UM Intro to Political Theory Section Blog: 5, 11, and 12
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Female DJ's Making a Name for Themselves
What kind of music do you listen to? If you've been out to some house party lately, you've most likely heard EDM being played at the party. What does EDM stand for you may ask? It stands for Electronic Dance Music, and no, it is not the same thing as techno as everyone seems to be calling it. Techno is a subcategory within the entire EDM umbrella. Along with that, there is more to electronic dance music than the usual Skrillex, David Guetta, and AVICII music you hear at parties. I like to compare dance music to an onion, there are layers within layers of different genres of music. There's Detroits very own Kevin Saunderson and his Techno, Kaskade and his Progressive/Deep/Electro House music, Knife Party and their heart-pounding Drum and Bass, to Armin van Buuren's Chill-out/Progressive Trance music.
Whether people like it or not, dance music has blown up in the past couple of years and is a major force in mainstream music these days. With the help of DJ's like David Guetta and Calvin Harris partnering with Artists like Akon, Kelly Rowland, Nicki Minaj, and many others; they and others provide a bridge that connects the mainstream people in America to the music that is listened to all over Europe. Now, there are many annual-dance music festivals occurring all over the country from Ultra Music Festival in Miami, Electric Zoo Festival in New York City, Movement in Detroit, Spring Awakening in Chicago, Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, and many others. Even world renown festivals like Lollapalooza and Coachella now feature headline acts by DJ's. Most dance music concerts these days sell tickets starting at $50 for a show at the Fillmore in Detroit to $75,000 for a table at a club like XS at The Wynn in Las Vegas. DJ's are the Rockstars of our generation.
There is an annual list called DJ Mag Top 100 that features the biggest DJ's from all the different music genres into a worldwide ranking. It's bragging rights for all the people that are featured on it and is the Grammy of dance music. David Guetta, Armin van Buuren, Tiesto, deadmau5, Above & Beyond, Avicii, Afrojack, Dash Berlin, Markus Schulz, and the Swedish House Mafia topped off the top 10 DJ's from the past year. If you look through the rest of the list though, you'll notice something missing. Where are all the females?! That's right, there isn't a single female that is ranked in the Top 100 DJ list. The last and only time a female was featured in the list was by fellow Romanian Claudia Cazacu at 93 during the 2010 rankings. Why? Well, this industry has always been viewed as a mans job unfortunately. Nobody really thought women can be good deejays or that they could be popular to the point where they can sell out entire venues. Female deejays just weren't that popular all these years...until recently.
NERVO
The females that are leading the Female DJ Movement is none other than by Australian twin-sister model duo, yes you heard that right, Miriam and Olivia Nervo. They simply go by NERVO. These girls have blown up in the past year but have actually been around since 2009, as they co-wrote the massive hit "When Love Takes Over" with David Guetta. This year though, they've co-produced tracks with big name deejays ranging from Afrojack to Steve Aoki and have produced massive tracks of their own. I have a weekend job myself where I am the Artist Liasion for majority of dance music events in Michigan where I handle all the bookings and Artist Relations and I've had the privilege of working with NERVO by booking them for a show here in Detroit back in June. I must say that their performance was one of my top three favorite shows this year. The energy that they bring while they're performing is unreal. I was blown away and did not expect anything like that because that was the first time that I've seen a female deejay, let alone by two twin sisters.
Swedish group Rebecca & Fiona
NERVO is not the only female group that is making headway in the dance music industry. Rebecca & Fiona, the female version of the Swedish House Mafia as I like to call them, are also taking over the industry by storm. As stated from the LA Times, Rebecca & Fiona first made splashes in the industry in Europe with their hit track "Luminary Ones," then made a name for themselves in America with their collaboration with Kaskade in "Turn It Down." Another things that I'd like to point out is not only do they make the beats to a track, co-write the lyrics, but they are also the ones that are singing. Other than American deejay BT, I can't name one male in the Top 100 that does all that. As time goes by, women will have more and more of a prominent role in the dance music industry and I will not be surprised to see these girls be ranked high in this years DJ Mag competition.
I really liked how you took the topic of gender roles and applied it to something that usually isn’t the first thing that comes to mind: music, specifically EDM. Male DJs definitely overshadow female DJs. Honestly, when I was younger, I thought DJs had to be male. It’s this “stereotype” that has people dumbfounded when there’s a female with long locks behind the DJ booth.
Compare and contrast male and female DJs. What’s there to say? Compare: they both are capable of mixing insane house-pumping music that all people can enjoy. Contrast: there’s nothing to contrast, in my opinion. There’s no such thing as “turntables for males” and “turntables for females.” It’s level ground. Female DJs definitely don’t get enough credit for their creative beat-bump-bass talent. Australian Havana Brown is another example of a popular and promising female DJ. She’s recognized as a singer with her single “We Own the Night” featuring Pitbull, but she’s originally famous for her DJ-ing.
The Nervo sisters are spunky and beautiful girls. Don’t let their hair and tiny bone structure fool you -- they can blow up a room in seconds with their music. The same goes for Havana Brown and the other female DJs that will soon ignite the EDM world. The music world has made a lot of progress since its existence. Take a look at the hip-hop/rap genre. Rappers like Eminem and Mac Miller have dominated this genre and have given Jay-Z and Waka Flocka a run for their money. Music is something the entire world can relate to. It unites people all over the world because it’s like a language everyone knows and can understand. Thanks for giving a shout-out to female DJs!
Steven, I really enjoyed reading your interesting post. I personally like EDM a lot. I personally like listening to EDM when Im trying to go to sleep. Although you may think that this upbeat fast pace music cant put a person to sleep, it does i for me. My favorite EDM artist is between Swedish House Mafia and Avicii. I even went to Ellectric Daisy carnival this past May. It was absolutely insane at the Met Life Stadium in New Jersey. It was a thee day festival and I went on Saturday which was clear the best day to go.
Nervo is phenomenal. The fact that the listener is not able to figure out which music is male and which is female takes away the bias. The names of the DJs do not correlate with gender roles at all. The Djs just spin music and occasionally there are voices but those songs are usually featuring an wrist. I feel that this EDM movement is huge and anyone can DJ despite gender.
By far my favorite blog post so far, I have read a lot of them and made comments on them, but this is the most unique and interesting piece I have read. EDM is on the rise and is steadily taking over the music industry, and its underpinnings are now infused in today's pop music. Simply put EDM is everywhere. You point out an extremely interesting irony and sad reality in this world essentially: whenever there is a new hot trend, it seems that the female involvement always comes during the second wave or after the movement is established. Currently, the female DJ's that you listed are climbing the ranks and have made incredible names for themselves, but I find it sad that it took them this long. Music, in my opinion, is gender neutral, and females have way more vocal talent than males.
Yet, now that females have entered the movement we will see a shift in the kind of music we can here. There will be better vocals, more of a diversity in the melodies, and a greater opportunity for collaboration and improvements. House music is a movement, but not a gender stereotyped movement. The entrance of females to this art is a force to be reckoned with and I am excited for the future implications it will have.
Steven,
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you took the topic of gender roles and applied it to something that usually isn’t the first thing that comes to mind: music, specifically EDM. Male DJs definitely overshadow female DJs. Honestly, when I was younger, I thought DJs had to be male. It’s this “stereotype” that has people dumbfounded when there’s a female with long locks behind the DJ booth.
Compare and contrast male and female DJs. What’s there to say? Compare: they both are capable of mixing insane house-pumping music that all people can enjoy. Contrast: there’s nothing to contrast, in my opinion. There’s no such thing as “turntables for males” and “turntables for females.” It’s level ground. Female DJs definitely don’t get enough credit for their creative beat-bump-bass talent. Australian Havana Brown is another example of a popular and promising female DJ. She’s recognized as a singer with her single “We Own the Night” featuring Pitbull, but she’s originally famous for her DJ-ing.
The Nervo sisters are spunky and beautiful girls. Don’t let their hair and tiny bone structure fool you -- they can blow up a room in seconds with their music. The same goes for Havana Brown and the other female DJs that will soon ignite the EDM world. The music world has made a lot of progress since its existence. Take a look at the hip-hop/rap genre. Rappers like Eminem and Mac Miller have dominated this genre and have given Jay-Z and Waka Flocka a run for their money. Music is something the entire world can relate to. It unites people all over the world because it’s like a language everyone knows and can understand. Thanks for giving a shout-out to female DJs!
Steven, I really enjoyed reading your interesting post. I personally like EDM a lot. I personally like listening to EDM when Im trying to go to sleep. Although you may think that this upbeat fast pace music cant put a person to sleep, it does i for me. My favorite EDM artist is between Swedish House Mafia and Avicii. I even went to Ellectric Daisy carnival this past May. It was absolutely insane at the Met Life Stadium in New Jersey. It was a thee day festival and I went on Saturday which was clear the best day to go.
ReplyDeleteNervo is phenomenal. The fact that the listener is not able to figure out which music is male and which is female takes away the bias. The names of the DJs do not correlate with gender roles at all. The Djs just spin music and occasionally there are voices but those songs are usually featuring an wrist. I feel that this EDM movement is huge and anyone can DJ despite gender.
By far my favorite blog post so far, I have read a lot of them and made comments on them, but this is the most unique and interesting piece I have read. EDM is on the rise and is steadily taking over the music industry, and its underpinnings are now infused in today's pop music. Simply put EDM is everywhere. You point out an extremely interesting irony and sad reality in this world essentially: whenever there is a new hot trend, it seems that the female involvement always comes during the second wave or after the movement is established. Currently, the female DJ's that you listed are climbing the ranks and have made incredible names for themselves, but I find it sad that it took them this long. Music, in my opinion, is gender neutral, and females have way more vocal talent than males.
ReplyDeleteYet, now that females have entered the movement we will see a shift in the kind of music we can here. There will be better vocals, more of a diversity in the melodies, and a greater opportunity for collaboration and improvements. House music is a movement, but not a gender stereotyped movement. The entrance of females to this art is a force to be reckoned with and I am excited for the future implications it will have.