‘Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack Ü’ Review: EDM Collaboration Lacks Direction

Collaborations are really starting to become a big thing in music for 2015, with a number of artists from a variety of genres are collaborating to put out albums. However, Jack Ü isn’t the average collaboration.

Music superstars Skrillex and Diplo have been tearing up the EDM and House music scenes for the majority of the decade, so in 2013 when they announced they would be forming a group together called Jack Ü, many questioned how their styles would come together. Combining Skrillex’s “drop the bass” and Diplo’s well-versed art of remixing chart toppers has resulted in their debut project, Skrillex and Diplo Present: Jack Ü. Featuring a bevy of artists on the album of all genres, all 10 tracks, aside from the intro, have at least one feature.

“Take Ü There,” released in late 2014, is the perfect example of what the album should’ve been all the way through. Perfectly combining the two styles with vocals from Kieza, this is easily one of the best tracks on the album. It isn’t too reliant on either DJ’s style, and plays with Kieza’s vocals very well. The song was so great that a remix was made by Jack Ü featuring Missy Elliot and is included as the last track of the album.

“To Ü,” which features electronic group AlunaGeorge, is another song similar to “Take Ü There” that meshes the two artists very well and has neither artist overshadowing the other. Also, Aluna of AlunaGeorge’s vocals are amazing, and nice enough that the song can be good without Diplo and Skrillex’s mixing.

“Febreze,” featuring rapper 2 Chainz, is one of the tracks in which one DJ overshadows the production of the other. On this track, this sounds like a regular Diplo track with a slight undertone of what could be a Skrillex song with his “drop the bass” mixing on the chorus/hook. The song is a fast pumping song and Diplo does a good job on the song, so it is solid nonetheless.

“Holla Out,” featuring EDM DJ Snails and Dancehall DJ Taranchyla, on the other hand, is an example of Skrillex taking over the production. There isn’t a discernable section of the song that could be recognizable as produced by Diplo. Instead, it sounds as if Skrillex and Snails produced a fist pumping, drop the bass, throwback dubstep track behind Taranchyla’s influenced riddims.

“Where Are Ü Now,” featuring Justin Bieber, is a song that is very different from all the others on the album. Instead of a combination of the two DJs remixing a song for an artist, this track sounds like a Justin Bieber song with a beat by Diplo and Skrillex. Honestly, it’s a really good song, but because it’s so different from the brash EDM/house combo featured on the rest of the album, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

To be frank, I don’t know what to think about Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack Ü. From a musical standpoint, the album is solid, with a large number of great songs for EDM and House. However, as a collaborative album, it’s all over the place and isn’t sure about where it wants to be in terms of direction. Additionally, it is extremely short, clocking in at 35:28 minutes. However, what it knows best, it does: this fist pumping music will no doubt appear in clubs everywhere.