The Rise of the Drop

William Vaeth CAS 137H Paradigm Shift

Dubstep. If you have even a semblance of popular culture awareness then you know a little bit about this music, or at the very least you have heard the term. Dubstep is a type of Electronic Dance Music that has shot itself straight into the American mainstream with remarkable rapidity. The main draw of the genre is the drop, the part of any current dubstep song to which every other aspect bows down. Now the identifying sound of American popculture epicenters, such as college campuses and music festivals, dubstep originated on the underground tract of European society in the London electronic music scene. The drop-centric music we identify today as dubstep, however, differs drastically from its form at inception in London around the year 2000. The advent of the post-dubstep and what has been termed brostep genres in the United States was both a key player in and a product of dubsteps transformations. Many purists maintain that these faster-paced, dance-minded derivatives are not truly dubstep, while others involved in the early stages of the archetype claim it all falls under the dubstep umbrella. There may not be agreement on a strict definition of dubstep, as the genre has evolved immensely, but one thing is for sure: dubsteps popularity in the United States exploded with a force equivalent to the ground-shaking, mind-rattling drops that have come to characterize the genre. Before getting into how dubstep started in England, its development there, and how it grew to immense status in America, the idea of the drop requires further explanation. The hook, the main draw of a song; the drop. What everyone listens for when they throw on a dubstep track. A thesis statement is to an essay what the drop is to a dubstep song; everyone

The Rise of the Drop

William Vaeth CAS 137H Paradigm Shift

looks for it, and without it the whole has no real impact. A dubstep track can be pretty good without a drop, but with a great drop, the experience is unforgettable. Immediately preceded by a few calmer moments, perhaps even a second of silence, the drop hits like a star exploding in your face; loud, staggering, and beautiful. You know something is coming, and your anticipation is rewarded handsomely. Without an intense drop, a dubstep song does not grab onto you, it will not shake or excite you nearly as ferociously as a song with an immense, earthshaking drop. This facet of the type of dubstep popular in America is one aspect that delineates it from the genre as it sounded when first starting out. The original form of dubstep, still practiced and enjoyed by purists, stems from various forms of underground music prevalent in London around the year 2000, and was intended to be a drop or dance-centric creation. Producers J Da Flex, Zed Bias, MJ Cole, Noodles, El-B, and Oris Jay, the men generally considered the originators or the daddies of dubstep, started pulling heavily from the dub, UK garage, jungle, drum & bass, grime, and even reggae genres around the beginning of the new millennium to create a new sound. Though these pathfinders culled their knowledge of music present in London at this time as a way to guide their creation, they set out to create music different and free from the plethora of what they saw as tired and played-out scenes overflowing London music (Dubstep Past). A by-product of this aim was that most of the songs produced were not particularly dance-oriented. Tracks are deep, often mellow, moody, and sometimes haunting, aimed to capture listeners and pull them in to feel the music emotionally and mindfully. Reggae undertones frequently permeate the rich

The Rise of the Drop

William Vaeth CAS 137H Paradigm Shift

complexity, disguised as a simple groove of dubstep melodies (Harvell). Vocals appear rarely. A typical song hovers around 110-130 beats per minute and does not contain much of a significant drop (Best of 09). Instead, steady bass-richness continues evenly throughout. Original dubstep would appear now to most Americans as a softer, methodical, deeper-bassed and less chaotic version of the eccentric dubstep bombarding Americas music-scape. Due to the efforts of the expanding crowd of dubstep producers and increasing exposure in clubs, John Peel of BBC Radio 1 took notice, in 2003, of the new genre, liked it, and started featuring dubstep regularly in his track rotations (Stephens). Peels listeners voted multiple dubstep songs onto the Top 50 Songs of 2004, indicative of the growing fan base (Festive). Many people seemed ready and enthusiastically willing to accept and promote dubstep. True dubstep increased hugely in popularity around 2006, primarily in Western Europe, and created a hunger for ever more of this addicting electronic-inspired music, opening the door for dubstep-like sounds to proliferate. English, Swedish, and German clubs, especially Forward, often spelled FWD, a London music club and an early adopter of dubstep, were swept up in the craze, consistently playing dubstep tracks in their sets. Fame enjoyed by the original type of dubstep piqued in 2006. Music true to the roots of the genre still exists and circulates, though popularity growth has leveled off somewhat. Despite European enthusiasm in 2006, the thirst for dubstep in the United States remained relatively nonexistent. Though the popularity spike did not quite plant dubstep into American music, it did aid in the increased notoriety and expansion of dubsteps progeny.

The Rise of the Drop

William Vaeth CAS 137H Paradigm Shift

One derivative of the dubstep produced by El-B, Noodles, or any of the other dubstep godfathers, is the aptly-named post-dubstep genre. Capitalizing on the kairos of the openness to new bass-y, electronic inspired music, post-dubstep enjoyed a good deal of success through the efforts of various artists such as James Blake and Jamie Woon (Clark). Post-dubstep cannot be defined easily, as it encompasses a multitude of different artists and sounds. Music critics such as Pitchfork Medias Martin Clark think attempting to even loosely define the ground covered by post-dubstep is a fundamentally flawed endeavor, so diverse is the landscape (Clark). As such, post-dubstep cannot be said to resemble any particular iteration of dubstep more than another. Although it does not relate to or lead to any one type of dubstep development in particular, post-dubstep is an indicator of more and more people picking up dubstep cues and transforming them into something new and unheard. Post-dubstep does not connect London dubstep in the year 2000 with the dubstep heard in the U.S. in 2012, but it does help in understanding how the genre can develop in drastically different directions. DJ and Producer Rusko took dubstep in one of those drastically different directions when he sped it up, made it more intense and chaotic, and created brostep, the evolutionary stage in dubstep dominating American music. Garnering its name from popularity with American college fraternity parties, brostep is decidedly more macho, (McKean) and purposefully more danceable than older forms of dubstep. The drop features most prominently in this realm of dubstep and is a defining feature. Other versions of dubset contain drops, but brostep, in my experience, has the most intense and exhilarating drops. Brostep is

The Rise of the Drop

William Vaeth CAS 137H Paradigm Shift

bombarding college campuses across America with its fast-paced, eccentric, and exhilarating character. Few frat parties are free from the trippy, robotic, metallic, and overall enthralling beats and hooks of this dubstep associate. Brostep acts, such as Krewella, Nero, and Knife Party, a few of my favorites, litter music-scape in America, and more groups and artists crop up as the genre expands. Sunny Moore, known better by the stage-name Skrillex, is arguably the most well-known dubstep DJ in the United States, becoming the figurehead of drop-centric brostep and in doing so making it a megalithic object in American pop culture and music. Response to brostep from American young people is incredible and absolutely undeniable. Electronic music festivals such as Ultra and Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) draw enormous crowds, such as in 2012, when EDCs attendance topped 300,000 strong (Electric Daisy). No genre of music has exploded in such a manner as American dubstep. Dutchman DJ Tisto observes that he and other popular DJs are seeinga complete explosion in the U.S. in willingness to consume dubstep (Marco). The enthusiasm for more and more American dubstep is what transformed the aforementioned Skrillex from couch-hopper to Grammywinner in a matter of months in 2012. Young Americans are the crowd reacting strongest and with most rapidity and positivity, but they are not the only ones making their opinions known about American dubstep. Departures in brostep from traditional dubstep modes garners distaste from many older producers, especially the man responsible for bringing dubstep to America, Joe Nice. Purist dubstep fans and producers, in general, heavily dislike brostep, claiming that it is not real
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The Rise of the Drop

William Vaeth CAS 137H Paradigm Shift

dubstep. Some liken the sounds produced to a car starting on a winter morning, a far cry from the thoughtful, slow, emotional rhythms associated with the original dubstep forms (Best of 09). There can be no doubt that dubstep from London in 2000 and modern American version are vastly different; the original version is more thoughtful than smash-and-dash brostep. The pacing of the songs feels worlds different. Whereas you might sit back and let your body relax as your mind floats away to a traditional dubstep song, brostep does not lend itself to this type of listening at all. Brostep is fast-paced, intense, loud, and almost maniacal. It cannot be enjoyed with the same mellow mindset with which you must approach original dubstep. You will not enjoy it at all if you do that. However, if you put on a song like Skrillexs Bangarang with the intent of feeling adrenaline rush through every inch of your body while you close your eyes and get ready for a mind-melting drop, then you will most certainly enjoy American dubstep as it is intended. American dubstep is all about feeling like you are the main character in an action thriller like Michael Bays Transformers. There may not be agreement on whether or not American dubstep, or brostep, is good or bad, or if it even counts as real dubstep, but the response in American popular culture is unquestionable. People who love American dubstep really love American dubstep. The genre has progressed immensely from its roots in the London underground music scene. Evidenced by the fact that more traditional dubstep has not made its way in the American mainstream, dubsteps evolution is clearly what enabled it to explode into American music. Public
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The Rise of the Drop

William Vaeth CAS 137H Paradigm Shift

perception and consumption has altered drastically as well due to dubsteps c hanges. Whereas two years ago many would hear dubstep and think, rather uninterestedly, robot noises, currently the association is more that of intense parties, dancing, excitement, and the drop. In some ways the path dubstep took to its dominant position in American pop culture mirrors the pattern of American dubstep songs; we heard something about the genre in 2006 with the popularity spike in Europe, but nothing much came about. Slowly, awareness built up as the sound evolved. Things were ramping up. In 2010 we heard our first bit of the Skrillex and Rusko sorts, they hinted at something big ahead. Then, like lightning followed by a tidal wave, dubstep slammed into American culture as swiftly and powerfully as the drops that typify the American genre. Dubstep mutated hugely from its root form in England, warping into the music massive numbers of American young people have embraced so passionately.

The Rise of the Drop

William Vaeth CAS 137H Paradigm Shift

Works Cited Mason, Kerri. "Beggars' Banquet: U.K. act Foreign Beggars takes on the U.S., mixing EDM with hip-hop." Billboard 6 Oct. 2012: 35. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 28 Oct. 2012. Muggs, Joe. "Best of 09: Dub Will Tear Us Apart." Mixmag 2010: 56-. International Index to Music Periodicals Full Text. Web. 28 Oct. 2012 . ---. "Dubstep Past Dubstep Future: The Daddies of Dubstep." Mixmag 2010: 60-1. International Index to Music Periodicals Full Text. Web. 28 Oct. 2012. McKean, Erin. "REVIEW --- Ideas Market -- Week in Words: A Field Guide to Unusual Words in this Week's Wall Street Journal." Wall Street Journal: C.4. May 19 2012. ABI/INFORM Complete. Web. 28 Oct. 2012 . Veronin, Nick. "Wicked Beats." Wired July 2012: 60. Global Issues In Context. Web. 28 Oct. 2012. "Digital Digest." Independent [London, England] 19 Oct. 2010: 6. Global Issues In Context. Web. 28 Oct. 2012. "Brits must look at other talents." Evening Standard [London, England] 16 Jan. 2012: 49. Global Issues In Context. Web. 28 Oct. 2012. Korina, Lopez. "Coming to terms with dance music." USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Complete. 8

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William Vaeth CAS 137H Paradigm Shift Web. 29 Oct. 2012. Marco R. della, Cava. "David Guetta turns the tables as EDM roars into the mainstream." USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. Grigoriadis, Vanessa. "Sonic-Boom Superstar." Rolling Stone 1160/1161 (2012): 52. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. Stephens, Jeff . Dubstep: Little More than a Mythical Far-Off Jungle Creature. Bearcat: University of Cincinnati Internet Radio. n.p. 31 Jan. 2012. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. Yenigun, Sami. The Year in Music: Dubsteps Identity Crisis. NPR Music. n.p. 30 Dec. 2012. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. Ansu, Kwasi. The Year In Hipstep (Or Dubhop?). NPR Music. n.p. 28 Dec. 2011. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. Harvell, Jess. Various Artists: The Roots of Dubstep. Pitchfork Media. n.p. 30 Jan. 2007. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. Clark, Martin. Grime / Dubstep. Pitchfork Media. n.p. 4 May. 2011. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. Festive 50s. BBC Radio. n.p. 2004. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. Sisario, Ben. "D.J.'s grab center stage; Electronic dance music creates a new wave of young musicmakers." International Herald Tribune 28 Aug. 2012. Global Issues In Context. Web. 31 9

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Electric Daisy Carnival. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundations, Inc. 10 feb. 2009. Web. 28 April 2013.

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