“Dubstep has been abstracted from its context” was...

5th February 2012

Quote with 12 notes

“Dubstep has been abstracted from its context” was damn pretty accurate, but “a spectacle of sound has been produced in order to attract people who are not at the EDM events but are listening to the radio or their computer speakers” is somewhat off.

Dubstep was never really an EDM genre. Yes, it’s electronic, and yes, it’s dance music, but it’s different. It was never “rave” music. Raves connote glowsticks, lightshows, scantily clad girls, etc. It was music that was listened to in dark, basements with no light but the light of the mixer and decks, with 30 people in them (but a massive sound system nonetheless). It was dead as soon as it became “EDM music”.

DMZ (who I assume you know well, if you consider yourself even remotely knowledgeable on dubstep as they’re the single most influential establishment in the genre’s history) has had the “catchprase” “Meditate on bassweight” for many years. That’s really what it’s about.

It’s more like this:
“a spectacle of sound has been produced in order to attract people to the EDM events and those who are listening to the radio or their computer speakers.”

There’s much more of a cultural divide besides just that. Dubstep was built on soundsystem culture, dubplate culture, and also pirate radio culture.

Dubplates (“dubplate specials”, dubplate or dub for short) are unreleased tracks that a producer will produce (dubplates are specifically acetate records, but in modern times, CDs and mp3s are also considered dubplates) and distribute very sparingly to DJs or keep to themselves altogether. Typically, dubplates aren’t given to more than 5 or 6 DJs. They’re meant to be exclusive.

The reason behind this is because dubstep was made for a very certain type of atmosphere (the aforementioned, dark, basement vibe + a huge soundsystem). Well, the producers/DJs dont want people listening to these tracks in any other sort of atmosphere, so they only play at the venues with proper soundsystems.

The people will come to hear certain tracks, certain dubplates, and it is ensured that they will hear the tracks in an atmosphere worthy of the music.

Dubplate culture and soundsystem culture go hand in hand.

I won’t go into pirate radio, but it’s also a really important aspect. I can explain if you really want me to.

Anyways, with dubstep you’ve got acetate dubplates, big soundsystems, and musty basements, and with brostep, you’ve got raves, stadium shows, pop song remixes, radio and ad play, etc. And then there’s all the obvious musical difference (check out “Loefah – Horror Show” vs. Skrillex for a real example of the difference).

— Phillip Horack comments on The Popularization of Dubstep: Dubstep Goes to College

Tagged: dubstep brostep edm rave bass soundsystem dubplate soundsystem articles

DUBstep, not Brostep