The Rise and Breakup of Jack Ü

Transcript

It's 2016. Diplo and Skrillex had to make what some consider the biggest mistake of their lives. The duo known as Jack Ü had to face a challenge. Skrillex was tied up in a record deal, but Diplo wanted to keep making hits. Instead, they were forced to part their own ways, and in 2016, both artists announced the end of Jack Ü.

After just one album release, they had created a masterpiece: "Where Are You Now" and "Take Ü There." These songs had billions of streams, global chart success, and a Grammy award winning album. So, whatever happened to them? Why would they split at the height of their duo career? And what led them to create such an unforgettable duo, one that collaborated with Justin Bieber, performed at Ultra together, and created the hottest EDM pop infusion of the early 2010s?

But in order to understand their rise and their fall, we need to rewind. Diplo once said the goal of Jack Ü was to make underground music for the masses. That was their whole idea in the first place: experiment, blend genres, and collaborate with unexpected artists like 2 Chainz and Justin Bieber.

From the beginning, dating back to 2013 when they had their first live set at Mad Decent Block Party in San Diego, the world first heard the name Jack Ü. While teasing their soon to be released underground songs, they broke the traditional style of EDM. They created something different and unique while also focusing on pleasing the underground niche.

Just a year later, in 2014, they made it official with the release of "Take Ü There." It was a hit, selling 1.3 million copies its first week. But the craziest part is what it showed them: that these experiments of theirs, blending pop and electronic music, could live both on the radio and in a festival setting.

Fast forward to February of 2015, just a year after releasing their first single, "Take Ü There," they came out with their debut album, "Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack Ü," a compact ten track project which featured one of the biggest EDM pop infusion songs in history: "Where Are You Now," featuring Justin Bieber.

The hit song originally started as a simple piano demo by Bieber, titled "The Most." It was later sent to the Jack Ü crew, where it got its iconic twisted sound that made it more electric: the dolphin sound, a chopped, pitch bent vocal from Bieber that became the drop of the song.

"You know, that's actually my vocal," Bieber explained. "They just chopped it up. It's not really a synthesizer, it's just my vocal. So they pitched it up and they messed with it and stuff. Then I cut out this piece, so it's pitched way up, distorted, bounced, rebounced again." They knew they had something special.

In order to promote the song, they needed something big. That's when they came up with the idea of a 24-hour stream. But 18 hours in, something happened: the police shut it down. A private party had gotten too big, and a huge crowd was trying to get inside the house. "Party's over. Everybody out."

But it worked out in the end. The publicity promoted their album to the top of the charts, and they eventually won the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album.

Now, the breakup of Jack Ü is probably one of the most misunderstood splits in modern EDM. Most fans assume it was because they had a falling out or simply drifted apart as friends. But the real reason is more complicated. It's a lot more about the music industry than personal drama.

Diplo put it this way: "The thing with Jack Ü is complicated because of Atlantic. Skrillex is signed to that label, and it's difficult to do anything with that. I hate major labels, so I don't really want to do anything with major labels, so it's hard."

That quote pretty much says it all. The core issue wasn't really friendship, it was label politics. Skrillex was signed to Atlantic Records, and Diplo's distaste for working with major labels made it nearly impossible for them to keep releasing music together under the name Jack Ü.

The problem with big record labels is that they restrict creative freedom, plain and simple. Major labels often trap artists in restrictive contracts. These deals limit how and when artists can release music, who they can collaborate with, and even what kind of music they can make. They also take a huge cut of the profits, leaving the artist with just a small share, even with a major hit like "Where Are You Now." On top of that, they often interfere with the music itself, pushing for more radio friendly, safe sounds: less risky, less original. That's a big part of why Jack Ü split.

But there's another part of this breakup: creative growth. Diplo put it like this: "It's something we talked about over the last year. Jack Ü was awesome, but it was very young. I want to do something that feels more my age."

Jack Ü didn't just top the charts. They brought underground electronic music into the mainstream. But behind the scenes, things were starting to unravel. In 2016, Skrillex tweeted that Jack Ü was done touring for a long time. The tweet was quickly deleted, but the message was pretty clear.

For years after, Diplo kept hinting at a return. In 2019, he posted a remix of "Where Are You Now" on Instagram with a caption. But every time the topic came up, it circled back to one problem: Skrillex and his label.

Fast forward to now, and there's some interesting news. As of just a couple of months ago, Skrillex is officially independent. No more Atlantic, no more label politics. And that has fans wondering: could Jack Ü make a comeback?

It doesn't really seem like it, after Diplo said this about the chances of Jack Ü coming back: "There is, if Skrillex listens to this spot, show and text me back. So Skrillex, listen up, trying to do this again. Yeah, come on, people need it."

But who knows. Skrillex is free, Diplo is ready, and the road is clear. So now the question is: will Skrillex ever respond to Diplo? And how soon could they reunite?