Grammy-winning producer and EDM renaissance man Diplo has announced a surprise ambient album, teaming up with meditation app Calm to preview the record ahead of its release.
MMXX will be out in full next week, but fans can listen to five tracks now. Diplo also shared the news that he will be directing proceeds from sales of the album to Beam Collective and The Loveland Foundation in the name of mental health awareness. Diplo took to Facebook to share a heartfelt message about the inspiration behind the album, which was born out his goal to reinitiate the conversation surrounding mental health amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and racial tension in the US.
“First all the flights got canceled then schools, restaurants and shops closed.. slowly people or their family members got sick and lost their jobs and eventually we regained some normalcy but it was through the American way,” he wrote. “A wake up to the racial problems that don’t wait for a pandemic to slow down and in return protests and riots carried on as a last resort in search of some kind of change. Some kind of realization that made us feel normal.. I think it was a reaction to all the anxiety that we had to deal with this year.. 2020 was fucked.”
“I would walk outside Los Angeles and see empty streets and see nervous people and this is what I heard .. but to me this year isn’t dark it’s not about the negative .. it’s about hope,” he continued. “We are all going to remember we did it together and remember what we take from it .. we can look back in a few years and say it was tough but I’m tougher… Everyone might need something different, you don’t have to do it alone .. mental health is something that we don’t speak about enough.”
Calm is most commonly used through its mobile app on iPhone and Android, but you can listen to the early MMXX tracks on its website. You’ll need to create a Calm account and log in.
Check out the five MMXX songs here and read Diplo’s full statement below.
FOLLOW DIPLO:
Facebook: facebook.com/diplo
Twitter: twitter.com/diplo
Instagram: instagram.com/diplo
Spotify: spoti.fi/30IziCT
