SNL Pokes Fun At DJs And It Hurts Because It is True

Unless you’ve had your head under a rock for the last few years, you are fully aware of the phenomenon that DJ and dance music culture has become. Of course, whenever someone or something reaches such mass commercial success, something happens, I call it the Oprah effect. This is when there is an equal and opposite reaction in the form of a backlash to said popularity. Be it from the outsiders who don’t understand or the one’s who find it easier to hate because it’s different, this backlash is all but guaranteed.

Sometimes, this backlash is unwarranted, I mean really, how can you hate Oprah? In her case there are many that hate her and not because she has done anything wrong, but simply because of the level of popularity she has attained. DJ and dance music culture, or as it is popularly known as in the states, EDM, is currently experiencing this backlash, however, unlike Oprah, we deserve it.

Just look at this latest digital short by Andy Samberg which aired on Saturday Night Live last night. Say what you will, but it touched on so many of the things we clubheads are guilty of doing it is hard not to cringe even while you laugh at the absurdity of it all. I mean no one can deny the obvious questions that come to the mind of outsiders when a DJ turns the bass down and throws their hands up, even internally our scene deals with this. But it really strikes close to home when you see the video poke fun at our cultures enthusiastic pontification of a DJs skill or our endless preaching about the transformative power of music being mixed, and then there is the bass drop.

Fact is, as funny as this video is it rings true and that is a proof that DJs, the entire scene for that matter, is in need of innovation. What that innovation will be we don’t know yet, but one thing is for certain, when you reach a certain level, your environment demands change. Whether you like it or not, change is imminent in dance music culture. Let’s hope it’s a positive one or we will not be laughing at ourselves, but what we once were.

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