Diplo is best known for his production on pop, dancehall, and rap songs, but now he’s looking to try his hand at a country-pop crossover. In collaboration with popular country singer Cam, the producer released his new single “So Long.” The track incorporates elements of country music, most noticeably twangy guitar instrumentals. The cover art features a picture of Diplo in a cowboy hat drinking a beer.
In a recent tweet Diplo revealed that “So Long” is the first single from a full country-pop project named Thomas Wesley,. This title references Diplo’s government name, Thomas Wesley Pentz Jr.
This announcement comes after the mainstream success of other artists collaborating with established country acts. There have been several hits in this vein, including Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line’s “Meant to Be,” Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey’s “The Middle,” and Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Old Town Road." All three songs reached the Top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with “Old Town Road” spending three weeks (and counting) at No. 1.
Diplo is set to perform at the country music festival Stagecoach this weekend, and recently told Variety that he’s been working with several country acts.
“I’m trying to do some country records with Nashville artists—Cam, Zac Brown, Sam Hunt, Thomas Rhett—just trying to do something totally off-the-cuff and different,” he sad. “It’s actually a hard thing to get some of these guys to take a chance, because country’s such an insular community, but I’m trying to do something a little bit different with the songwriting just trying to experiment, y’know?”
He explained that his southern roots mean he’s already familiar with the genre. ““I’m from Florida and also kinda Mississippi and South Carolina, so country’s always been around,” he said. “I feel like I had to do a bunch of other stuff first, but now I’m coming back to it.”
Watch the video above and read all the lyrics to Cam and Diplo’s “So Long” on Genius now.
