A group of American EDM fans were left gobsmacked in a Las Vegas nightclub last night after witnessing a black man DJing – something which they’ve never come across in the US EDM scene.
“I thought black people just rapped or sang saccharine R&B tracks,” explained a shocked Scott Harris, from Wisconsin who traveled to Las Vegas with friends. “I didn’t think that they had anything to do with dance music but we went to this club in the city and the DJ was black, I was like ‘what, I’ve literally never seen that before’ and I’ve been listening to EDM for a whole summer.”
Scott claims that he started listening to EDM last year and has become an avid follower of the scene by reading numerous EDM online publications and attending festivals like Electric Daisy Carnival and Ultra but “never once saw a single black face being promoted as a DJ or playing on the main stages”.
“This is just so bananas. So it turns out that African Americans in Detroit and Chicago actually started dance music, mind blown brah,” explained Scott. “I actually went and listened to some of this house music that they’re supposed to have invented and it’s nothing like EDM. There were no drops or anything. Plus I imagine if you saw it live there were no convenient points in the song at which to let off pyrotechnics or lasers.”
It is believed that the vast majority of music fans in the US have only ever experienced dance music through the prism of the current EDM explosion featuring white European looking DJs with mostly Dutch names, boyish looks and celebrity status. Only a small minority are aware of the cultural history of dance music and the role that marginalised groups like black people, the working poor and the LGBT community played in its genesis.
“I think the guy we saw DJing’s name was Carl Cock, he was like a big black guy, the kind you see bouncing a door or starring in a gritty HBO drama,” explained Scott’s friend. “I gotta say I thought he looked a little weird up there, I kept thinking ‘when’s this guy going to rap’ but he never did.”
“I gotta admit it was kinda strange because he wasn’t white but weirder still because he wasn’t even playing proper EDM, it was more repetitive with a darker groove,” he added. “I think it might have been something called techo or techyno. I’m not sure, I’ll have to google it.
