Even Musicians Able To Exploit Valentines Day As Marketing Event
Diplo’s remix of Beyonce’s new track “Drunk In Love” comes off the heels of two other high profile iterations of the song by The Weeknd and Kanye West. We hear Diplo’s signature voice warp, consistent with his take on Justin Timberlake’s suit and tie (one of his few remixes that actually improved the original) and Avicii’s “Wake Me Up”. Overall, the track works and the remix Diplo’s style bothers me sometimes based on its lack of sophistication. When considering other heavyweight producerss of EDM, such as Wolfgang Gartner or Zedd, I just feel like they do something that takes a bit more time and focus. Diplo uses southern hip hop drums that have been done and over done and are now being called “Trap” because there’s a lot of bass and a quirky breakdown. News flash, that’s actually hip hop without the lead vocal. You’ve been listening to that already.
Diplo’s success represents another regression in terms of popular music becoming dumbed down and more easily digested by an increasingly impatient music listening population. Half my brain wants to simply throw this type of song on and turn it up without thinking too much, but I can’t help myself. Its like watching all the food in a supermarket become McDonald’s style fast food right before your eyes, and people saying “Doesn’t this taste good?” Sure, when your drunk or there’s nothing else around. Doesn’t mean its good for you and that there aren’t better possible options.
EDM is better than just a loud bass drum and quirky noise with stock drum patterns that have been overused for a decade now. Go listen to Wolfgang Gartner or Seven Lions instead to hear the true pace being set. This track is Valentine’s Day marketing and will be forgotten shortly.