On Death, Kandi, Fear, Commerce, and The Evolution of American Electronic Music Culture

When rising US-based business and technology website Quartz entitles an article "Drug-fueled, EDM-obsessed millennials are saving the music business,"

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Complex Original

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When rising US-based business and technology website Quartz entitles an article "Drug-fueled, EDM-obsessed millennials are saving the music business," American electronic music culture is at a crossroads. And while neither issue is really to blame, both death and kandi bracelets are sad (yet relevant) places to have a conversation. In assessing the core values regarding why both death and kandi are issues, let's break those down into the core issues that drive these concepts as concerns: fear and commerce. In discussing these two issues, we can really dig into what's ultimately polluting EDM, can these things be removed, and if not, where do we go from here?

If looked at as a whole, drug-related deaths and hospitalizations are piling up in American electronic music culture in America in the past 12 months. If we start back at last August's Electric Zoo Festival, and look at Ultra, HARD Summer, a few Avicii shows and the recent Mad Decent Block Party tragedy in Maryland, tragic human events have befallen many recent marquee events in the United States. Of course, given dance's historical association with drug use, the idea that dance becoming popular in the mainstram is immediately associated with a rise in drug use by those involving themselves in the culture is apparent. Of course, given the sheer lack of education out there for neophyte partiers about safe, yet spectacular use of drugs as event enhancement tools, overdosing is entirely possible.

Of course, when fear is involved with sensitivity towards human life, there are fail-safe measures that are oftentimes hastily undertaken in order to ensure that unfortunate events don't persist. 9/11 happens, and checkpoints become de rigueur at airports. However, when the possibility of damaging a revenue vehicle (and yes, festivals are absolutely revenue vehicles at this point) is mixed into this terrible brew of fear and death, oftentimes things get lost in translation and everything actually gets worse.

Diplo recently addressed the Mad Decent Block Party issue on Twitter, stating that the rules were being implemented "for" partiers and not "against" them. Even further, he cited that Dancesafe—a national organization whose entire existence is largely predicated around educating less-than-aware dance-culture denizens about the safe use of drugs—had been called in to be present at the Mad Decent events. On the surface, this is great. But what lies beneath is something that's frankly both terrible and terrifying.

What's intriguing about this is a tri-level issue. Foremost, Diplo himself disavows any personal involvement in any post-Black Party death rules being implemented, saying he's just "here for the music." That's the equivalent of being a teenager and inviting people to come to a house for a party, but when the owners come back and there's a drunk kid in the pool, saying, "hey, not my fault, I just brought the stereo. I didn't tell that kid to drink that entire six-pack of beer he brought along." It's a red herring argument, and frankly, bad form. If you know the dangers associated with throwing parties, you must accept the blame for the people who came, too.

Secondly, Dancesafe responded to Diplo's statement saying that they "were NOT allowed to distribute [their] literature on drugs and alcohol," and continued that, "For sake of not compromising our mission, we have not and are not onsite providing outreach in any other cities on the Mad Decent Block Party Tour." The final blow of their somewhat damning statement? "Perhaps you can advocate to your management directly for the dissemination of our literature?" Finally, in a related point, what's amazing about all of this is that the Block Party in question was in Philadelphia, the city wherein the "Block Party" phenomenon started six years ago, and the event literally was a block party. In a telling ode to just how possibly out-sized and at a crossroads American electronic music culture is, had organizers turned away Dancesafe on a street corner in Philadelphia, he would have known better and his statement wouldn't be so ill informed. But, Mad Decent a half-decade ago and Mad Decent right now? The former was independent and cool, the latter is literally a zeitgeist-defining horse of a different color.

The tales of just about any night at cocaine paradise Studio 54, the debauched, murderous and thoroughly drug-addled mid-90s tales of recently released from prison New York City club kid Michael Alig, and the infamous crackdown on Washington, DC's Buzz party at Nation nightclub in 1999 have set a precedent for what's happening right now. There's a clear idea at play that roughly ever 15-20 years, America "learns" that dance music leads to drug abuse, lewd behavior, and yes, death. The idea that people can die from "partying" certainly creates a pervasive culture of fear. Of course, if we analyze this from a psychological standpoint, things that adults and conservative people fear tend to be things that kids and more progressive-minded people embrace. In this disconnect (which has been around roughly since the beginning of time), the idea that legislators and event promoters afraid of people dying at EDM events leading to crackdowns that could stymie the trafficking of drugs at said events would occur is logical, and frankly, expected.

For as much as kandi bracelets are a wonderful way for club kids and ravers to express themselves and have shared experiences in the club or at the festival, for a fear-obsessed group of conservative-minded individuals, it's an easy target. They say that kids who wear kandi all the way up their arms aren't just wearing cool homemade trinkets, but that "there's drugs in them there bracelets!" Of course, this is likely true. As an American electronic music culture, we must understand that commerce has killed "PLUR." The altruistic ideal of "peace, love, unity and respect" that existed in the '90s and 2000s at underground clubs where partiers (in many cases) much more safely used drugs to add to the sensations of the colorful lights and bass-heavy vibes just can't exist the same way at present. When you're holding a can of Monster Energy drink that mimics the 50 foot blowup can of Monster Energy on a 75 foot wide festival stage where a man is being paid $300,000-plus to push a button to make flames and lasers shoot forth from the stage while at the same time playing yes, the same bass-heavy music updated for the modern era, the entire conversation changes. When PLUR goes #plurnt, commerce has entered the picture, and nothing is the same.

When major labels, corporate retail brands, and giant global financial corporations are involved in what was once a bunch of people with dilated pupils staring at little fluffy clouds or desperately trying to turn the beat around, those kids absolutely, positively can't die. Of course, any death, anywhere, is terrible and should be mitigated against in any situation. However, if you're, say, the head of marketing at MasterCard and you've just partnered with SFX, a whole new type of "turn up" gets way too real. Dead kids don't "turn up" on financial statements, but they do "turn up" in public opinion of a corporation overall, and with profit margins being slim during a global recession, banning kandi and accepting fear are the first two things that any smart (and obviously still quite conservative) corporation is going to want to see done.

There's no available data that shows a correlation between banning kandi bracelets and fewer partiers dying at festivals. However, we do know that there is certainly a correlation between the level of fear regarding drugs, festivals, and electronic music culture rising alongside the level of intrigue about EDM, which has absolutely led to a rise in levels of streamlining and mainstreaming alongside major corporate sponsorship of the culture itself. What happens from here? Well, just like as before, there's an underground available for (hopefully) safe and sane drug use, as well as kandi-wearing and a classic notion of "PLUR"-driven community and culture. However, as far as the mainstream? Unless your kandi looks like a MasterCard-sponsored RFID bracelet (and isn't that an idea that we should likely see getting stolen in short order...), these are strange new times ahead that cannot help but to be adopted to, adapted for, and ultimately accepted as the future of electronic music in America.

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