“I made Florida between a small apartment in Philadelphia and my mother’s house in Florida. I was working late nights and taking a bus through the city every night, smoking weed, putting on headphones and just making things I never heard before and could just imagine. Making this record created an entirely new world for me. Now that I think back it’s a very strange beginning and it’s crazy it’s been 10 years since its first release, but really, this record represents my first 23 years of life - what I had inside of me and where I came from so I’m excited to revisit it.” - Diplo

Back in 2000, Big Dada received a package from a Wesley Pentz. Wesley was an American living in Japan and had read in a magazine that Big Dada were looking for “avant garde dancehall.” Along with the scribbled note was a CDR with FORMDIPLO. The CDR contained a series of musical sketches which would eventually form the basis of the debut Diplo album, Florida.” Truth be told, this young guy in Japan seemed almost too good to be true—a beat-making cross between a young Jack Kerouac and an old Tom Sawyer flitting about the globe, telling tales of shrimp boats and Nepali chicks and making the freshest instrumentals around. Much of the Diplo genius was already in evidence and Big Dada signed him to make a record. This was, of course, just the start of Pentz’s rapid rise, whether through his label Mad Decent (and its Block Party tour which originated in front of his house); his work as a Grammy-nominated producer for artists such as Beyonce and Madonna and the associated 13 million track sales; his show on BBC Radio 1 / 1Xtra or his forthcoming TV projects.

The reissued Florida includes the stunning 'Epistomology Suite’, released around the time of the original album plus 5 unreleased tracks/versions recorded by Wes during the Florida album sessions - all packaged in high quality print with artwork based on the original design for the Florida album and an iconic photo of Wes. The 3LP vinyl comes with a 1.5m pull out scroll of brilliant and surreal emails between Diplo and Big Dada from back in the day- an insight into how the Florida album came to be.

In some ways, ‘Florida’ represents Diplo’s most personal work, with less thought for the dancefloor than for atmosphere (not least because it was mainly mixed on headphones, with no money for monitors or smart studios). To understand Wes Pentz, where he comes from and where he’s going, you have to go all the way back home—back to Florida.

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