In the modern musical climate, artists vocally defy genre constraints to avoid becoming cliché so frequently that the notion has, itself, become clichéd. Mija centered an entire EP and tour around the phrase “FK A GENRE.” For years, “Death to genres” has been the battle cry of GTA. The desire to evade creative pigeonholing pervades artists of all characters and creeds – which is an objectively good thing. Past the mundanity which genre-bound artists must feel, it’s also important to experiment with different genres to reach a wider audience because all music listeners have diverse tastes. There is most certainly, at this very moment, some eclectic soul reading this article whose Facebook bio says something along the lines of, “I like pretty much all music, except country :).”
Luckily for that unique individual, and all of the other readers of this site, Australian bass music producer Willco has created a one-of-a-kind mix that is a melange of extraordinarily diverse genres. A true luminary, Willco is artistically consistent in his craft. The artwork for the mix, which is literally titled “Literally Fuck Genres,” literally includes artwork of cartoon bass music icons snuggling nude in a California King bed like a sordid reinterpretation of Charlie Bucket’s grandparents in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. One might be wary of catching a virus upon acquiring the set, as the download link says “Download Aids.” Literally.
Willco begins his prodigiously tasteless magnum opus with the Nintendo Wii song, before transitioning into a scintillating mashup of Desiigner’s “Panda” with the Seinfeld theme song. What transpires thereafter will likely be described by future music historians with deferential idioms such as, “The rest is history…”
That it took someone such a long time to think of mixing Ookay’s “Thief” with George Michael’s “Careless Whisper” or RL Grime’s “Core” with Vengaboys’ “We Like To Party” is, in a word, befuddling. It’s a sobering commentary on the standards of the electronic music community that Martin Garrix and Dixon were voted to be the number one DJs in DJ Mag and Resident Advisor’s top 100 polls, while, by all accounts, neither “winner” has mustered up the ingenuity to give a nod to the apparently very real screamo cover of DJ Snake’s “Turn Down For What.”
Indeed, Willco explores all of these divergent genres and more throughout the course of his spellbinding 20-minute journey. Concluding with a breathtaking combination of Cee Lo Green’s “Fuck You” with Rage Against The Machine’s “Killing In The Name,” Willco has indeed birthed a veritably unforgettable mix.
May a pox be upon those who say electronic music is “uncreative.”