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| Graphic by Shelly Siegel |
Ever since Elvis Presley shook his hips onstage, driving teenage girls everywhere wild with rebellion, dancing has been synonymous with music and controversy has been attached to the next “big thing.” But unlike other music that exists out of the dancehall, dubstep’s main venue is the neon-laden, sweaty pit. And there’s plenty of dissent among even the most impassioned electronic music fans.
Seemingly exploding out of nowhere and popularized in the mainstream by artists like Skrillex, Bassnectar and Rusko, dubstep has become an inseparable part of the dance scene, whether at outdoor music festivals or at raves. The genre is loud, abrasive and polarizing – everyone has a strong opinion about it, for better or worse.
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| Rusko at Electric Zoo 2010 - Photo Credit: Kaitlin Parry |
History of the genre
Dubstep started in the late 90s in London with the name “dub” stemming from Jamaican reggae. Clubs like Forward>> in London featured up-and-coming dubstep artists and really fostered it from the grassroots dance scene.
When dubstep arrived in the U.S. in the early 2000s, it certainly rivaled if not altogether supplanted house and techno as “the next thing” for underground dance parties. Now, according to dubstep promoter Nick Concklin, “dubstep has officially claimed the throne as the rave music.”
Aesthetically, dubstep is a darker, louder version of traditional electronica and is often known for it’s dominant drum and bass sounds. In fact, some of the reasons it came into existence, according to Concklin, were to create louder, lower music than ever before.
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| Bassnectar at Re:Generation 2011 - Photo Credit: Nick Rhodes |
Concklin explained that at first, dubstep was created as a way for people to enjoy going to clubs in a more introverted way than with raves.
You could go to a club, throw a hoodie on and feel the bass grumble in your stomach while bobbing your head and moving to the beat. And you didn't have to deal with the bright colored clothing, the couples grinding and making out on the dancefloor and the predictable build-ups.
The music was meant to be darker electro that wasn’t as gaudy as house. Ironically, it became the most up-and-coming genre of music in the electronic scene and spawned “brostep,” a combination of the two polar opposites and completely subverting dubstep’s original intentions.
The sound
There are also rhythmic and sonic complexities to the music beyond the thumping bass.
“With the higher registers you get these polyrhythms and syncopations that you wouldn’t hear on other tunes,” Concklin said. “[It] creates a very ominous feeling to have a really low rumble around you all the time. This ‘surround sound’ aspect of dubstep music allows it to become extremely physical, where the music seems to course through your veins and take over your heartbeat.”
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| Bassnectar at Electric Zoo 2010 - Photo Credit: Kaitlin Parry |
“There are two senses being stimulated by the same thing,” he said about feeling the bass. “It is so different than seeing and hearing.”
The scene
Beyond the aesthetics of dubstep, its ultimate appeal is that it is danceable music. Dubstep not only took over the rave scene, but also created it’s own dance culture, especially among college students. It has, in some places, actually usurped pop music in the party scene.
“Dubstep is becoming more and more popular because it offers an energetic and bass-filled alternative to mainstream pop music that's great for dancing,” Tufts student Marco Marrazza said.
Unlike other electronica genres, people tend to listen to dubstep almost exclusively in the club atmosphere.
“I started really liking it when I experienced it live,” well-known producer and promoter Khalief Khadafi said. “I can take the heavy stuff live because you can feel it. Its not really computer music in the background, but at the club, I love it.”
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Indeed, a dubstep show has become the venue for dance parties and DJs all over the country are incorporating the sound into their shows. The Clown Prince, who DJs for the DC group Dirty Sweaty Nasty, admits he’s not a proponent of modern dubstep, but finds himself incorporating the music into his sets.
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| Bassnectar at Re:Generation 2011 - Photo Credit: Nick Rhodes |
Contemporary dubstep
Dubstep has now become a kind of conglomerate of the super heavy old style and the new pop sound. Artists like Skrillex are appealing to a mass audience with their catchy beats and less ominous tones, which have allowed them to skyrocket in popularity.
A predictable hit on beat three of each measure gives the genre consistency, or for some listeners, monotony. “The drop” has also become a signature feature of modern bro-step, which is a buildup of tension and energy that ultimately leads to a several beat moment of silence. It’s predictable yet effective.
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But not everyone is convinced.
“Valuing ‘the drop’ is a bunch of crap that has no musical value,” Georgetown University student Franco Nuschese said. “Any Jabroni (like myself) can create a sick-ass drop with free audio programs online.”
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| Electric Zoo 2011 - Photo Credit: Don Stone |
This shift can be seen as either cheapening the genre to appeal to the masses or as a legitimate shift in a genre that is changing as rapidly as any have in history. Arguments will continue to rage: is dubstep a fad or the beginnings of the future of music?
“I just can't play it for more than 30 minutes because I think my brain just can't handle it,” The Clown Prince said.
And fans of dubstep are often not the most vocal proponents – it has become somewhat of a communal guilty pleasure.
Dubstep in the jam band world
Another polarizing aspect of dubstep is that it has inserted itself into both the electronica and jam band worlds. Festivals like Ultra, Summer Camp, Wakarusa and Bonnaroo have hosted artists like Bassnectar and Skrillex, who seem to transcend both worlds of music festivals.
“It’s soaking into the jam band world, sneaking into all the other worlds,” Khalief said.
Dubstep breeds parties and these jam band festivals and large venues are natural party venues. Dubstep also lacks a distinct song structure, a signature of jam band music, and is still not completely within the mainstream consciousness.
People who like long-form music and dancing find that dubstep works to fulfill both of these desires.
Mainstream dubstep
It’s not just college kids or festivalgoers who’ve noticed the dubstep trend. It has quickly become a part of mainstream pop culture.
Britney Spears in her song, “Hold It Against Me” has a dubstep breakdown and “Who Gon’ Stop Me” off Jay-Z and Kanye West’s latest collaboration “Watch the Throne” has a dubstep beat.
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Even huge corporations like Best Buy, Audi and Buick use dubstep in their advertisements. And not everyone is happy about it. Typically, when the mainstream catches on, it starts to kill a trend. It’s the natural hipster complex – kind of like when your mom starts playing the same Facebook game as you, it’s no longer that cool.
“Dubstep has just gotten so diluted and predictable,” The Clown Prince said. “I just think it has to be shifted in another direction because it's just so poppy right now.”
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Contact Hannah Epstein at
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. Nick Rhodes contributed to this story.
What do you think of dubstep? Love it? Like it in small doses? Can’t stand it? Let us know in the comments below.
