Diplo hasn’t found himself in the electronic music community’s good graces of late, but at least he can still poke fun at himself. The ever-prolific “Set Me Free” producer has released announced this year’s Mad Decent Block Party tour dates via a trailer in which he’s played by Dawson’s Creek star James Van Der Beek.
While the choice of Van Der Beek makes for a head scratcher considering that the actor looks nothing like Diplo and hasn’t been relevant in ages, his tongue-in-cheek portrayal earns the latter some respect points. During the whimsical day-in-the-life scenarios, members of his team are depicted as resenting him behind his back.
After M.I.A. spoke out last year on Diplo’s controlling behavior during their relationship in 2004, he didn’t do himself any favors by calling EDM “a really lame culture” in a recent Billboard interview. At this point, it wouldn’t surprise anyone if Skrillex came out with stories about how the Major Lazer founder acted like an insufferable diva during their Jack Ü project.
Be that as it may, Diplo‘s Mad Decent Block Party trailer succeeds in diffusing some of the tension surrounding him without pretending as if it doesn’t exist. Perhaps this is a sign that he’ll adopt the HARD approach and incorporate more of such videos into his ongoing marketing strategy.