'Moombahton', the precocious bastard child of reggaeton and house, could be the greatest genre you've never heard of. Well, so says Dillon Francis anyway. Signed to Diplo's illustrious party-boy label Mad Decent, Francis has been at the forefront of the MOOMB-ment (get it?!?) since it's beginnings, and runs his empire from a Tumblr page rammed-full of Moombahton cat "meme-ixes" ©. He stopped for a breather during his European tour to talk to Noisey about the state of dubstep, Diplo being his spirit animal, and how to finish a gig better than Kanye.
Noisey: Sooo, this is awkward but unfortunately there's no Wikipedia entry for you yet. That upset you?
Dillon: I'm not famous at all
We'll sort that out in this interview.
Exactly, we're gonna make myself famous from this one.
How do you think your Wiki entry would begin?
‘The Galactic Emperor of Moombahton’ then my name.
(At this point I can confirm that the legit pronunciation of the word is moom-buh-tone)
You're over at Mad Decent, what is it like being label mates with "dubstep legends" like Rusko?
It's cool, but it also sucks, because I don't really hang out with Rusko. I don't really think he hangs out with anyone at Mad Decent anymore, really. I barely see that guy ever. It's really cool hanging out with Diplo a lot, he's funny as hell. I don't really get to see a lot of the other people besides Diplo.
Obviously, he's head boss at Mad Decent. How would you describe your relationship with him?
He's pretty much my dad. He's like my dad in music, I talk to him about everything.
Girls?
Girls.
Relationships?
What? Asians?! Yes, I talk about Asian girls, we both like Asian girls.
How do you feel about his foray into chart-topping pop music?
I think it's awesome, I wish I could do that.
Are you saying you couldn't now?
I can, maybe… but it hasn't happened yet. I don't need to, I'm just having a great time doing what I'm doing. I'm making good money and everything is really fun and easy.
Where do you think Mombahton is heading?
I think it's heading into really good places. Flux Pavilion just made a Moombahton song that I've been playing, people like Dr P and all the guys from Circus who are really big over in the States are starting to do it. Hopefully it gets bigger over here, there are a lot of people getting involved now. I feel like everyone thought it was a joke and was just gonna go away, but it hasn't and now everybody's like "Oh, NOW I wanna do it"; because they've have seen that I've been able to create a name for myself in the underground music scene with just doing that genre.
Well, according to Moombahton’s Wikipedia, you were the first artist to reach number one on Beatport with your EP Something, Something Awesome.
I don't even think I did reach number one on Beatport charts, I think someone's lying. Fucking Wikipedia and their wrong information!
Do you think it could be as big as dubstep?
It has the potential, it just needs to get a record that is like the "one" and then I think it will. Especially because of how the internet is now; it's so easy for things to blow up really fast. Lil B's making "base" music that's you know… fucking huge! I don't personally get it; but I mean if something like that can get that big then who knows.
What do you think of the dubstep scene in your hometown of LA?
We just kinda ruined it for everyone.
It's a bit watered down, isn't it?
Well, I think a lot of people are angry about what we did but you know, that's America man! We just piss people off. So if you don't like it, just go talk shit about it on dubstep forums.
You were also over here to perform side-by-side with Foreign Beggars. Were you aware they were big in UK hip-hop about a decade ago, but now they've kinda ventured into electronic music? What do you think it is about electro that attracts artists to jump ship?
Personally, I feel like right now hip-hop is kinda not going anywhere. I don't listen to a lot of music on the radio at all. I just feel like electronic music is evolving so fast and that's why everyone likes it so much; it doesn't just stay the same because it's so easy to reinvent and make a different type of sound, even with what happened making Moombahton.
Finally, Kanye and Jay-Z did a song six times ending their concert last night, what's your finishing move when doing gigs?
Wait, they did a song six times?!
In a row...
Really?
Yup.
That's fucking dumb! That's not pushing the envelope at all. My ending for sets is I grab an air-horn and I'm like "Alright guys, this is my last song" then I grab the mic, do the air-horn into it and let it run out and just stand there.
Doesn't that ruin people's eardrums?
You know what? I don't give a fuck.
Fair enough. So what else can we look forward to from you in 2012 before the world ends?
Before the world ends I'm working a lot with Calvin Harris, I'm doing a song with him for his album and then I'm putting out a song on his label. It's gonna be a single of mine; I don't even know the name of it yet. Right now the fake name is "Cat Attack". Then I have another song with Dr P that's gonna come out soon on June 11th and called "Music Is Dead".
Do you own any cats?
No I don't. I don't really care for them, but it's probably one of the best marketing ploys we've ever done in our entire life because now people are like "Hey! Whenever I see a cat I think of you."
Do you really not have a cat?
No I don't. I HAD one, I was with my girlfriend who was living with me and I realised that both of them sucked so I got rid of them
With an airhorn?
Ha, yes with an airhorn, "Just get out!" *AIRHORN*.
Post-interview, we got an email confirming the line-up to Holy Ship 2013 line-up, which was basically a who's-who of Moombahton and almost almost every artist Dillon mentioned, so if Francis' prophesizing is anything to go by, maybe Moombahton really is the future?
May 23: Sala Heineken, Madrid Spain
May 24: Razzmatazz, Barcelona, Spain
May 25: Le Nouveau Casino, Paris, France (with Benga)
May 26: Dans Dakar, Stockholm, Sweden
May 27: Bikini, Toulouse, France (with Benga)
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