DJ Shadow has revealed his admiration for the growth of the dubstep scene, working outside the mainstream.
DJ Shadow is a legendary music fan. No doubt housed in the same hangers which Jumbo Jets sleep in, to the hip hop maverick music is more than a currency, it’s something to live for and believe in.
Yet over the past decade few genres have retained this intensity. Hip hop has become diluted, while labels such as Mowax – who DJ Shadow retained an intimate partnership with – have fallen by the wayside.
Speaking to The Quietus, DJ Shadow discussed his admiration for the dubstep scene, focussing on its ability to incubate and growth largely outside of any interaction with mainstream pop culture.
“I have name-checked dubstep a lot in the last two years because it’s one of the few genres that has incubated and developed into something good over the last ten years” he explained. “There isn’t much incubation time for music these days. and when I’m pressed to chart the progress of music over the last decade, it’s one of the few shining examples I can point to. But at the same time I want to treat it with the respect it deserves.”
Continuing, DJ Shadow emphasised the huge role music can play in the lives of those who listen to it. “I didn’t like growing up when people would name check hip hop in a very off-handed circus way, when for someone like me it was my life. It would be like some artist name-checking punk in 1977 because they felt like they should.”
“I’m keen to not dilute dubstep with my own very distant perception of it. Because I know it has a very fervent, passionate, hardcore base to it. If I didn’t grow up in this country, attending those clubs ten years ago I don’t feel qualified to critique it. I enjoy it and I listen to a fair share of it it but I’m not an expert.”
DJ Shadow recently released a new track named ‘Def Surrounds Us’ – a new album is due to drop next year.
