Major Lazer
Peace Is the Mission
Mad Decent
Two stars
It's been a big year for Diplo. In February, the celeb producer (credits include Britney and Beyoncé) dropped an album as one half of Jack Ü, a duo with dubstep wunderkind Skrillex that spawned both DJs' first Billboard hit, the Justin Bieber vehicle Where Are Ü Now. A month later, Madonna released Rebel Heart, featuring five Diplo productions.
Then Diplo made it a hat-trick, scoring another smash with Lean On, a collaboration with France's DJ Snake and Danish singer MØ, released under his Major Lazer moniker. Now that single has an album.
It's a weird situation. Diplo started Major Lazer as a cartoon duo with UK DJ Switch, after the pair worked together (and broke out together) on records for M.I.A. Their 2009 debut Guns Don't Kill People... Lazers Do was a genuine departure for both – an electronic dance hall-inspired project starring Jamaican guest artists on every tune.
Switch quit two years later. Major Lazer is not a collaboration anymore. It’s not (really) dance hall anymore. Diplo may have just scored his biggest hit under the brand, but one wonders if the Major Lazer alias need exist anymore.
Whatever name he's working under, Diplo has friends he can call and the schizophrenic, scattershot Peace Is the Mission is packed with guests.
Night Riders alone features four – Travi$ Scott, 2 Chainz, Pusha T and Mad Cobra, all spitting rhymes over a moody urban groove, an overbearing car crash of egos and approaches. It's a world away from the polished balladry of Powerful which, despite sounding like it was written for Kelly Clarkson, Ellie Goulding and Tarrus Riley make their own. Brooding trap-infused opener Be Together is dealt heaps of streetwise sass from Wild Belle's Natalie Bergman.
In these familiar electro-urban-pop surroundings, the few dance hall-infused moments – the Major Lazer USP – stand out like shipwrecked infidels. The ska-upbeats of Roll the Bass and Too Original both tastelessly dissipate into reductive, glowstick-waving, side-chain noise.
At little over a half-hour in length, the album is exhausting, jumping from EDM noise and urban beats to electro-ballads and Jamaican grooves; disorientating at times, plain ugly at others. No track exceeds four minutes. Nothing sticks. There’s no unifying core to tie this disparate set of sounds together.
At this stage of his career, Diplo is more in need of an alias than ever – a vehicle to release the music closer to his heart, but further from radio sensibilities. Major Lazer could, should – indeed was – such a vehicle. But Peace Is the Mission needs no covert designation to disguise what is, at essence, just another chart-hugging Diplo release. And a messy, unfocused, egotistical one at that.
rgarratt@thenational.ae
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Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
RESULTS
2.15pm: Al Marwan Group Holding – Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (Dirt) 1,200m
Winner: SS Jalmod, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ibrahim Al Hadhrami (trainer)
2.45pm: Sharjah Equine Hospital – Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner: Ghallieah, Sebastien Martino, Jean-Claude Pecout
3.15pm: Al Marwan Group Holding – Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 1,700m
Winner: Inthar, Saif Al Balushi, Khalifa Al Neyadi
3.45pm: Al Ain Stud Emirates Breeders Trophy – Conditions (PA) Dh50,000 (D) 1,700m
Winner: MH Rahal, Richard Mullen, Elise Jeanne
4.25pm: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Cup – Prestige Handicap (PA) Dh100,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: JAP Aneed, Ray Dawson, Irfan Ellahi
4.45pm: Sharjah Equine Hospital – Handicap (TB) Dh40,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Edaraat, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
Titanium Escrow profile
Started: December 2016
Founder: Ibrahim Kamalmaz
Based: UAE
Sector: Finance / legal
Size: 3 employees, pre-revenue
Stage: Early stage
Investors: Founder's friends and Family
Asia Cup Qualifier
Final
UAE v Hong Kong
TV:
Live on OSN Cricket HD. Coverage starts at 5.30am
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
