Diplo’s latest EP, Express Yourself, is packed with tracks that feature his classic moombahcore electro sound, along with a variety of collaborations. The album is also a good expression of Diplo’s style for the first time Diplo listener. For me, Diplo proves to be a good transition artist, whenever I have a friend who likes hip-hop but is weary about giving electronic music a chance, I recommend they listen to Diplo first. They usually like his tracks, which leads them to wanting to hear similar electronic artists and styles.

The first track on the EP is “Express Yourself”, which i can definitely see becoming a hit in the hip-hop genre. It has a clapping beat that makes you just want to get up and dance, and that style of beat is often used in other popular dance hall/hip-hop tracks. The vocals of Nicky Da B work perfectly with lyrics that are calling out dance moves, which adds to the get up and dance quality of the song. Considering the first track on the EP had such a dance-hall feel I wasn’t surprised to see he collaborated with reggae star Elephant Man and GTA on “Move Around”. Elephant Man is big in the dance-hall/reggae world, so this collaboration will help his popularity in a whole other genre. The track has moving percussions that get joined by Elephant Man’s reggae vocals. There’s a lot of crisp drum hits in this track along with distorted air horn sounds, which complete the dance-hall vibe. One of the tracks that has less of a Moombacore vibe is “Barely Standing” featuring Datsik & Sabi. You really hear Datsik’s influence on this track since it has an overall deeper electro vibe with more Dubstep style elements. I’ve included the EP sampler from Diplo’s Soundcloud below so you can get a feel of the album as a whole. You can buy the EP here!

DIPLO- Express Yourself EP Sampler by diplo