Skrillex Nom’d for 5 Grammys: Is Dub Now Pop?
With half-shaved dubstep raver Skrillex being nominated for 5 Grammy Awards in 2012, one being ‘Best New Artist’ - a first for any DJ/Producer - it begs the question, are hardcore genres of dance music finally moving into the pop-o-sphere?
Dubstep has been around since the late 90’s, born in the originators bedrooms, basements and underground clubs in London, but typically it took the US industry a lot longer to wake up and smell the grime. And Skrillex, might just be the man who's opened their senses. The kid looks more like he could front an emo band, than back a set of decks and funnily enough, he isn’t afraid to scratch his way through a pop artists catalogue; having remixed the likes of Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars and Beni Benassi’s latest track “Cinema” (for which he received but one of his Grammy nom’s for). Check it out:
According to major players in the dub scene, Skrillex deserted his genre as soon as he started allowing the characteristic ‘wub’ to take more of a backseat to mashed electro-house melodies, drum and bass breaks and auto-tuned vocal lines… and this was long before his Katy Perry remix surfaced! He’s now supposedly the most hated man in dub.
But on the flip-side, his genre-mashing is most likely introducing a lot of new kids - who wouldn’t know a bass drop until it reverbed up their gym shorts - to the sound. And is there anything wrong with more people getting into it?
You have to wonder why the underground players complain when the bi-product is more crossover and fans for them… perhaps they’re not the kind of fans they want.
Regardless, with more and more dub artists joining Skrillex in the shuffle across to the dark side (pop), like Nero, Chase & Status and Katy B… this juggernaut seems like it’s taken a permanent turn.
Are you happy about it?
I personally like a lot of the weirder dub and post-dub artists, but this Skrillex track of his latest EP Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites kicks it. Check it out, and let us know if you dig it.
RELATED NEWS: Kid Dies in Mosh, Skrillex Urges Fans Be Safe: read about it here.