Where do you think dubstep is going?

So the dubstep that “fucked this genre” is British, not American, wouldn’t you agree?

i was just trolling you with that cos you called me a daft kunt. most of the “heavy” dubstep or brostep that got spammed was excision, datsik, skrillex, etc.

american audiences took to the heavy sound more than uk audiences. not that brostep wasn’t popular here, but we also had the rest of the spectrum better represented since a lot of those producers were from britain or europe.

i don’t think any producers fucked it, like i said. i think the american audience fucked it.

2 Likes

But audiences don’t create the music, producers do. Audiences consume what is available. I agree that American audiences did take to heavy dubstep more, I don’t think that means the genre got fucked because of them because I live here and I see how big the shows with the deeper sound can get. I think the heavy dubstep had greater visibility here, but it did in the UK too, except that since the genre started in the UK there was greater awareness about its origins.

1 BigUp

I just think it’s presumptuous to assume that American audiences are completely unaware about the original sound, mostly because that’s inaccurate. I’m not gonna say it gets as great visibility as the heavy sound, for sure that’s not the case. I’m just saying it does exist and it does get pushed here, and audiences do get down for it.

i’d say it’s less about origins and more about britain / europe having (practically) all of the good non-bro producers. you had to import all the good shit and pay for plane tickets to do so.

i’m not saying no yanks knew/know good dubstep. obviously mala, blim, coki, benga, etc were and are getting booked in the USA.
but you never had DMZ. you never had FWD. you never had bristol or london.

you did have the internet though, just like me (i’m from the sticks) and i managed to find the good shit. no reason my american equivalent couldn’t have found the same good shit if our tastes were aligned.
but they’re not. and that is my point.

Tbh we’re not in too much disagreement here. But what I’m saying is you’re mistaken about that last point, at least nowadays. The original sound is getting pushed more than ever out here, maybe that’s new. Oxossi, Saule, and Mesck are on Crucial, AxH on Tempa, Distinct Motive on Navy Cut (just as examples) Americans are getting signed to UK labels more than seemingly ever, and audiences have already started to catch up. It just seems you’re ignored as an American producer unless you get signed to a British label for the most part, which is fine, it just means we have to keep pushing our music to an international crowd.

i’d hazard a guess that in the USA, good shit is getting created and consumed no more than it ever was, it’s just more apparent now because the brostep bubble has kind of burst. signal to noise.

if USA is repping hard, why do you need our labels? wouldn’t americans, being as blindly patriotic as they are (generally speaking), much prefer to rep their homegrown imprints rather than relying on their native artists getting a status symbol release on some UK label?

aren’t you due a soundclash of independence if you’re repping so hard?

what did america have? narco hz? it took joe nice (legend btw) about 10 years to start gourmet beats which has turned out to be pretty underwhelming.

The center is still British. I’m not denying that, I’m just saying it’s different than it was 8 years ago. And it’s still small. Yes there are only a few very well-established US labels, and many more smaller labels, that push this sound. Currently Innamind is run out of the US, and there’s ZamZam Sounds of course. It’s taken a lot longer here.

But yeah, no DMZ, no FWD, so what does it matter? Lol

Anyway I’m coming out to UK to play a couple shows in April, maybe I’ll see ya there and I’ll buy you a pint :beers:

if moving somewhere changes the nationality of a label then DMZ and medi are belgian (?) labels now bro. it can’t work like that.
heard some zamzam bits but it sounded more like wonky dub to me. clutching at straws mate.

going on a per capita basis and assuming both audiences have similar tastes as you said, there should have been 5 or 6 FWDs and DMZs in the usa, but there weren’t.
dubstep in the USA found it’s place on festival stages with an audience full of kids doing drugs for the first time. who understood that it’s made for a dark room and ganja? dub war and…?

don’t get too excited about playing in the UK, our club scene has been shit for about 10 years imo.
big up all the same though. i have no hate for the american heads even if they do think i’m a daftkunt.

these sort of arguments are why dubstep fuckin sucks worldwide, no matter which country youre in lol

10 Likes

the genre’s on life support and the forum’s been dead since the switch over. there’s not much to talk about lol.

1 BigUp

the whole “US killed dubstep” thing is just a recycled old trope about american consumerism vs “elegant” european consumerism that is way older than dubstep

3 Likes

Idk I heard dubstep live for the first time at Low End Theory in 2009, a dark cramped club in LA. But I don’t know I guess I’m one of the lucky ones lol.

1 BigUp

And you’re fine man, point taken. I take back my insult. Had a bad day at work tbh lol

you are lucky in that sense indeed, low end theory is legit. i have nuff respect for d styles and those guys, but it’d be a stretch to say they’re a “dubstep” thing you know. those guys clearly just rep interesting sounds while doing their thing regardless.

1 BigUp

When was the last time you were in the US? What cities did you go to and where are you getting your information from?

never been there. and internet.
pretty confident i’ve not overlooked these numerous non-existent american contributions to the genre.

in fact i was offered some gigs there but i was not comfortable with trying to smuggle my dubplates (which promoters want to pay for a work visa?) or playing CDs/USB so i declined.

I do just want to point out that there are numerous dubstep nights, sound systems and promoters stateside including but not limited to:
Sub.mission in Denver
Gritsy in Houston
Grand Ancestor in DC
B-Side Los Angeles
Tsunami Bass in NYC
Steel Yard in Cleveland
All current nights/sound systems that respect the original intent of “dark rooms and ganja” aesthetic. I’m just saying it exists because apparently I have to justify it LOL

1 BigUp

i’m saying that on a per capita basis, you should have 60 of them, not 6. that’s my point. the american audience does not have the demand to make it viable though.