Diplo thinks Coachella is “having a hard time booking headliners”

Diplo has admitted that he was underwhelmed by this year’s Coachella lineup — and thinks the festival must be “having a hard time” booking headline acts.

READ MORE: Coachella 2023 review: a tribute to the power of diversity in music

The solo artist, DJ and songwriter — who has written and produced hits for stars including Beyoncé, Madonna, Britney Spears and Justin Bieber — shared his opinion of the 2023 instalment in a new interview.

According to Diplo, while the most recent headline acts, including Bad Bunny and BLACKPINK, are “cool”, they can’t be compared to previous headliners including Red Hot Chili Peppers and Daft Punk.

“I think I’m a little too old for Coachella,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “This is the oldest I ever felt at Coachella. It’s really fun. I love going with the general population and seeing new bands. But it’s just too much.”

“I think they honestly might be having a hard time booking headliners,” he continued. “There’s not much left. We kind of left the era of great superhero acts, like the Red Hot Chili Peppers or Daft Punk … Now they book acts like Bad Bunny and Blackpink, who are cool, but they’re just the most Top 40 there is. It’s almost like they’re stadium acts.”

Both Red Hot Chili Peppers and Daft Punk have accumulated numerous Top 40 hits throughout their respective careers, and embarked on a variety of stadium tours.

Diplo performs live in 2022. CREDIT: John Sciulli/Getty Images for H&M

Explaining why he thinks the festival organisers may be ‘struggling’ to book acts he deems worthy of the headline slot, Diplo also stated that he believes “there’s not a lot of really culturally relevant new acts” around at the moment.

“I saw Labrinth. That was amazing. I think that represents real Coachella,” he added. “He’s part of the zeitgeist. But the rest of it just felt like they had to scramble to find things that were cultural touchstones, but also could bring a big crowd in … I think I once said on Jimmy Fallon, ‘Coachella is the influencer Survivor’. This year felt like that more than ever.”

Headliners for this year’s Coachella also featured Frank Ocean — who performed his first set in six years at the first weekend, but was replaced by a recently-reunited Blink-182 at the second weekend after suffering an injury on festival grounds.

“He doesn’t really care about his fans, to give them a concert,” the DJ said, sharing his take on Ocean’s cancelled set. “It was a show where the ice rink didn’t work and that’s all it needs to be … He has one of the best voices I’ve ever heard. I really think he just doesn’t really care about shows. I think that’s Coachella’s fault.”

Frank Ocean. CREDIT: Visionhaus#GP/Corbis via Getty Images

Earlier this year, Diplo — whose real name is Thomas Wesley Pentz — clarified his response to Beyoncé’s Grammy win, following speculation that he said “they bought that” when the singer’s name was announced. “[Beyoncé] deserves her flowers… and when she won I was just proud to see my nomination on the screen in the huge arena,” he wrote on Instagram at the time.

In other Coachella news, the 2023 instalment of the festival saw some iconic moments take place, including Zendaya’s first live performance in eight years with Labrinth, Dave Grohl‘s cameo appearance with Wet Leg, and Björk’s enchanting performance with over 800 drones.

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Written by NME | Music News