazer’s signature R&B/Jamaican roots are sprinkled throughout with the instrumentals, but for the most part, “Powerful” is a much more low key affair than we usually hear from Diplo, Walshy Fire and Jillionaire.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that this is a out and out ballad,...

World-renowned music producer and DJ Diplo’s Major Lazer is going from band to brand. A new animated series of the same name, wherein the electronic dancehall group’s commando superhero mascot fights J.K. Simmons‘ evil president, is already flying on the same trajectory as a “Star Wars” franchise. Like Disney Xd’s “Star Wars Rebels,” Fxx had already picked up Season 2 of “Major Lazer” before the first episode premiered. “Major Lazer,” which will feature Mr. Eko, Andy Samberg and Aziz Ansari, debuted on Fxx’s Animation Domination programming block Thursdays night. Diplo revealed the news in an interview with TheWrap,...

Three episodes were provided for review purposes prior to broadcast.

There’s a scene in “Bad Seed,” the fifth episode of Fxx’s riotous new ‘toon Major Lazer, part of the network’s Animation Domination lineup, when the title character is battling a giant weed boogeyman named Mr. Mary-Jane and becomes snared in his opponent’s vine-like clutches. “I’ll keep growing back, Major Lazer, you’ll never kill me!” The creature snarls. Blissed out as always, the Rastafarian soldier replies, “Why kill weed, when I can smoke weed?” Activating his lazers, Major Lazer proceeds to literally smoke Mr. Mary-Jane to death. It’s that kind of toked up madness that both characterizes Major Lazer and almost makes it beyond my mere powers of critical comprehension.

You see, I could tell you that the insanity of Major Lazer is based around the eponymous, ganja-loving superhero in a futuristic, dystopian Jamaica,...

Before there was Skrillex, or DJ Snake, the Edm scene belonged to a funkier batch of producers, zeroth to Dubstep and Twerk Bass was Europe’s insatiable Fidget House movement. I remember going to the Hard Haunted Mansion festival (now Hard Day of the Dead, and now +18) in 2009 and seeing some of the best producers of House, including British beat scientist Fake Blood, then burgeoning Wobble masters Jack Beats and American genre defiers Major Lazer (when Switch was still in the group), but it was Italian duo Crookers that took the show. Their brand of House was noisy, intoxicating […]...

Jillionaire, Walshy Fire and Diplo, or Major Lazer as they’re more commonly known, have a new album coming for us in the form of Peace is the Mission. Boasting their recent single, “Lean On,” along with 8 other tracks, the disc was outed on the Russian iTunes today and looks set to drop on June 1st. However, if you’re eager for some more new music from this trio sooner than that, the album’s next track, “Roll the Bass,” will apparently be available tomorrow, March 23rd, for those who place a pre-order.

As you can see from the image above, Peace is the Mission will feature collaborations with some pretty big names (as Diplo promised a few weeks back), including but not limited to Ellie Goulding, Ariana Grande and Pusha T. It’s an impressive group of artists, to say the least, and given the trio’s previous track record,...

Jack Ü has been in the dance music spotlight ever since their 2013 debut. Now, two years later, their first album is finally here. The appropriately titled Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack Ü features nine, high-energy tracks will have listeners bursting into instant party mode. And as if that wasn’t enough to get you excited, the Missy Elliott remix of “Take Ü There” is also included as a bonus track. Not bad, right?

A comedic introduction kicks things off, as Diplo and Skrillex engage in a static recording of what sounds like drunken philosophical conversation. The mellowed out mood is immediately broken, however, by rapid claps of the first musical track, “Beats Knockin.” Before you know it, you’ll be thrown into a frenzy of twerk-worthy beats featuring the vocals of Fly Boi Keno.

The next song should be instantly familiar to fans of the duo, as it’s the album’s first official single.

While making an appearance at the Grammys this past weekend, Mad Decent’s head honcho, Diplo, cleared the air on a couple of things. First up, he revealed that the much anticipated Jack Ü album would be dropping this month. Exciting news, indeed, but it didn’t stop there. He then addressed another project of his that has people talking: the next Major Lazer album.

Wes told CBS on the red carpet that the disc will be arriving in April and comes complete with an all-star roster of collaborators, which includes Ariana Grande, Ellie Goulding, Travis Scott, Pusha-t and Gwen Stefani. Whether there will be more artists hopping on board to help out remains to be seen, but as of now, we can definitely count on seeing tracks with the aforementioned people, which is more than enough to get us excited.

Check out the full interview in the video above...

We’ve been hearing about a potential Jack Ü album for a while now, almost ever since the super duo’s debut at Ultra last year, and this past weekend, we finally got a pretty firm idea of when the disc is set to drop. According to Mad Decent head honcho Diplo, the album will be arriving sometime this month. Though he didn’t provide a precise release date, considering that there’s less than 3 weeks left in February, it’s going to be here pretty soon.

Wes revealed the news last night at the Grammys when he was asked what he’s got coming up. Edm’s hardest worker said that he’s got projects with Major Lazer, Ariana Grande, Ellie Goulding, Travis Scott and more, before revealing that the Jack Ü album would be here later this month.

“The Madonna album’s out in March. I did a lot of her album.

The Mad Decent commander-in-chief has just released a new track that sees him going down the indie route. Titled “Long Way Home,” this low-key song from Diplo is a collaboration between the celebrated producer, Grizzly Bear’s Ed Droste and Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij.

A far departure from what we’re used to hearing with not only his solo efforts, but from Jack Ü and Major Lazer as well, the track is a soothing and relaxed song that shows us Diplo isn’t confined to just a single genre, and that when he wants to, he can distance himself from all the twerking, trap, moombahton and everything else he’s known for.

If some of the song sounds familiar, it’s because it’s mostly a re-imagining of Ty Dolla $ign’s “Stand For.” It works well, though, and should prove to be a hit with both indie and mainstream audiences.

It's finally official! Diplo is now the proud father of two kids. The world-famous DJ welcomed his second son with a former girlfriend earlier this month. According to Entertainment Weekly, who followed Diplo during his recent Mad Decent Boat Party, the happy couple named their son Lazer Lee Louis Pentz. "Diplo left the cruise early to fly home after his former girlfriend gave birth to their second child together," the publication shared before revealing the unique baby name. The name "Lazer" could possibly be a nod to Diplo's electronic music project called "Major Lazer," which is made up of two other producers named Jillionaire and Walshy Fire. Just two weeks ago,...

Every year for the past few years, a new "Hunger Games" movie has been unleashed on the world and those releases have come complete with a slew of tie-in merchandise, cunningly synergistic and essential in the studio's desire to build hype and awareness around the young-adult novel adaptations (which star Jennifer Lawrence and are based on books by Suzanne Collins, of course).

But the soundtracks to the films have become mini-events in and of themselves, able to build the kind of fervor the movies usually do (with just as much anticipation and speculation). We attended the junket for next week's "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1"over the weekend, and were handed a copy of the brand-new album (out now physically and digitally) and figured we should rundown the album properly. So here we go!

(Sorry, streaming versions of the songs weren't available for all tracks!)

1. "Meltdown" - Stromae featuring Lorde,...

When we first saw the track list for the Lorde-curated Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 soundtrack, we wrote, “Lorde's Mockingjay Soundtrack Is Very Lorde.” Now that the soundtrack is out, we can confirm we were super-right. It could only be more Lorde if the soundtrack were just Pure Heroine with all the nouns changed to Katniss, bow, and arrow. We have ranked the soundtrack’s 14 songs by Lorde-ness, from least Lorde to most Lorde. Who will be No. 1? Will it be Lorde? The odds are definitely in her favor. (Listen to all the songs below.) 14. Major Lazer and Ariana Grande “All My Love” As we all now know, Diplo, a.k.a. Major Lazer, is not a friend to Lorde. They've done remixes together before, but after Katy Perry's boyfriend dissed Perry's rival Taylor Swift (Lorde's Bff), Lorde decided to go ahead and tweet something. This is all unrelated, except...

Daddy Diplo! Los Angeles-based DJ and music producer Diplo (Thomas Wesley Pentz) has welcomed his second son with his ex Kathryn Lockhart, Us Weekly can exclusively confirm. The little boy's name is Lazer Lee Louis Pentz, and he weighed 8 pounds, 10 ounces at birth. Major Lazer is an electronic music project created by Diplo. Katy Perry's on-again beau, 36, is already dad to son Lockett, 4. A source close to the DJ said he is currently spending time with his ex and his little boy, buying [...]...

The "Hunger Games" movies have always offered a veritable feast of new music from major pop acts over the past few years, and the Lorde-curated soundtrack to the upcoming "Mockinjay - Part I" may boast the biggest roster yet. This week, tracks from both Major Lazer (featuring Ariana Grande), and Charli Xcx have been released. Xcx's "Kingdom" features the help Simon LeBon (of new wave legends Duran Duran), and is appropriately cinematic and sweeping. Initially powered by some hypnotic piano and strings and anachronistic drum machine effects, it hits its stride once LeBon's distinctive vocals are paired with Xcx's breathiness. Listen to it here: Meanwhile, Grande and the Diplo-led Major Lazer dropped their collaboration, entitled "All My Love," yesterday. It's no surprise that their contribution is a more upbeat, danceable jam than "Kingdom." Grande shows off her formidable vocal range over a heavy, synthy beat with a slightly Caribbean feel.

Ariana Grande and Major Lazer have unveiled their Hunger Games collaboration.

'All My Love' is the latest track to emerge from the Mockingjay - Part 1 soundtrack, which has been curated by Lorde.

Mockingjay round-up: Stanley Tucci hosting Oscars, greatest Katniss moments

Diplo revealed the collaboration last month when he tweeted: "Ok so this @Majorlazer @ArianaGrande track is sounding pretty gigantic right now #allmylove."

The track appears on the soundtrack alongside contributions from Lorde, Chvrches, The Chemical Brothers and Charli Xcx.

Lorde was selected to hand-pick artists for the collection after meeting with director Francis Lawrence on the set of the film.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 will be released on November 21.

Watch the cast of the movie reveal their favourite Katniss moments below:...

Out of the hiatus of the Australian drum and bass band, Pendulum, rise vocalist Rob Swire and guitarist Gareth McGrillen’s Knife Party. Their work with Pendulum is heavily influenced by electronica, but it draws from the deep well of rock music as well. With Knife Party, the duo have gone full-edm mode on us.

Leaked on iTunes suddenly last week (whether accidentally or purposefully we don’t know), Abandon Ship serves as their debut studio album and comes to us a month shy of their three month anniversary as a group. But it’s not like they’ve been sitting politely in a corner all this time waiting for their turn. Each year since their formation, Knife Party has added a new Ep to their ever-increasing discography, with this latest offering easily taking the cake for being the most fleshed-out creation in the collection. Some dents materialize on the duo’s flashy exterior,...

DJ Hanzel, DJ Rich As Fuck, Drunk Chef, Rave Dad, Diplo’s Bff….whichever alias you choose to call Dillon Francis by, you can’t deny that the DJ is currently one of the fastest rising stars in Edm. Though he’s been making music for years now, the Mad Decent recruit has experienced a meteoric rise in fame and popularity over the past year or so. Now a common face at most major festivals, and collaborating with everyone from Diplo to Calvin Harris, the young artist has finally released his first studio album, and it’s pretty damn close to perfect.

Titled Money Sucks, Friends Rule, the disc spans a whole variety of genres, from trap to moombahton and everything in between. Whether it’s the electro-reggae track We Make It Bounce or the emotionally charged Love In The Middle of a Firefight, there’s truly something here for everyone,...

They’ve been staying hush-hush about their relationship, but it’s getting serious between Katy Perry and Diplo. According to E! News, Katy’s choosing not to go public with their romance. She has, however, introduced the Major Lazer producer to her family already. Do they approve? “Her family likes him a lot,” revealed a source. Not only...Read more»...

Did you catch Diplo‘s second appearance on Reddit’s Ama (Ask Me Anything)? If you missed all the excitement, the DJ divulged some very juicy details, ranging from Jack U original track releases, his new 12 track release and even how he dug-up and re-polished some old tunes that we’re going to be hearing very soon.

Since Jack U’s inception and amazing live performance at Miami’s Ultra Music Festival, the world has not been able to get enough of the Diplo/Skrillex collaboration, and the internet has been constantly buzzing in hopes of original content from the powerhouse production duo. Diplo, the king of making girls twerk, and Skrillex, brostep/dubstep superstar, are a pair of two of the game’s hottest producers who have their audiences in a frenzy to hear what they can do when their beautiful minds come together.

During the Reddit Ama, Diplo...

Johnny Manziel went Wild in a Vegas nightclub last night -- partying his face off and spraying champagne like he just won the Super Bowl ... and TMZ Sports has the footage. Manziel rolled into Surrender nightclub at Encore at Wynn Las Vegas just after midnight ... and got turnt All The Way Up -- partying with a crew of 4 dudes and 8 smokin' hot chicks. Sources at the club tell us ... Johnny started off with Belvadere vodka...

Katy Perry and Diplo's rumored romance is starting to look very real. The singer was joined by her friend Rihanna at 1Oak in NYC on Friday to celebrate Diplo's friend and Major Lazer collaborator Walshy Fire's birthday. While Diplo and Katy didn't pose for photos together, Katy cozied up to Walshy alongside Rihanna, and Diplo focused on his work in the DJ booth. The night before Katy and Diplo hit up Walshy's birthday, they were spotted being "very affectionate" at the Amazing Spider-Man 2's afterparty in the Big Apple. The two were reportedly acting very "lovey-dovey" but made an effort to make it look like they weren't together when people noticed their Pda. Katy ended her on-again, off-again relationship with singer John Mayer back in February. Diplo is no stranger to dating famous women as he previously had a longterm romance with rapper Mia from 2003 to 2008. Source:...

Pharrell Williams will perform his Academy Award-nominated song "Happy" during this year's Oscars, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The producer/singer/rapper's cut for Despicable Me 2 will compete for Best Original Song against U2's "Ordinary Love" from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Karen O's "The Moon Song" from Her and "Let It Go" from the Disney film Frozen.

The category's fifth nominee "Alone Yet Not Alone," from a Christian movie of the same name, recently had its nomination revoked after the film's producer was accused of improperly influencing voters.

Washington, Jan 2: Lindsay Lohan is reportedly thinking about adding another feather to her cap- DJing.

According to TMZ.com, the 'Mean Girls' star was studying and learning from two famous DJ's Diplo and Major Lazer at Pier 94 in New York City.

The gossip site added that Lohan has put acting on hold to focus on her music career. (Ani)...

Lindsay Lohan is battling Paris Hilton on a new front -- she's toying with the idea of becoming a DJ.Lindsay was a hanger-on at Pier 94 in NYC Monday night ... studying 2 very famous spinners -- Diplo and Jillionaire of Major Lazer.She wasn't spinning, but she was getting pointers from the 2 guys for hours.TMZ broke the story ... Lindsay wants to resurrect her music career  ... this time around focusing on electronic dance music. Lindsay Lohan...

I’m hoping that Major Lazer’s latest video for 'Scare Me' will serve as the theatrical trailer for an upcoming movie about the Major. With a cast featuring the never 'Expendable' Terry Crews as Major Lazer himself, this video is a live action version of the animated hero we have been waiting for. Born from the DJ-dna of Diplo, Walshy Fire, and Jillionaire, 'Scare Me' is the latest single off of the group’s 2013 release Free the Universe. Major Lazer has set out to do just that in the video which is an action packed fight fest featuring the Major along with his trusty femme fatale sidekick, Knife Fight (Lauren London). The duo has been dispatched by The Cinco Commander (Nick Kroll) to track down the rotten warlord, General Rubbish, who stole a new “terror laser.” One of the villains they encounter along the way is Workaholics funnyman and...

Major Lazer, the fictional, hitherto animated character that's the super ripped, super lethal mascot or spirit hero of the dance trio, is now a real person. Diplo, Jillionaire and Walshy Fire snagged some real-life actors for their latest music video, which sees Terry Crews bringing their would-be hero to life alongside Lauren London, Nick Kroll and Blake Anderson. Watch, dance, enjoy.

No, it's not a teaser for a feature film, but a teaser for a video for an upcoming track titled Scare Me, directed by Brandon Dermer. The single features Peaches and Timberlee, and is on the Major Lazer album, Free the Universe. Major Lazer is the flying, laser-gunned fictional character created by DJs Diplo and Switch. It's also the name of their group. Watch the trailer below (the cartoon Major Lazer is underneath):...

Mad Decent Block Party, Edm impresario Diplo's now-annual traveling dance circus, kicked off in Calgary last Friday and will be criss-crossing the continent for much of the remaining summer.

To celebrate the upcoming July 26 Toronto date at Fort York, Mad Decent's local DJ/producer Grandtheft has put together a field-filling mix that ranges from crate-dug club-bangers to Kanye and Missy remixes to his own banging productions.

"I wanted to put together an hour of mostly brand-new music that I love right now, high energy stuff that reps the vibe of the Mad Decent Block Party," Grandtheft tells HuffPost Canada Music. " But, as always with me, I threw in all different kinds of club music. Also haaaddd to throw in the Africanism classic 'Block Party.' I've never played a block party without playing that!

The Toronto Mad Decent Block Party features Major Lazer, Zeds Dead, RiFF Raff, Grandtheft, A Tribe Called Red,...

Mad Decent's Block Party tour is a curious thing -- an amalgam of music festival, blacktop hangout and street fair, Diplo's traveling circus of trend-setting musical acts has riled up crowds since 2008.

It's this year's Block Party, however, which is sure to be the biggest. Supported by genre standouts like Danny Brown, Riff Raff and Flosstradamus (as well as dominant crossover acts like Diplo's Major Lazer and Billboard-topper Baauer), the 2013 incarnation of the event has mushroomed to the point that it's no longer free. It kicks off Friday in Calgary and will run through mid-September, spanning sold-out dates in Philadelphia and Brooklyn along the way.

"I've never been to a Mad Decent Block Party, so I don't know what to expect," Brown told The Huffington Post. "Diplo is the homie! That's why he asked me to do it, and I said, 'Hell yeah, let's go.'"

Riff Raff...

Remix packs have long been the rage in the dance music community, a quick way for artists and managers to draft friends and label-mates into providing a spin on pre-existing tracks. It's the former case with Jack Beats and Major Lazer's rework of "Knock You Down," in which producer/Instagramer-extraordinaire Diplo teams up with the U.K. duo for a fun take on a popular club banger.

"We're old friends with Diplo so we really wanted to include him on this package," DJ Plus One and Beni G said in an email to HuffPost. "It turned out to be us and Major Lazer doing the mix on a bashy, big drum flex for the clubs and we're very proud of it."

The track appears on "Jack Beats Remixed Vol. One" Ep, due out August 13 on Skrillex' Owsla. No need to wait until then, though: It's available as a free download above.

Katy Perry tweeted that her favorite song of the moment is Major Lazer's "Bubble Butt," a humorous track that features production by Diplo, Walshy Fire and Jillionaire set against vocals by Bruno Mars, 2 Chainz, Tyga and Mystic.

A super Nsfw video for the song was released in late May. As we wrote at the time: The video is directed by Eric Wareheim, who's known for making out-there efforts and for being one-half of the Adult Swim comedy duo Tim & Eric. He previously worked on videos for Mgmt ("The Youth"), Depeche Mode ("Hole to Feed," which comes with an "inappropriate content" warning on YouTube) and Maroon 5 ("If I Never See Your Face Again," Swiss Beatz Remix), as well as Beach House's equally eccentric "Wishes" clip.

You can see it above, but we really advise not doing that if you're at the office (unless, of course, if your office...

We asked D.J., producer, and Major Lazer leader Diplo to program the ultimate summer-barbecue soundtrack, and he sent us the names of these 98 tracks. “I chose these songs because they’re great new music,” he told us. And he guarantees they’ll sound good, even as your cookout winds down: “This looks like an after-party set to me.”Blood Diamonds, “Phone Sex feat. Grimes” Miguel, “Adorn” Unicorn Kid, “Need U” Major Lazer, “Jah No Partial (Yellow Claw & Yung Felix Remix)” Lana Del Rey, “National Anthem (Cashmere Cat Remix)” Missy Elliott, “Work It (R4 Remix)” Ace Hood, “Bugatti feat. Rick Ross and Future” Juyen Sebulba, “Superjam” Shift K3y, “Geeky Playtime” Sibot, “Magnet Jam” Tnght, “Acrylics” Doorly, “Rush (Original Mix) feat. Soraya Vivian” Twin Shadow, “Golden Light” Rita Ora, “Radioactive (The Flexican Remix)”Ginger & the Ghost, “One Type of Dark (Ta-Ku Remix)”Tinashe, “Boss (Ryan Hemsworth Remix)” A-Track, “Landline 2.0 feat.

The rise of "Harlem Shake" from niche hit to Billboard No. 1 super-meme has been delineated in any number of thinkpieces and Web 4.0 infographics, but the mystery of how Baauer would end up making money off a song that contained unlicensed samples has remained mostly unsolved.

Unsolved, that is, until Diplo cleared things up. During a lengthy and wide-ranging interview at the second weekend of Coachella, the Mad Decent label boss explained how he was able to help Baauer -- despite the fact that the young producer had signed an indemnity form that held him solely responsible for any intellectual property disputes that arose from "Harlem Shake."

"We didn't know there were any samples in the song to begin with," Diplo said. "But when it came to clear the samples -- because otherwise he would make negative money -- we wanted to help him out."

The line "do the Harlem Shake,...

The last time we spoke to 2 Chainz, he was campaigning for felon enfranchisement and mused that he could beat Mitt Romney if the then-gop candidate for president wasn't so rich. In a conversation last Saturday on his bus at Coachella, however, 2 Chainz took a more balanced view of the presidency.

"I really can't have a say-so about whoever is the commander-in-chief," he said while recovering from his second performance at the festival. "I just try to do right whether it's a Republican or a Democrat. But I definitely voted for Obama. He's just dealing with a lot of issues, from that Boston shit to overseas issues with North Korea and everything. Bro's got a lot on his plate, so you can't do anything but support him."

That sort of positivity and casual regard for life's challenges has underscored 2 Chainz' renaissance from Atlanta trap scenester to hip-hop's favorite rapper. The 35-year-old...

Snoop Lion, "Reincarnated" (Vice/Mad Decent/RCA Records)

It's not just a name change, but there's a new take on life for Snoop Lion, who switched his stage name from Snoop Dogg after a trip to Jamaica where he embraced Rastafarian culture.

And the new project works.

Snoop's first reggae album, "Reincarnated," includes some fine production by Major Lazer (aka Diplo), with guest appearances from Miley Cyrus, Akon, Rita Ora and Angela Hunte, who co-wrote the Jay-z hit "Empire State of Mind."

The rapper is still the marijuana-smoking, ultra-smooth Snoop we've all come to know and love. But he's also more focused on love and happiness, and not the gangsta raps he spewed in the past.

He sings against gun violence on "No Guns Allowed," which features rapper Drake and vocals from his daughter Cori B. The track is special because it shows how Snoop has matured as a musician...

Nashville, Tenn. — Major Lazer is a work in progress.

Diplo's part-time project, with a new album "Free the Universe" out this week, is ever-evolving as the producer and his cohorts tinker with a sound they think might provide a clue to the future of electronic dance music.

"Everything's changing now. Edm's shifting," Diplo said. "The house music thing exploded two years and now people are looking for something different. ... What we do as Major Lazer, we just incorporate everything. We're just DJs at heart and selectors. We love all kinds of music."

That's reflected in the Caribbean-flavored "Free the Universe" with its reggae and dancehall influences, but the group that also includes Chris Leacock, the producer known as Jillionaire, and Walshy Fire (Leighton Walsh) pushes the envelope much farther on the follow-up to 2009's "Guns Don't Kill People ... Lazers Do."

Bruno Mars, Tyga and Mystic guest on the hip-hop-influenced "Bubble Butt.

From the files of Big Business Has Discovered Dance Music: Fox is racing to get a Diplo movie off the ground.

Some catch-up for those who are unfamiliar: Diplo heads up Mad Decent, an independent record label that releases an astounding amount of music, mostly for free. The imprint focuses mostly on dance (trap, house, dancehall, etc.) and hip-hop. He is also a legendary pop and hip-hop producer (he's behind Snoop and No Doubt's latest records) and globe-trotting DJ in his own right, both under his own name and as part of Major Lazer, which has an album that's due out April 16.

Without being too laudatory, he's probably one of music's biggest influencers when it comes to internet-friendly listeners. (Remember "Harlem Shake," the Billboard No. 1 that came out of nowhere? It's made by Baauer, one of Diplo's signees.)

Deadline.com reports that the film will be written by Adam Weinstock...

Nothing like some nostalgic weed smoking to bring together a 20-year-old pop starlet from Nashville and a 41-year-old West Coast gangster rapper-turned-reggae mon! If that's your thing, you're luck: Miley Cyrus and Snoop Lion have teamed up for "Ashtrays and Heartbreaks," a song off the Lion's upcoming album, "Reincarnated."

It's a generally inoffensive tune that features both vocalists offering breathy reflections on lost loved ones. Some might accuse Snoop Lion of a certain inauthenticity, but let's be honest, if there are two people who are going to sing about pot, these aren't the worst choices.

If working on a reggae-lite album seems like a surprising move for Cyrus, consider the fact that she last made music headlines by appearing in a raunchy video for Borgore's dubstep song "Decision." She's nimble in this industry!

Snoop has stayed busy doing press runs for the movie and album. In an interview with HuffPost,...

News that Snoop Dogg had taken a smoker's sabbatical from West Coast party rap was met with a healthy skepticism, bemusement and even derision when it first started making its way around the web last summer. But now, Snoop has settled into his newest incarnation: Snoop Lion, a peace-loving, violence-hating reggae artist who claims to be a descendent of Bob Marley.

His transformation was the subject of "Reincarnated," a Vice documentary that traced the 41-year-old rapper's trip to Jamaica and subsequent cultural baptism. The film offers a fresh look at Snoop, best known for hits like "Ain't No Fun" and "Drop It Like It's Hot," and makes up what it may lack in cohesion with tender glimpses at a man who appears to be pondering his place in the world.

The result of said introspection is a reggae album produced by Major Lazer and also titled "Reincarnated." The record features songs like "No Guns Allowed,...

Miami — Stars are born at Ultra Music Festival.

The electronic dance music festival that begins Friday will draw internationally renowned disc jockeys, producers and tens of thousands of revelers as one of the largest dance music gatherings in the world super-sizes to two weekends. It also will draw the expanding genre's great unknowns, the next big acts who catch the attention of the 330,000 revelers expected to attend.

"Ultra Fest is important because a lot of kids who go there don't even know who's playing," said the producer Diplo, who will be performing with his group Major Lazer. "Two years ago Skrillex went and played for free. He just wanted to be part of that lineup, part of the Ultra thing. Then next year he headlined. That's how big you can get in the DJ world within a year."

This year's festival attracts most of the genres top names, including Swedish House Mafia,...

West Hollywood, Calif. -- Snoop Lion won't fire back at critics who say his backing of the Rastafari movement is simply another gimmick from one of hip-hop's savviest self-marketers. But Snoop Dogg will.

Reggae pioneer Bunny Wailer is the most notable skeptic. Wailer bestowed the Lion name on Snoop, but has since repeatedly questioned the 41-year-old rapper's intentions and commitment to Rasta ideology.

Asked by The Associated Press to respond, Snoop's face registered a flash of malice followed by a devilish smile: "If I was Snoop Dogg: `(Expletive) Bunny Wailer.' But I'm Snoop Lion right now, so I'm chilling," he said.

He is using the name to release a reggae- and dancehall-focused album, "Reincarnated." Produced by Major Lazer – which includes DJ-producer Diplo – it features guests ranging from Chris Brown and Drake to Jamaica's Mr. Vegas and Mavado.

While promoting an accompanying documentary that tracks his trip to Jamaica and exploration of Rasta culture,...

Hot Chip is returning to the United States for a string of dates in support of "In Our Heads," the well-received album the band released in June of last year.

The English indie-electro quintet will start their American journey at the Ultra Music Festival, the Coachella of dance music (later, in April, they'll also perform at Coachella itself). But though they're seeing quite a few bookings at dance festivals, Hot Chip's Alexis Taylor tells The Huffington Post the band isn't too concerned about the fist-pumping audience.

"I think people know what to expect when they come to see Hot Chip," he said in a phone interview from the band's rehearsal space in London. "So we still get booked, but we may seem a bit more like a live band by comparison, whereas a few years back we were just doing our own thing and some other bands were doing something similar.

Los Angeles — Don't bother calling Diplo if you want to make something that sounds like a Diplo record. He's not interested.

"Producers in L.A. were hitting me up: `We need a Diplo record. We want to sound like Diplo,'" the producer said. "And I'm like, Diplo is the guy who's doing what nobody else is doing. So unless you're willing to jump off the cliff with me ... "

Jumping off the cliff has put Diplo right in the middle of things as Sunday's Grammy Awards approach.

Up for producer of the year, he's got parties with Snoop Dogg and Skrillex planned in the run up to music's biggest night. Next he'll release a new, much-anticipated Major Lazer album and the reggae album he produced for Snoop. Down the road he's got projects with Chris Brown, 2 Chainz, Tinie Tempah and Riff Raff among others.

The producer, whose given name is Wes Pentz,...

Snoop Lion has announced a documentary movie to accompany his new album Reincarnated. The film of the same name follows the artist formerly known as Snoop Dogg's rebirth as a reggae and dancehall-influenced artist. Reincarnated the album has been executive produced by Diplo and the Major Lazer production team and will be released this year via Vice Music and Mad Decent. "Major Lazer and I had a special opportunity to focus on recording Reincarnated from top-to-bottom with no interruptions in Jamaica," said Snoop. "From my time spent with the people and in the streets, these songs are based on peace, love, and the struggle." 'Here Comes The King' is a taste of what's to come off that Reincarnated album and movie. It's going to be an exciting 2013. Bless up." (more)...

Flux Pavilion (born Joshua Steele) is the dubstep artist that non-dubstep fans are most likely to have heard. That's because Kanye West and Jay-z turned Steele's "I Can't Stop" into "Who Gon' Stop Me," a car speaker-rattling track on the duo's album "Watch the Throne."

The British producer has a string of other genre hits to his name, including "Bass Cannon" (an appropriately named track that's a mainstay in sets for just about every Edm act who has played at a venue like New York's Webster Hall) and a more recent collaboration with Diplo's Major Lazer, "Jah No Partial."

He's back at it again with "Blow the Roof," an 8-track Ep that hits the web on Jan. 28. HuffPost Entertainment is exclusively debuting "I Feel It," a glitchy joint that sounds like a French version of your favorite video game theme song (listen above). The rest of the Ep features...

Major Lazer have announced plans to embark on a world tour in 2013. The DJ group - which is led by Diplo - will play 34 dates across the globe in support of their new album Free The Universe. The jaunt will start in Toronto, Canada on February 28 and include four dates in the UK in May. Angel Haze will join the group on selected dates, while Dragonette and DJ Lunice will support the shows on the remaining stops. Major Lazer's (more)...

Major Lazer have revealed their new album Free the Universe tracklist and artwork. The musical project comes from DJ/producer Diplo, but was initially a collaboration with Switch. Major Lazer are most well known for their song 'Pon de Floor', which was sampled in Beyoncé's single 'Run The World (Girls)'. Free the Universe features Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig, Bruno Mars, Wyclef Jean, Shaggy and many more as can be seen in the tracklist below. The new album is released February 18 2013. Here is the tracklist for Free the Universe: 1. You're No Good [ft. Santigold, Vybz Kartel, Danielle Haim & Yasmin]

2. Jet Blue Jet [ft. Leftside, GTA, Razz (more)...