DJs Diplo, Ronson to debut collaboration at New York festival

Unveiling the lineup for the June 1-3 festival, Governors Ball said the two would launch a new act called Silk City, the name likely an allusion to a Philadelphia club where Diplo used to play.

The artists themselves did not immediately reveal more details but Diplo, in an interview last year with GQ, said he and Ronson were working on an album together based on their shared love of disco music.

Ronson, a Londoner who had his start in New York, has had a major behind-the-scenes impact on pop music as a producer for artists including Adele and Amy Winehouse.

He finally achieved stardom on his own with his infectious 2014 hit “Uptown Funk,” which featured vocals by Bruno Mars.

DJ Diplo at the Billboard Women In Music 2017 on November 30, 2017, in Hollywood, California.

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Diplo became known for his work with hip-hop globalist M.I.A. and has since recorded with a who’s who of top artists, notably freshening Justin Bieber’s sound with the tropical house beats of the Canadian singer’s latest album.

Diplo has also become a major live attraction with his groups Major Lazer and Jack U, the latter a collaboration with another electronic producer, Skrillex.

Governors Ball’s key headliner will be Eminem, who is returning to live performances after releasing his long-awaited “Revival” album last month.

Governors Ball marks only Eminem’s second show on the books for 2018 after the rap mega-star was also announced as a headliner in April at Coachella, the California festival that is among the world’s most lucrative and influential music events.

Also on the Governors Ball line-up will be garage rocker Jack White, rapper Travis Scott, Pharrell Williams’ hip-hop project N.E.R.D. and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, one of the key acts of New York’s indie rock scene in the 2000s.

Governors Ball, which takes place on Randall’s Island between Manhattan and Queens, was launched in 2011 but has faced growing competition as music festivals grow rapidly around North America.

Coachella’s promoters since 2016 have run their own festival, Panorama, later in the summer on the same site as Governors Ball.