A Quote from Steve Lawler...

[SirReal]

This is the second time I've been through this in my life.

I was a white kid in black schools in the 80's. As such, I grew up on Hip-Hop. It was a raw, real, gritty art form and "the masses" didn't understand it, didn't want to understand it, and hated it.

Then the industry realized there was money to be made, fast forward a few years and those same people that despised "that angry ghetto music" could sing along to Can't Touch This and Ice Ice Baby.

To "THOSE" kind of people Eric B & Rakim and Tribe were doing the same thing as MC Hammer. To real heads that loved the music, the realization that this real thing we love being presented to the world as this cheesy weaksauce bs was brutal.

"Real" Hip-Hop\Rap still thrived, even in the commercial realm, for a few years (early 90s were pretty much the peak\golden age), but eventually the whole commercialization and watering down of it caused it to collapse in on itself.

The art is still there, but if you want the good old "boom-bap", it only exists in the underground. Commercial Rap now is NOTHING like Underground Rap.

Now I've been around long enough to witness it happening to Electronic music. Ten years ago (hell, 5) most of the "Can't Touch This" crowd viewed Electronic music as "that weird music that you have to take Ecstasy to listen to." Now they're shufflin...

What Lawler can't stand is having his beautiful, real art form associated with a generic, commercialized, watered down copy meant to appeal to the masses.

And frankly, I can't either, but I'm going to do what I did with Hip Hop. Play my underground xit and nod my head.

This, Sir, sums it up PERFECTLY. I went through the EXACT same thing with early HipHop, 80's underground Alternative and a few waves of House, Techno and Breaks becoming popular, then mainstream and the peeps who're trying to keep it real take it back underground, where the magic happens.

[mostapha]

What pisses me off the most is that people attribute house tracks as 'boring'. I even heard some kid say 'i hate house' whilst blasting skrillex on the computers at school...

At least he didn't think they were the same thing.

What Lawler can't stand is having his beautiful, real art form associated with a generic, commercialized, watered down copy meant to appeal to the masses.

And frankly, I can't either, but I'm going to do what I did with Hip Hop. Play my underground xit and nod my head.

Amen.

[Xonetacular]

Let's hope Mansion doesn't try to book him.

[SirReal]

Let's hope Mansion doesn't try to book him.

[DigitalDevil]

This is the second time I've been through this in my life.

I was a white kid in black schools in the 80's. As such, I grew up on Hip-Hop. It was a raw, real, gritty art form and "the masses" didn't understand it, didn't want to understand it, and hated it.

Then the industry realized there was money to be made, fast forward a few years and those same people that despised "that angry ghetto music" could sing along to Can't Touch This and Ice Ice Baby.

To "THOSE" kind of people Eric B & Rakim and Tribe were doing the same thing as MC Hammer. To real heads that loved the music, the realization that this real thing we love being presented to the world as this cheesy weaksauce bs was brutal.

"Real" Hip-Hop\Rap still thrived, even in the commercial realm, for a few years (early 90s were pretty much the peak\golden age), but eventually the whole commercialization and watering down of it caused it to collapse in on itself.

The art is still there, but if you want the good old "boom-bap", it only exists in the underground. Commercial Rap now is NOTHING like Underground Rap.

Now I've been around long enough to witness it happening to Electronic music. Ten years ago (hell, 5) most of the "Can't Touch This" crowd viewed Electronic music as "that weird music that you have to take Ecstasy to listen to." Now they're shufflin...

What Lawler can't stand is having his beautiful, real art form associated with a generic, commercialized, watered down copy meant to appeal to the masses.

And frankly, I can't either, but I'm going to do what I did with Hip Hop. Play my underground xit and nod my head.

Never really thought about this comparison even though it seems so obvious. The strange bit is that I was never really miffed about any genre distinctions on or anything of that sort, it was always just a divide of hip hop that I liked or didn't. I guess its just because by the time I really got into hip hop, it had already smashed mainstream, whereas with EDM I've witnessed the whole thing slowly spin down the tube over the years. Looking at that comparison its not so bad going forward, though, considering the current state of "underground" hip-hop. I'll get desensitized to the bullshit within a few years and all will be well.

[backtothefront]

Do you think the spirit of rave culture as opposed to club culture is dead? Or could it come back?
"It's just changed. And I have to be brutally honest here ... And this is something that I have wanted to say for a while now. Maybe it's not a direct answer to your question, but I don't believe "EDM" is even what we do. Dance music is not the same as house music. Yes, it makes you dance -- we all know that! But what I have seen happen in America in the last two years is the explosion of commercial pop-electro-dance music and so many people think it's the same culture, the same scene as what we do with house and techno, and it isn't! It so isn't. Just because they're both electronic produced tracks does not mean they should exist in the same scene. If I wanted to listen to pop music, I would choose a ballad or a rock song or something that just means something. This electro-pop-dance that all the R&B artists are jumping on is the worst music I have ever heard in my whole life -- cheap, no soul, no meaning. [It's] only made to make money. I don't even like calling what we do dance music, because some people think it's a part of that. What we do is house and techno, and it does have a meaning and a feeling. Just as it's always been, and just how it will always be for us that love house music". Steve Lawler


Pretty spot on if you ask me.

Yes, completely agree with Lawler, mirrors my thoughts exactly. Fortunately despite the creep of 'EDM' (what an acronym!) in to the charts and radio airplay, there is still a healthy scene of underground dance music across the UK/Europe and lots of people distinguish between the two - I'm not from the US obviously, but my impression is EDM dominates and this distinction is not so obvious.

There has always been fads of pop music (which is what EDM/Guetta et al really is) which borrow from blossoming underground dance music movements - Skrillex out of Dubstep is a good recent example, where the big music companies pillage and commercialise, make some dosh, get bored and move on to the next 'big thing' just as quick. Trance and UK garage in early 2000's spring to mind.

[SirReal]

@ backtothefront Good points but you left out the meteoric rise and subsequent decline of "Big Beat"

[Karlos Santos]

the meteoric rise and subsequent decline of "Big Beat"

Count me on on that one... Ive got boxes full of Bolshi Beats, Under Fives, Skint etc etc.
It was brief but it was fun.

[backtothefront]

@ backtothefront Good points but you left out the meteoric rise and subsequent decline of "Big Beat"

Ahhh yes of course! Gd point! That big Brighton sound, Skint plagiarism etc. mid, late 90s. Reminds me of the dodgy uni nights

Hope all are well, have gd wend! Me, I've got a nice ale on the go, cooking up a chilli, the S4 is knocking out some nice soulful, deep house and the missus and newborn daughter are watching some rubbish on tv. Tis all good.

Bttf