Musical purists have the tendency to resent when their preferred genre takes new forms or falls into favour with the mainstream.
Recently, dubstep has been morphing into an aggressive and hugely popular genre in musical cultures across the globe. Britney Spears’ use of dubstep breaks in her new single “Hold it Against Me” had bass music heads claiming “Britney ruined dubstep,” and the like on Internet forums and YouTube.
There is a feeling that music — or any art form — loses some of its value when its aims become more commercial than artistic. While this may be true, it’s a natural and healthy cycle for art to undergo. When formerly underground sounds gain popularity in the public eye, the underground is forced to move in new directions. This allows for the creation of new genres.
In fact, early dubstep and grime evolved in the underground as a response and a move away from the club music that was popular in the U.K. during the late ‘90s.
Once new sounds have proliferated in the underground, pop stars and major labels will eventually, inevitably, find and adopt them. This has happened with jazz, funk, world music, hip hop and many other kinds of music, and has never signalled the end of new, exciting and different sounds.
The case is the same with dubstep. Just because it’s no longer an underground musical phenomenon doesn’t mean those underground phenomena don’t exist. It’s just a matter of going out and finding them.