Here's Why the "10 Reasons Why EDM Is Crushing Hip-Hop" Article from Do Androids Dance Is Bullshit

Yesterday, Complex's EDM-centric sideblog Do Androids Dance posted an article titled 10 Reasons Why EDM Is Crushing Hip-Hop, which proceeded to cause quite a stir on the Internet, as things with controversial headlines tend to do. The listsicle's reasons for hip-hop's inferiority included such nonstarters as EDM's standard of a higher kbps rate on their mp3's, the fact that Skrillex has a good PR firm, and that it apparently costs money to put your shit up on rap sites. The piece was irrelevant, anecdotal, misleading, and often just plain untrue, positioning the entire blog game as a closed feedback loop of PR firms handing editors assets to post, one in the EDM world dictated by merit and honor and one in the rap blog game run by payola doled out by clueless executives trying to push insubstantial pap down the throats of an unwilling public. Allow me to politely point out that such a claim is complete fucking bullshit.

The post's author, a guy by the name of DJ Nappy, assumes the stance of the hip-hop insider turned EDM evangelist, comparing the two genres as if they existed in a vacuum rather than as the music of two diverse cultures with their own codes and terminologies that happen to use the same equipment and occasionally cross-pollinate. However, by holding two different worlds to the same standards he loses sight of the things that make them unique. He claims that no one in hip-hop can DJ because his friend got Trap-A-Holics to host his mixtape and was surprised when there was no actual DJing on it. That's because that's not what DJ Trap-A-Holics does. He's a curator; you pay him a fee, he gets that uptight-sounding white dude to yell shit all over your tape, puts his name on it, and because of his brand people will download the tape. That doesn't mean hip-hop DJs can't mix or beatmatch; far from it.

What's more, he takes an alarmingly market-centric stance on art, arguing that a market for EDM exists and is simply waiting to be exploited. Making a case for the supremacy of a type of art based on numbers is rarely effective when you actually sit down and think about it. Anyways, while I can't speak to as to whether it costs money to get your shit up on Livemixtapes, I can definitively say that no well-read and well-respected rap blog has ever charged money for coverage. Nappy claims that since EDM producers use respectful and accomodating PR firms it's fine to post their tracks. In case you didn't know, PR firms cost money. It is rare that a publicist will work with a client for free, and if they do, they do so with the expectation that they'll be able to build a buzz for their client so that they can profit off of them in the long term. Even under Nappy's false model, there is still a financial barrier to entry for an artist to get their music posted on a blog. Additionally, Nappy uses Skrillex's PR firm as a shining example of EDM PR. The only thing, however, is that Skrillex's PR firm represents a diverse range of clients, from producers and DJ's to bands to chefs to singer-songwriters to, yes, even rappers! The PR firm that represents Skrillex is also home to Freddie Gibbs, Boldy James, Danny Brown, Ill Bill, Riff Raff, Heems, El-P, and many others.

Which leads me to another point, and that's the actual role of music blogs. Yes, blogs can be useful as a music discovery service, but at best they're so much more than that. A good music blog also involves thoughtful criticism, judiciously edited pieces, music that's been discovered independently of whether or not it's been pitched to an editor, and occasionally an actual piece of fucking journalism.

Finally, the most frustrating thing about 10 Reasons Why EDM Is Crushing Hip-Hop is its insistence that we can't all play along. One of the beautiful things about music is that while some things might have different cultural origins, it's all music. EDM and hip-hop aren't in direct competition; they reside in their lanes while occasionally interacting, learning from each other so that each might become more diverse, stronger, and straight-up better. Arguing that hip-hop and EDM are in some sort of battle is as silly as claiming that death metal is a threat to chamber-pop. Why does one type of music have to die so that another might live? Music isn't a game of survival of the fittest, and the sooner everyone realizes that the better off we'll all be.

Drew Millard really, really, really, really, really hates the term "EDM." He's on Twitter - @drewmillard