Do you ever wonder why Nghtmre often collaborates with hip hop artists like Gunna and Wiz Khalifa or why Kayzo caters to more of a rock genre with his dirty wubs? Among the many reasons, one of the most highlighted may be personalization.
Diving behind the beat, Kayzo adds a touch to his music that is easy to identify as an infamous rock infused EDM track. A lot of people would say that the styles of EDM and Rock are comparably different-for Kayzo this is not true… “There was a surprising similarity with the chord progression and song arrangement that I never really understood until I got into writing electronic music in the production world.”
Kayzo notes that a lot of people weren’t spinning the two genres together and that he could be the one to lead this movement. He’s even paved the way for other artists to explore a more creative approach when producing music. A handful of these artists include Rezz, Snails, Marshmello, Slander and Sullivan King. Instead of focusing on what could go wrong when combining Rock and EDM, Kayzo threw himself into his work and dealt with any challenges head on-only to find how well the two genres actually mesh. In an interview with River Beats he discussed why he wanted to take this route… “I grew up on this music, so I resonate with it. I wanted to find a way to tap into my roots and what inspired me-try something different. The whole goal is to try to push the boundaries for future artists after me. I think its an injustice as an artist to keep doing the same thing over and over again.”
Jumping from one side of the spectrum to the other-we discuss hip hop. Nghtmre is well known for his collaborations with other rap based artists in the industry. Everyone loves a good EDM song but what makes his music different? Possibly the collaboration between your two favorite artists of different genres. He’s worked with Gunna, Lil Jon and A$AP Ferg to name a few. I believe Nghtmre has a double pronged approach to this genre crossover.
When you look at the hip hop industry alone, there are millions of fans-that alike with EDM. It’s to popular belief that spinning these two genres would create a massive fan pool. Not only is raising the bar of fandom on the table but it gives the audience a chance to be introduced to another artist one didn’t know of prior to the collaboration. With that said, it brings on the second approach to this concept-establishing a new style of music. There are a lot of artists who put their track on a loop-whether its trance or some sort of rhythmic pattern of dubstep. To be able to hear something a lot of producers aren’t creating and even feature in their own music videos is refreshing to a lot of people. Establishing the connection between two different genres leads way into more creative freedom for others in the future. For example, you have the works of Vic Mensa, Kaytranada, Louis the Child and Clams Casino to name a few.
Needless to say, I think the majority of us are beyond thankful for all of these crossovers as they’ve found their way to the top of some of the most prestigious music charts over the years. From Hip Hop, Rock to EDM there will be several new releases to watch before 2020 is over. As EDM producer Elephante once said in an earlier interview of mine, “We’re moving towards a genre-less kind of stage where electronic music is more of a technique than an actual genre. You’re creating music with computers, it’s not like all electronic music is fist pumping and rave like.”
