Diplo has advised artists to make songs that last a “lifetime”.

Earlier this month, Diplo sat down with music critic Dan DeLuca for an in-depth ‘Up Close and Personal’ conversation about his career and thoughts on the music industry. During the 20-minute interview, the 37-year-old American DJ – whose real name is Thomas Wesley Pentz – has admitted he thinks electronic dance music is in “decline”, and urges musicians to create songs that will last “longer than the summer” and not just for “another radio cycle”.

Waxing eloquent about the dance music industry, Diplo once again included a brief criticism about its supposedly fleeting existence at the top of the music community. He pointed to the biggest radio hits, citing Calvin Harris and Rihanna’s track “This Is What You Came For” as the only dance song on the airwaves this year. He said he believes that people have moved on from dance music, and back to hip hop.

“Some of these [artists] are great that are part of [dance music] and make great music but for the most part you already see that it’s in decline. . . . There hasn’t been a dance song on the radio except Calvin Harris and Rihanna this whole year. I think people have moved on. They’ve moved on to hip-hop again . . .”

Meanwhile Diplo has admitted he has tried exploring other career paths but was never any good at anything other than music.

“I’ve tried doing jobs I was just bad at them, I couldn’t keep one. I think music was the release. I don’t think was great at it. You’re kind of faking it until you make it. If you can learn how to survive and make music and be a creative person in Philly [Philadelphia], you can make music anywhere. It’s so tough just to make a living.”

Watch the full interview below to get a personal glimpse at the man behind the moniker ‘Diplo’  here.