Why is it so popular to hate dubstep?

I don’t mind it. I don’t actively listen to it either. But if it is on I don’t think it is bad. Tolerable. I think most is better then NIN and Nickleback.

It is just like the hipster hate. It isn’t really rational but it is something that you can make yourself feel better by putting down another group on the internet without any real repercussions.

I am, mass medially/mass culturally, way out of the loop here, apparently. I don’t even know what the f&ck dubstep is. What is it? And why should I like it or hate it? Whatever it is, what’s in it for me? :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=QBStbd2B8Jk

I actually like it more after watching that video. And I am a 34 year old man.

I doubt people hate it because it’s popular to do so; it’s just that there are many people who dislike it for their own reasons. Personally, I dislike it just because I’m more of an old-school Trance/House type of guy.

I love you @lillycoyote. I have no idea either! My initial thought was that it was something about George W. It has been a very long day and my brain is very tired.

Dubstep is almost as bad as music by the likes of Justin Bieber.

That’s why it’s popular to hate it. Because it’s awful.

I’ve only watched it in you tube, and the dancing I’ve seen is, to me anyway, quite singular. It seems like the robot revisited, rebooted and remixed with way more skill and imagination than the original. It’s almost like performing art.
Listening to it for any extended period of time, or without actually seeing the dancing might irritate me. I’ve never tried it.

It seems to me that a lot of people will claim to dislike something just because it is popular (are those people called Hipsters?). Not liking the mainstream makes them seem unique. Like you, I can take it or leave dubstep but I don’t think I dislike it.

@Trillian The one redeeming quality of dubstep is some of the dancers; I like the way they move. But without the visuals of a talented dancer, the music itself is bleh. And you would think I would like it considering that I like Shaolin Satellite and Thievery Inc.

When things become popular, they become popular to hate. You know, the whole mainstream/alternative dichotomy…

@jerv point taken. Concur.

I guess I’m going to have to look it up, because I have no idea what dubstep is. And I’ll admit that until a few months ago, I had no idea what steampunk was.

Will get back to you once I find out what it is.

@Kardamom It’s hard to be in Seattle and not know about Steampunk; one of the biggest Steam bands (Abney Park) is a local group, and there are quite a few people wandering the streets with fancy goggles on their head. Like many things, I think it’s taking it’s sweet time moving East. But Steampunk had been here for a while, while dubstep has already gone. Make of that what you will.

OK, so I looked it up and as far as I can tell it’s a type of dancing, as opposed to a genre of music, am I correct about that?

So the dancing looks like a slow motion form of popping and locking, or those guys from the late 70’s that used to do the robot.

I’m not sure if I have an opinion about it one way or another.

Is dubstep also the music? Because the music I heard in the videos that I looked up all sounded quite different. I don’t think I could pick it out of a line-up if I was asked to identify a dubstep song.

So then I saw that Thievery Coroporation fits into the category of dubstep (is that correct?) I love Thievery Corporation, but when they first came out, we all just called it, and other similar music ambient music. So I guess I like it OK.

@Kardamom: As far as I know, dubstep is a “genre”. You’re probably finding lots of videos of people dancing TO dubstep.

Also, as far as I know, Thievery Corp existed before dubstep broke. They sound way different from any dubstep I’ve heard, and I would classify them as ambient/fusion.

@bookish1 So now I’m even more confused. Can you link a dubstep song for me, one that you think is pretty encompassing of the genre? Then I’ll give it another go LOL

@Kardamom : Sure, here ya go. This is the first dubstep song that I really dug. But I have no idea of the history of the genre (can you even call it that? It’s like a sub-sub-sub genre…) or who defined the sound.

I think it’s safe to say that the musical effects (?) that make dubstep so easily recognizable can be found at 1:40 in the song. [Also, have a look at the album cover of the sampler I got this from, because it is just so cool.]

@Kardamom I do not consider them to be dubstep; they are just Electronica. Listen to Shaolin Satellite by Thievery Corp. and compare it to Madd Chadd dancing to Downlink. While that Madd Chadd clip starts out like normal Progressive House, about 40 seconds in it goes totally dubstep.

Random yet relevant

I’m a fan of dubstep, but I can see why many people aren’t.

It’s popular to hate dubstep the same way it’s popular to hate abstract art; much of it seems to err on the simplistic side. Drop the bass, pick a beat, repeat for about two minutes thirty-five seconds. Just like paintings that look like splotches of random colors with no rhyme or reason dubstep can come off with a simplistic “my kid could do that” quality.

There’s a lot of artists who know what they’re doing in this relatively new genre, but unfortunately there’s a lot more who don’t and they are who people tend to run into first.

Dang! I got home later than I thought. I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to listen to the links you guys provided. Thanks : ) I’m actually looking forward to listening to them, and I hope I like it : )

@Kardamom Regardless of what you think of the music, I think you’ll like Madd Chadd’s moves.

@Bellatrix lol. I love you too! We shall grow old together, you and I, completely oblivious to and spared, thankfully, I think, from all the drama of “dubstep hate” and other such things, because we don’t even know what the f&ck that is/they are and therefore don’t really care. I am totally O.K.. with that and I suspect that you are too. :-)

@bookish1 I really enjoyed the Kaliyuga piece, but couldn’t open your second link.

@jerv I also liked Shaolin Satellite, but I already liked Thievery Corporation (one of you folks said you didn’t think TC fit the dubstep description) Also enjoyed Downlink Deep Space, but even though I like the dancing, it’s kind of funny, just because it reminds me of the robot from the early 70’s.

So yeah, I guess I do like it, but I still don’t think I could identify it for sure if I heard a random dubstep song. It sounds kind of like soundtrack music for movies (which I tend to love) because it’s kind of ambient. But dubstep, at least in the examples you guys have so kindly provided, sounds a bit more loud or electronic than just some of the other ambient music I have heard.

These are a couple of songs that I like, that I consider to be ambient. Hella Bar Talk from the soundtrack of Star Trek 2009 (but I could see if it was pumped up a little it might ooze over into the dubstep realm). The other one is Bossa Per Due by Nicola Conte, which is also ambient, but clearly bossa nova as well. Could it be considered dubstep too?

Sorry to sound so lame in trying to get it. But I think I do like it : )

P.S. Does anybody know if that little gear symbol on Facebook has anything to do with Steampunk? LOL Just teasin’

@Kardamom This isn’t dubstep eitehr, but here is one of my all-time favorite mixes. Enjoy!

@jerv I liked that one a lot! Thanks : )

Is it? I kinda like it! Everyone around me seems too as well :)