Afro Monk

I have been known to be quite the advocate of anti-Brostep. Recently I was interviewed by a local music blog here in Dallas and was asked if I were to ever play Rusko and my thoughts on the whole brostep thing. The response in the online text clearly says No I’ll never play it. I want to clear things up on that. I’ll never play Rusko because it generally is music most people have heard. Why play a Rusko track if everyone in the crowd has probably heard it and every other DJ rinse the crap out of the tune. If Rusko wants to send me some dubs then sure I’ll consider it when I do want to take it to a hype level.

I never had anything against the guy more so that I had something against the DJ and people who would play Brostep ALL through their set. It’s as if going out was a competition to see who could play the dirtiest set in the night. Yeah sure crowds love to get wild and go crazy. He even describes that the music isn’t really heavy metal which I referenced in my interview as well yet there are guys like Borgore who are saying fuck it why not throw some metal into a set and break the club out into a pit. Yeah sure it’s fun but please when every DJ is doing that all night it’s a bit aggravating.

When I do actually go out to a bar/club it’s for the music and there use to be a time where dubstep didn’t mean brostep and their wasn’t such an emphasis on melting peoples faces off. I cringe every time I hear “melt face” in some sort of way. Variety is key. My only concern is how this take on playing more melodic stuff is a major trend. It’s as if melodic is the word of the time now just as deep was for awhile. Even in a recent interview I saw Datsik do with the homies in Seattle, Splatinum, said how he is starting to do a lot more stuff with melodies and making it more ‘melodic’. Don’t be a cop out now and only play melodic stuff or deep stuff. Give the journey of music different landscapes. Hell throw in a little ghetto crunk in there sometimes to ha.

Much respect to Rusko for this even though it seems like it’s a bit overdue haha but we all knew that even one of the Brostep kings couldn’t possibly be that bro. Despite being one of the kings of Brostep the issue is what he and the sound has amassed in the American DJs who do this all the time.

I’ve been following the music called dubstep for quite some time now. I’ll be frank with you, I’m nobody. I’m just observing what I see and telling you how I personally feel. This is from someone who has been listening to the music, going to shows for the past 3-4 years, and ultimately my take on what’s going on right now.

I was actually introduced to the music from listening to the West Coast producers. One of the first dubstep tracks I heard was from White Boi. Considering when I find something I like I need to know everything about it and master it. The bass wobble and sounds are what captured me. I dug so deep and discovered everything I could find. I listened to Mary Anne Hobbs Dubwars show at least 30 times when it came out and Benga’s essential mix. Burial hypnotized me like he did to the rest of the world. I keep diving in deeper and deeper. I made sure to never miss a Plastician show on Rinse.fm and chat it up with them on MSN asking for track names and following every label and release. It consumed me finding dubs and names of upcoming producers.

Fast-forward 3 years now and honestly I try to stay away from playing any dubstep. I definitely do and there’s no question that I’ll probably never stop but its different now. Money and greed have entered the picture.

The average person who uses the term dubstep is most likely into what is really filth, aggressive, dirty, bro, etc… dubstep. Everyone thinks it’s some sort of joke when the term Brostep is used. Yeah laugh it up because it’s true. Point your gun fingers, drink the cheap beer, dance around insane, rage, and create mosh pits of madness. Take a step back and you’re looking at frat house breeding ground. We all like to have fun but this isn’t where it was when the music first got coined dubstep. People can’t stand labels but they MUST exist. How is it that you expect everything to fall under one name? Don’t take offense to subgenres even if it’s called filth or brostep because that is the perfect word for it and it becomes the name for the subgenre. People don’t want it to stick because they don’t want to admit to themselves they part of the trend and doing/playing what everyone else is into. After all God forbid it not be underground or indie. All you who doubt it go to a Borgore or Rusko and look around at the crowd and you think about all this.

Future bass, post step, deep, etc… Are all these new names any different from when it first started?! Names need to be made so when I’m talking to someone about a particular sound they know a general idea of similar artist. If I use dubstep people think Datsik, Excision, Rusko, Flux Pavilion, Nero, etc… What if I’m talking about Mala, Horsepower Productions, Pinch, etc…? See what I’m talking about. Dubstep has evolved into many other categories and that’s very GOOD.

Evolution needs to happen.
Now why am I writing this all? It’s because the genre of dubstep has blown up! Rusko’s involvement with Britney Spears on her name album will escalate everything to a new mark in time. The mainstream is catching on. I’m begging you people stay in this for the LOVE of the music. Dance around, enjoy yourself, spread the love, support your local artist and djs, & most of all don’t give into the bullshit. There are many people who are going to try to make a buck off all of this. Stay true to the music and don’t do it because you want to be famous, popular, or make money. I see it more and more susceptible to all this. If you’re going to get involved set yourself apart and do something different. To make this bigger and better it means bring your own take not want everyone else is doing. Be original.

I use to be so bitter about the whole community. I’ve let out my frustrations but figure it would be best that they be documented. At the end of the day I want to see more passion and genuine people looking to get involved because they just want to help further along the evolution of everything not because they see the money and fame behind it. We all want to be rockstars but seriously the real ones never made it long term if that’s what their focus became.

What’s my take on Dubstep? Evolve already!
Bring more originality to the table. It’s dying to be recreated.

Ps: One last thing. If things haven’t changed than why is that I have yet to see a brostep set on all vinyl… quality control people. quality control.

Ultra Music Festival Line up Phase 1 is out! There are some quality acts that even make me curious about it.

I’m not a fan of Ultra to be honest. Right now tickets are $140 and thats without service charges I imagine. The reason why it doesn’t go down well with me is because most of the talent I enjoy you can catch a smaller more personal parties throughout the week. Not to mention as a Miami native I’ve done Ultra 3x already back in the day when FL Breaks and Electro was alive. Now the festival has acts like Will.I.Am and even some bands I’m sure will be added. It was never like this. Quite surprised to see guys like Skream and Rusko on the line up. Considering last year I saw Rusko for free with FREE redstripes and bacardi at WMC. Also saw Skream about 3x last year and dont think I paid once except for ViRam event.

What I’m very happy to see is Glitch Mob in town for once! Thats big! Not to mention Pretty Lights coming back. I’m praying someone books Glitch Mob for a smaller party.

Day 1
Tiesto
Swedish House Mafia
Eric Prydz
The Crystal Method
The Disco Biscuits
Carl Cox
Dirty South
Rabbit in the Moon
Will.I.Am
Infected Mushroom
Plump DJs
Adam Freeland
Felix Da Housecat
Pretty Lights
Green Velvet
Lotus
Alex Metric
Bassbin Twins vs. Uberzone
Evil Nine
Afrobeta
Kevens

Day 2
Deadmau5
Groove Armada
Carl Cox
Faithless Sound System
Armin Van Buuren
Above & Beyond
Ghostland Observatory
Crookers
Bloody Beetroots
Major Lazer
Bassnectar
Steve Aoki
ATB
The Glitch Mob
Diplo
LTJ Bukem
A-Trak
Rusko
Skream
Eddie Halliwell

WMC 2010 Dates are Official, Tuesday March 23rd to Saturday March 27th.

I have such a great feeling about the upcoming events. I know lots of people here have already started making arrangements. Looks like I’ll also be involved in an event if all goes well. Recently been quite active in the Glitch community and they might be trying to throw a party. Right now it’s being discussed so we’ll have to see what the future holds.

WMC is one of the biggest events that goes on in the city of Miami when it comes to electronic music. The infamous Ultra Music Festival is a massive event that people from all over the world come into town for. The week is full of madness and parties non-stop.

If 2010′s WMC is anything close to WMC 2009 I’ll die happy, probably will die considering don’t know how I survived work or sleep deprivation.

Last year I was lucky enough to catch: Plastician, Skream, Benga, Shy FX, 12th Planet, Mala, Rusko, Kutz, Juan Basshead, & many more.

The most exciting part of this upcoming WMC is the fact that Glitch will be present. I don’t care if we have to setup a party in the park or small venue, it will happen.

Miami Dubstep – There’s a new weekly night in town starting October 17th, Arcade at White Room. This is going to be another big event every week to add to the dubstep scene here in Miami. The first night to kick off brings in legendary DJ Bassnectar back to Miami. Bassnectar is one of the biggest acts around that brings the bass and energy levels to new heights. He headlined one of the nights at Lollapalooza this year and there’s unbelievable footage of it on the net that you should check out.

The week after that on October 24th they have Drop the Lime stopping by. I know a lot of people are anticipating checking that night. I’m sure you’ll see a large diverse group of people that night. Drop the Lime has made quite a name for himself running the Trouble & Bass label. He sounds take from all sorts of roots and blends it into this trendy bass loving sound that people have come to love.

Halloween lands on a Saturday so you know what that means… Halloween party and a special guest, 12th Planet. As of now I don’t have set plans for Halloween but this might be a consideration for the night. 12th Planet aka Infiltra comes all the way from the West Coast to rock it. I caught him a WMC party at White Room and he plays some fresh cuts. Let’s see what my Halloween brings me…

November 7th right now is listed as Mixhell on the bill. While to be completely honest I’ve never heard of the Mixhell project I’m sure it might be something work checking out considering it’s a husband and wife dou. From reading up quite a bit about them it seems like they are quite diverse in their sound. Igor Cavalera, was the drummer for Sepultura and has tons of projects he works on. This might be something different and going to see what happens that night. I’ve seen Caspa’s name come up for this same night so we’ll see what happens.

November 14th brings Klever. This one I’m quite excited about. I’m hoping that Craze joins him for this set. Klever is one of the best turntablist right now in my opinion and when he teams up with Craze it gets WILD. This is a show I definitely plan on attending and really hope they have the setup where you can actually catch him scratching. This should be a great night if there are no issues with the decks or needle bouncing.

That is quite a line up for a new weekly event. Saturday’s definitely seem to have gotten a lot better here in Miami for bass lovers. After Nov 14th there is an empty gap that I’m sure will get filled up but we do know that Rusko is coming into town December 19th. Rusko absolutely murders dance floors. I’ll never forget the night I first saw him live at WMC. He is one of the coolest nicest guys out there.

If there any event I’m looking forward too its Bassnectar and definitely Rusko!
I’m sure this is only the start of more good things to come to Miami.