2 hours ago
2
Diplo and M.I.A. will probably always be best known for the legendary music they made together in the mid-2000s. Piracy Funds Terrorism, Arular, Kala — what an insane run. It would be great if we could just leave them in that golden moment, but as time has passed, the two have become infamous.
M.I.A. has become an anti-vaxxer who goes on Infowars with Alex Jones to hawk her 5G-blocking clothes, and she recently upped that to 10G-blocking apparel with the announcement of her new "gospel" album. Diplo has been accused of distributing revenge porn more than once. And both of them are friendly with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Secretary of Health and Human Services whose retrograde policies are undoing decades of scientific and medical advancement.
Diplo went skiing with Kennedy the week before Christmas. In 2024, M.I.A. tweeted, "Trump is going to ride America through the most challenging 4 years coming pulling out weed , and RFK will inherit America when God is ready to replant and rebuild it righteously." Diplo and M.I.A. were not on good terms for years, but having both found themselves on team MAHA, perhaps it's not surprising that they reunited onstage at Coachella Sunday.
If you were watching Gen Z Black Flag rock the Gobi at Empire Polo Grounds or on your couch, you missed the part of Major Lazer's main stage set where M.I.A. emerged to perform "Paper Planes," the #4 smash from 2007's Kala that went on to become the 35th biggest song of 2008, per Billboard's year-end tally. This may have been their first time performing the song together since Coachella 2008. (M.I.A. was also at Coachella '09, but it doesn't seem like Diplo was, and she stood alongside Diplo when he played the song at Electric Daisy Carnival '09, but she didn't perform.)
"Maya brought me out here like 15 years ago. She brought me to Coachella the very first time," Diplo announced after the performance, which suggests he's about as good at math as RFK is at science. "Make some noise for her, she's the freaking queen! We love her!" Watch the performance below.
English (US) · 