Thirty-five thousand people attended last Saturday’s (Nov. 3) sold-out HARD Day of the Dead festival in downtown LA. Attendees dressed in their leftover Halloween costumes, painted their faces like skeletons and erupted into song, singing "We Are Your Friends" by main stage headliner, Justice, whilst piling out of the packed Chinatown metro station early Saturday evening.
Upon exiting the metro station, which was conveniently located across from the festival's entrance, festival-goers were forced to wait in an obscenely crowded mob to get IDs checked, which were barely even glanced at. For a festival that adheres to strict security (they make attendees take off their shoes), this appeared to be counterproductive. Once past that checkpoint, fans had to wait in another lengthy line, but some grew impatient and just hopped the barriers wreaking havoc and causing even longer lines for those coming in after.
Born in the dirty South, trap music has long been tied to strictly hip hop and rappers but as music is ever evolving trap has since become a sub genre of EDM thanks to Diplo, Flosstradamus and Baauer. To put it simply, trap can be classifed as hip hop intertwined with dutch house synths and basslines found in dubstep. If you're on the fence about delving into this particular type of music listen to the tracks below and see for yourself!
1. Calvin Harris ft. Florence Welch - Sweet Nothing (Diplo Trapstyle Remix)
2. Major Lazer - Original Don (Flosstradamus Remix)
3. Azealia Banks - 212 (DjSliink Remix)
4. Zedd - Clarity (Ookay Remix)
"Everyone in NYC hustles," says Hussle Club frontman Prince Terrence, "They hustle to work they hustle from work. They have different hustles on the side. Hustling is the NYC way of life. It’s one of the worlds great mysteries… How do New Yorkers get by on this tiny island full of trash, rats and overpriced rent. The name is pretty much just another name for New York City."
Naming the special needs students that he spent 3 years teaching as one of his greatest influences, Prince Terrence comes from a strong musical background that started at an early age. He played in both symphonic band and Marching Band, where he credits learning every percussion instrument as well as every scale on piano.
He started his professional career as the drumer for many bands- Santigold, Young Love, Spank Rock, Major Lazer, and Amazing Baby, to name a few examples- before beginning Hussle Club. Deciding that "it was time to step out from behind the drum kit", he began exploring other aspects of his musical knowledge as a "new outlet to channel his ideas."
Welcome to the newest addition to Joonbug.com: Mixtape Monday. Starting this week, we will be featuring some of the hottest new sounds, most awesome music videos, or just straight up classics to get your week started off right. Got any recommendations? Any requests? Feel free to leave them in the comment box below, and be sure to check back each week for the new edition!
What needs to be said for the Flosstradamus remix of Major Lazer's "Original Don." It essentially triggered an entire wave of EDM (Electric Dance Music) Trap music that's taking over EVERYTHING in the underground right now.
It may not be socially acceptable for 20-somethings to trick-or-treat, but that doesn't mean we can't extend Halloween like we used to do when we were kids. If you're feigning for a way to prolong this year's wicked celebrations, look no further than Hard Haunted Mansion. The fifth annual one-day festival returns Saturday, November 3 to ensure wickedness prevails throughout the week. After four years at the Shrine Expo Center, Hard Haunted will move to the Hard Summer location - Los Angeles State Historic Park. French production duo and Hard veterans, Justice, will headline along with Major Lazer and Knife Party.
This year the Mad Decent block party tour docked in Brooklyn’s newly renovated Williamsburg Park for a day of thumping beats and thunderstorms. Over a thousand EDM (electro dance music) fans of all ages thronged the grounds in nothing but body paint, beads, and backpacks in the sweltering 90 degree plus heat.
Sets by Bonde Do Role, Lunice, Riff Raff, eXquire, and Erol Alkan pumped electro, house, dub-step, and hip-hop audible for blocks outside of the scene. Sponsors Heineken and Puma provided beer and giveaways. The party mashed on as the sidelines hosted games of table tennis and foosball. Food trucks camped inside the gates providing deep fried fare. The roster progressed toward the headlining acts and the predicted storm clouds rolled over Mad Decent.
[photo courtesy of Nicky Digital]
Spanning the country and even dipping into Toronto for a day, each Block Party will feature a full day of performances from Mad Decent’s stellar roster of artists (such as Dillon Francis, Major Lazer, Zeds Dead and more). The all-ages event will also offer food and activities, and is ABSOLUTELY FREE.
Hosted by Puma, the tour will kick off in late July in Toronto, followed by concerts in Philadelphia, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. The lineup has yet to be announced. Fans can RSVP here.
So get ready to Express Yourself to a day full of dubstep, house, tribal funk, moombahton and every other crazy sub-genre of handcrafted weirdness the Mad Decent clan can create.