I haven’t heard any Skrillex, but I know the basics. I know it’s dubstep, and I know it won Grammys. I also know that everyone hates Skrillex. What about Skrillex inspires such hatred? I’d argue that it’s probably nothing to do with his music.

Skrillex-haters around the world would furiously exclaim “But it is the music!”. It’s not. Skrillex’s music, however distasteful it may be, cannot be the sole cause of the hatred. After all, there are likely thousands of bands out there with similar music who do not have an entire movement of haters forming against them. Disliking something never implies hatred. Take death metal for example. Some people can’t even listen to death metal for more than 30 seconds, yet Facebook is not flooded with anti-Death metal status updates.

Instead, Skrillex is hated because he is trapped in the uncomfortable middle-ground between the mainstream and the counter-culture. Like Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit before him, Skrillex represents the elevation of a distinct counter-culture into the glamorized world of popular media. As the counter-culture witnesses one of its own rise to popular appeal, it reacts swiftly with hatred. The counter-culture cannot stand the idea that its music and fashions could have widespread appeal.

Why is this? Why can’t the counter-culture use artists like Skrillex to engage in some sort of cultural dialogue with the mainstream? To me, the answer is far more sociological than artistic. Kids learn early on that their not going to be one of the “cool kids”, and they often spend their high school years bouncing between various underground scenes. These punks, ravers, goths, and nerds develop an anti-cool kid mentality which develops into an anti-mainstream philosophy as they reach their twenties. When these people say they hate Skrillex, they are really saying that they hate being associated with all those new people who are enjoying Skrillex. You know, those dastardly “cool kids”.

Acts like Skrillex are the rare acts which are well known to both underground and mainstream listeners. As these acts shine brilliantly on the main stage of American pop culture, the counter-culture loudly proclaims its distance. In a rare instance of underground unification, the counter-culture speaks with one voice to denounce the new star.

By doing this however, the counter-culture is guilty of many of the criticisms it lays against the mainstream. By hating Skrillex so passionately and openly, the underground is engaging in the same political games and popularity contests which are so common in mainstream culture. This is exactly the opposite of the musical landscape which the counter-culture is supposedly stimulating with its network of indie labels.

This editorial is not meant to defend Skrillex, although many might interpret it that way. Instead, if merely seeing the word inspires negative and possibly angry feelings in you, I urge you to take a second and ponder why that is. It’s probably not the music itself. I’d rather the counter-culture treat Skrillex the way it treats all the other mainstream music it hates: by simply ignoring it.