(disclaimer, i cringe a little when using words such as "them" when referring to the mainstream because i really dont like making generalizations like that, i think theres more complexity to the way the world works and how people think, but im just gonna be having a bit of fun with this blog. not meant to attack anyone, just sharing what i think kinda)
also its really late rn and im yapping HARD so ill probably edit more later on to make it make sense.
Just saw this on IG as advertised by dmz news. a channel which, i firmly believe, NOT JUST BECAUSE OF VIRTUAL RIOT, is AI generated.
Anyway, just wanted to share my thoughts on it.
I'm honestly kinda glad that bass music isn't all mainstream and stuff.
I don't like gatekeeping, but by god i wouldnt be able to help it if that happened.
On one hand, it would probably get ruined by tiktok and advertisements and be associated with school bullies and toxic or annoying communities and online brainrot memes and god knows what else.
On the other hand, it would be fully solidified as a recognized culture, the same way "emos" or "roadmen" or "chavs" are, or idk what they have in america but you get what i mean.
Honestly, this is something I would like. I've always thought about what it would be like to just be apart of a community in that sense. To have a certain way of dressing and stuff like that, to just have a way of telling everybody that "hello, notice me! i'm a basshead!" or to feel like you're a part of something.
At least, for MODERN bass music of our generation, like with all the riddim and tearout stuff.
In terms of my favourite genre of all time, bitpop, it doesnt really have that. its not unified at all. its split between different fanbases of different artists and, honestly, i dont think any of these micro-sized fanbases know the others exist. kinda funny when i think about it. but yea, there are no collectively recognized artists like there are with bass music. theres not even a dress code.
kinda why its one of my mission statements in life to be the founder of that. (if i had to make a whole subculture for bitpop it would basically steal everything from the alt rock/ punk pop scene except instead of guitars, everybody is obsessed with keyboards and synthesizers, and everyone loves graffiti and doodling and is really really really really kind :) i think sometimes that im just a lonesome soul looking to create for others what i never had.
anyway, him describing it as "the alt electronic" sounds WICKED. like you have the mainstream electronic with house and other garbage, you have the vague pixelated memory of when dubstep had its moment back in the day, and here we pull up with our twisted trashy earbleeding music and our own way of doing things. our own dance, the headbang (which i think we do way better than metalheads) also hand signs. sometimes youre enjoying the bass so much you start singing the song with your hands, finger guns, different hand movements whatever.
sunglasses.
backpacks.
it would be great in that aspect.
one thing thats for certain is that, whilst bass music has been brewing and boiling beneath, if it surfaces it will be 4000x more hated on than it was before. because in essence its just more bizzare and laughable than last time. it would just be hated on. any appreciation for it would be rare, i feel.
speaking of which, i hate it when people say things like "if mozart heard this he would be horrified and disappointed". brother in christ. of course hes gonna think that, because that was hundreds of years ago...
Point is, music is always changing. always. and its made using the technology of the time. if you showed mozarts music to someone in ancient greece, they would have the same damn reaction. probably worse bc thats a long time apart.
In the current period, technology is expanding and progressing rapidly. and we have computers and sampling machines and synthesizers, and now we got Ableton. Again, music is made with the technology of the time.
Our technology allows us to do a LOT of things
So OBVIOUSLY its gonna sound different you bloody pillock.
I just wanna make a point of how well electroic artists USE and ABUSE that kind of technology to its finest, by the way.
With respect to the quote "a lot of people are missing a truly huge piece in music that is happening"... Look on social media, look deep into the crevices on the internet, and you're gonna find some INCREDIBLE things made in the most interesting ways. Bass music, I believe, represents a lot about technology and how we use it. generally, within music. Bass artists are able to pull off some magnificent things. A lot of the time, their audio engineering skills are through the roof.
All kinds of music require effort, work, thought, sacrifice, knowledge and all that. Im not saying all pop music is throwaway trash. but i am saying that bass artists DEFINATELY deserve more attention than they get for the effort they put in, having to build everything from the ground up rather than getting someone to write you a single song, which you sing using the help of autotune over a beat which is produced, mixed and mastered by a team of professionals. but yknow, that just depends on the artist sometimes. either way, im just saying.
people like @bossfight for example. wayy to underrated for just how INSANELY talented they are (seriously, if you dont know about bossfight's musical journey, you need to read up. or listen up, more like. i dont think its really textually documented anywhere).
Although, when it comes to mainstream recognition, i dont think the radio-listening people will get that. its just not something anyone would care about. it just wouldnt make sense to them.
but, mentioning it, opening up modern bass music to the rest of the world might result in some really really really really really diverse, interesting things. maybe more mainstream rappers will be spitting over it. maybe... maybe... ok thats the only example i can think of, but dont you get it? the potential it has is sort of promising. the only reason i would say its NOT is because, well. what are you gonna do. with some music like that. like, its just. modern dubstep/riddim. like. what can you really do with that.
At the end of the day, bass music is not about the lyrics. its about none of that. The point is, it sounds good. it sounds BANGING. it makes you wanna knock yo head 2 the beat. BLOOD BLAAM BLASGH ZYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK. and thats just what its about.
I just don't think the mainstream public will understand that. We're aliens to them. but that's fine.
I might not produce that much bass music at all, I focus more on the melodic and meaningful (mostly) side of electronic.
seriously. its not in my roots, but it is in my origins. i grew up obsessed with it, and praising the subculture of bass music was a large portion of my childhood.
But im proud to be a basshead with all my heart.
I just don't think its all too necessary to try to open up our enourmous, firm, grand empire to the rest of the world.
but who knows.
