Chris MartinsAquacrunk: noun, a name for a style of electronic music that incorporates heavy beat-based music and earthy, organic textures which sometimes resemble the aquatic.
Yeah, it's news to our eyes and ears as well, but not surprising. In the era of the blog, a new genre name pops up every other day, and the majority of them sound incredibly silly.
As it turns out, the term “aquacrunk” has been floating around since at least October of 2008, with origins in the Scottish scene (artists like Hudson Mohawk and Rustie).
But in a surprising testament to the reach of U.K. blog Drowned in Sound, an article published yesterday called “Aquacrunk? What the Crunk? An Introduction to the Watery Side of Electronics” caught a little backlash by bringing the L.A. beat scene's biggest names — Flying Lotus, Nosaj Thing, Lorn — under that titular sub-style's umbrella.
So Lotus took to Twitter and was retweeted over 100 times:
Perhaps the reason for Lotus' ire was the fact that, early on in DiS's educational screed, the author identifies the late great J Dilla, an extremely hallowed name in Los Angeles and in hip-hop production overall, as the father of aquacrunk.
Perhaps it was that the article, which acknowledges that “we are living in a far more free musical age than that which can be hindered by such unnecessary [genre] tagging,” was about nothing. Either way, L.A. (via Twitter) had a field day with it. Here are the highlights.
Neither does Glitch Mob, who miss a good hashtag opp. #aquacrunkgate
L.A. beat up-and-comer Tokimonsta makes a good point.
Daedelus, inspired by Tokimonsta's take, references the “dubstep” style.
Tokimonsta's touche, playing off of the unfortunate “blap” descriptor.
Alpha Pup Records boss Daddy Kev prefers “lazer bass.”
L.A. blog Culture Remixed defines the aquacrunk mezcla for its followers.
Aquacrunkgate makes it to the U.K., where rising producer Young Montana weighs in.
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