If Skrillex And Diplo Present Jack U had been released in 2011, right on the crest of America’s recent obsession with electronic dance music, it might have gone platinum in its first week. “Take U There” would have been a classic, and the Justin Bieber-featuring “Where Are U Now” could have been a hit. But the early ’10s have yielded to the mid-’10s, and Jack U scans less as a groundbreaking event than a pet project. And removed from this context, the strengths and weaknesses of Skrillex’s and Diplo’s respective approaches are much more apparent.
Skrillex’s name is synonymous with the bass drop, and Jack U reminds us why. Rather than coming as a release after an endless buildup, Jack U’s drops are swift and unexpected. Notice how seamlessly “Take U There” transitions from frenetic ’90s new jack swing to a barbaric ’10s banger. And “To U” reads a bit like a pastiche of Scottish producer Rustie until its second drop, when it transitions into a tangled, distinctly Skrillexian mess of screaming samples.
Diplo’s influence shines through in the album’s stylistic breadth. In addition to the aforementioned genres, there’s dubstep, trap, dancehall, New Orleans bounce, UK garage and contemporary R&B. I credit Diplo with bringing these elements to the table because of his restlessness; while Skrillex rarely ventures too far out of his comfort zone, Diplo has always been one of electronic dance music’s most omnivorous producers.
Though the productions on Jack U are strong, both musicians have sounded better in the past. Skrillex’s drops are exemplary, but they’ve been robbed of their distinctiveness after a half-decade of producers launching their own successful careers by aping the sound he pioneered on 2010’s definitive Scary Monsters & Nice Sprites. And he’s in better form than Diplo, who sounded far more inspired on epochal 2000s releases like Piracy Funds Terrorism and his Major Lazer debut Guns Don’t Kill People… Lazers Do.
As such, Jack U’s strongest moments come from how well the producers integrate their guests. Kiesza is the best of the crop, her frenetic ’90s-house-diva impression giving “Take U There” an urgency only exacerbated by its relentless snares. AlunaGeorge’s cartoonish vocal gives “To U” an alien quality, while Bunji Garlin sounds right at home on “Jungle Bae.” The biggest surprise is Bieber, who sounds every bit like the glam god he could have morphed into had he stuck with his early androgynous aesthetic rather than emulating Chris Brown’s machismo.
Though both halves of Jack U have made better music in the past, the fundamentals of what made them so successful in the first place still shine through – namely Skrillex’s skill with bass drops and Diplo’s genre-plundering. Jack U may not be the landmark it could have been a few years ago, but it succeeds as the union of two artists who helped define the sonic hallmarks of a particular time in music history.