Diplo Opens Up About Transformative Experience in India During His Youth

Smoking hash, bathing in rivers, and dodging giant dead cows are just a few activities Diplo engaged in during a transformative experience he had during his youth in India.

Diplo opened up about having a life-changing nomadic experience in India when he was 20 years old in a lengthy Instagram post on Tuesday.

Diplo, 44, explained he barely had any money – or expectations – but made the adventurous decision to buy a one-way ticket to Delhi and explore Ladakh, Rishikesh, Calcutta, and Gujarat on a used Enfield motorcycle. This was the first time he has been out of the country, although that did not stop him from going all out on spontaneity. Diplo described India as “beautiful chaos.”

In the post, he gave us all the gnarly details like how he would meet up with someone from the US Army named Awol and they would go to red-light areas to meet up with his regular girls and smoke hash. How he would hang out in sketchy basements listening to Sitar and table players. Along with several other crazy stories like taking on small jobs and living on dollars, eating thali every lunch, bathing in rivers, falling asleep on his bike, how his eyes would hurt from pollution, and how he was ran off the highway dodging giant dead cows because they were hit by Tata freight trucks. 

The “Where Are Ü Now” artist explained his time in India as “cutting his teeth” which means “to gain early experience.” He believes he became a man there because if he made a mistake it would land him in jail or killed. Diplo even gave us some juicy details about how he fell in love so many times with people that he described as “crazy outcasts.”

Being the OG that Diplo is, it was pretty heart-touching when he ended the post saying without India, “I wouldn’t be the artist and man I am today,” proving how special the country really is to him. He truly had countless positive things to say about India and his journey. Now, Diplo says he is humbled every time he is invited to perform there and that it will always be his favorite place.