‘Breakin’ A Sweat’ by Skrillex

Skrillex is twenty four year old American music producer Sonny John Moore. Following a moderately successful three year career fronting post-hardcore outfit From First to Last, Moore embarked on asolo electronic venture in 2007. Subsequent extensive touring of the underground electro scene gained Moore a soaring popularity, and Skrillex was formally born in summer 2010. Widely referred to as the Prince of Dubstep, Skrillex has amassed a Twitter fan base doubling that of contemporary electro royalty Steve Aoki and Diplo. But don’t take Twitter’s word for it. With no less than FIVE Grammy nominations for 2012, and a C.V. boasting A-List clientele such as Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, Skrillex is contributing in a big way towards bridging the gap between underground progessive-house/dubstep and the mainstream.

This Radio One advertisement features the anthemic Breakin’ A Sweat:

What sets Skrillex apart?

After all, the diminutive Californian is hardly the first to navigate a two step beat through what often sounds like a laser battle. Still, something about Skrillex obviously excited perhaps the biggest name in the laptop music world at the moment, Deadmau5, who signed Skrillex to the Mau5trap label on the strength of six track debut EP My Name Is Skrillex, released for free over MySpace in June 2010. In October of the same year, Skrillex released second EP Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites through Mau5trap. This release rocketed brand Skrillex to no fewer than 47 million YouTube hits, which secured enough momentum to see third EP More Monsters And Sprites (also 2011) win MTV’s prestigious Electro Dance Music award on December 12th, beating off competition for the honours from David Guetta, Swedish House Mafia, and Tiësto.

Less than a month later, December 27th saw the digital download release of Bangarang, Skrillex’ fourth and most commercially successful offering to date. Again only in seven track EP format, Bangarang’s chart success was head turning, taking 15th spot on the US Billboard 200 at the height of December’s Christmas sales -that’s just two behind Adele, and a full five places ahead of the massive Jay-Z and Kanye West collaboration Watch the Throne. It is not hard to see how this meteoric yet under the radar rise to stardom landed Skrillex the Alex Zane Radio One TV commercial in the UK.

Taken from Banagarang, the Radio One advertisement features the anthemic Breakin’ A Sweat. The pounding chorus line is perhaps the most accessible serving to be had at Skrillex’ veritable buffet of tectonic tunes, with tracks Right In and The Devil’s Den also thumping their way in to the hearts of those who like their dubstep in bold underlined capital letters. Final track Summit rounds the EP off nicely. Thanks to a relaxed vibe and the supple yet confident vocals of Ellie Goulding, Summit will no doubt find its way onto every Chilled Ibiza compilation going. One small step for Skrillex. One giant leap for dubstep in the mainstream.

Skrillex’ first studio album Voltage is due to drop in early 2012, in the mean time also check out Doctor P, Zomboy, and KOAN Sound.

Skrillex gleefully mashes up genres on seven-song Bangarang EP

Bangarang (Warner)

Okay, so either Skrillex is dubstep but is bastardizing the style to his own ends, or he’s not dubstep at all, right? Or maybe he’s the saviour of the genre, singlehandedly responsible for lifting it out of the obscurity of the electronica underground and into the mainstream. If these seem like rather meaningless talking points, that’s because they are, but that hasn’t stopped the type of geeks who frequent Internet message boards from either crucifying Sonny Moore or venerating him.

Moore probably doesn’t have much time to worry about how his music is labelled; he’s too busy racking up Grammy nominations and playing sold-out shows to pay much attention to his detractors. Oh, and recording, too. The seven-song Bangarang is the fourth Skrillex EP in less than two years, and his first full-length album, Voltage , is slated for release later this month.

It should be interesting to see where Moore takes things, because while Bangarang shows off the impressive range of his musical influences, it also hints at the limitations of his own creative impulses. The most intriguing track is “Breakn’ a Sweat”, a collaboration with members of the Doors that, despite boasting a signature spiralling organ part from Ray Manzarek, sounds very little like anything Jim Morrison would recognize. “Kyoto” is a mind-melting mix of industrial-strength distorted chords, Far East synth lines, and hard-core rap (courtesy of L.A. indie hip-popper Sirah). “Right on Time”, coproduced by 12 th Planet and Kill the Noise, revs up like a ’90s trance-techno cut but then never quite turns into one.

While it’s clear that former hardcore kid Moore is comfortable mashing up genres with all the gleeful abandon of Girl Talk, he tends to rely on the same few techniques to juice up his tracks. At some point in just about every song, the rhythm breaks down to the same simple cut-time beat to which Moore wobbles the shit out of everything until it sounds like a pleasure droid having a grand mal seizure. This brain-shaking oscillation is a fun, and effective trick, but it’s quickly becoming a cliché, which should be anathema to an obviously forward-thinking artist like Skrillex.

James Blake – Love What Happened Here

Nothing makes me happy like a new James Blake release. Thank God the past couple of years have been full of them. Love What Happened Here came out earlier last month (listen to the title track here on Soundcloud, I have no idea who frankyboy is), and the fact that I only came across it today because it was reviewed on Pitchfork scares me. New year’s resolution: start following other music sites.

Quick recap of 2011 for James Blake: His awesome self-titled debut ended up hitting most year-end best of lists, but the Enough Thunder EP that came out in October garnered a mixed reception. A lot of people especially disliked his bare, piano-and-voice cover of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You.” Personally, I loved every track off the album and the EP which tells me again that I need to stop relying solely on Pitchfork for critical opinions.

Love What Happened Here is a 3-track EP in the vein of his earlier 2010 releases like CMYK and Klavierwerke, and has an overall similar sound as well. The title track especially reminds me of CMYK (this isn’t really surprising: it’s been around online since 2010), with the way Blake changes up the synth sounds every so often and intersperses brief vocal samples throughout. The result doesn’t disappoint, either melodically or rhythmically. Blake couples unorthodox percussion arrangements with synth motifs that blend perfectly together in a way that few artists can deliver.

“At Birth” is a slightly different. A throbbing bassline that exemplifies Blake’s dubstep roots runs through the track, with lonely vocal samples popping up every few bars before fading out. “Curbside,” however, really stands out from the pack. It’s got a big, pounding beat that involves what sounds like a timpani and haunting vocal samples that really make for an uncanny mix. The percussion starts out like a hip-hop beat (emphasized by the “no-no-no” samples that could be Kanye starting off “Stronger”), but the way that the soulful samples fit with the rest of the track make classifying “Curbside” to a genre a difficult task.

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but for all the love I’ve got for Skrillex and other heavyweight dubstep artists out there, I do enjoy watching the development of artists like Blake who epitomize this quieter, more detailed strain of dubstep. I think some online communities have even started Skrillex vs. James Blake debates. To make matters worse, Blake even publicly denounced the former type of what he called “fratboy” dubstep (Wikipedia calls it “brostep”) at one point, calling it a “direct misinterpretation of the sound.” Oh no, can this mean… dubstep war???

Skrillex - Bangarang (EP Review)

Skrillex is actually a man called Sonny Moore who used to be the lead singer and guitarist in an emo band called From First To Last (They were actually quite good!). The band disappeared into obscurity after the release of their second LP and I thought that would be the last anyone would hear of any of them. This was back in 2004.

A year or two later, Sonny attempted a solo electronic project imaginatively titled 'Sonny'. It seems here he picked up a few tricks because in 2009 he released his first EP as Skrillex and blew the world of Dubstep wide open.

Skrillex, love him or hate him, is the most well-known name in Dubstep. He is adored by thousands of fans who strongly feel he is the cutting-edge of music progression this decade, whilst at the same time having an equal amount of people apparently hate his guts because of his help in the commercialisation of Dubstep.

I have to admit I found myself more inclined to the 'haters' camp even having listened to each of his new remixes. However, with the release of his new EP, 'Bangarang', he makes it very clear he is all about the music and all my prejudice about him melted away with the listen of one track.

'Bangarang' is seven tracks of Dubstep, Trance, elements of progressive house and guitars being thrown in and Skrillex seems to be evolving to use Drum and Bass and Jungle beats in a concoction of electronic beauty.

The first song is aptly named, 'Right In', as that's what he does. Less than 30 seconds from pressing the play button and the track is in full force. “It's another one!”  Says some person before blasting the bass. This is the only track he does on the EP without collaboration.

Swiftly to the second track, 'Bangarang', which starts off with some funky 70's style guitar, while the first collaborator Sirah (I've never heard of them either) raps. The drop is quite literally the most impressive I've ever heard him produce.

'Breaking A Sweat' is the third track. It is notable because the collaborators are the surviving members of The Doors (If you don't know who they are.... shame on you) plus an eerily accurate prediction (at about 2:35) from the late great Jim Morrison about the future of music. Great and intelligent DJ'ing from Skrillex.

The fourth track, 'The Devil's Den', features Wolfgang Gartner and is an absolute banger. Get a copy of it and play it at a party, make sure everyone sees you put it on. Everyone will love you. 'Right On Time', the fifth, features fellow electronic music artists, 12th Planet and Kill The Noise, a classic track setting the level for which all Dubstep should now be based. The sixth track, 'Kyoto', welcomes back Sirah from the second track to do some more rapping with Dubstep over the top of it.

The closing track is wonderful. 'Summit', has a simple riff but is majestic in it's delivery and builds and builds until you almost can't take it anymore. Ellie Goulding (also worth checking out her work) features and sings perfectly complementing Sonny's voice. On hearing this song, I downloaded this EP as fast I could, which inspired me to write this review.

'Bangarang' is the fourth EP by Electro House/Dubstep producer Skrillex. It was released for download on Beatport on December 23rd, 2011, was made available from other music download sites on December 27th, 2011, and will be physically released on January 24th, 2012.

Skipping Over Dubstep, Breaking All the Big Beats, an EP that Bangs Genres Together

(Big Beat / Atlantic Records) First released as a download from Beatport on December 24, 2011, widely released on all other digital sites on December 27th, and with a physical drop date set for January 24, 2012 Bangarang -- the fourth and latest EP from Skrillex -- has been introduced to the world as a spitting firework of a release. Fitting to be launched over the threshold of a new year, it's explosive and sounds like the measure of a moment of time.

The Grammy Award-nominated Skrillex tends to split listeners. He's a newcomer who had been around for quite sometime in a previous post-hardcore incarnation as lead singer in From First to Last. He's a Dubstup aficionado who doesn't always regard the rules of genre. He's a Bigbeat specialist who doesn't always treat rhythms as the genre police would expect. He's credibly recognized yet sometimes throws his credentials a curve ball. He's one of the most notoriously experimental names in electronica, yet he is fast to commercial success and to establishment of sound. He's bound to have those who disapprove; he is also destined to receive the adoration of fans who like their tunes club-banged into bewildered dimensions.

Aside from anything, the Bangarang EP stands as a flash-bang of ambition. With a host of contributing artists -- Sirah, The Doors, Wolfgang Gartner, 12th Planet, Kill the Noise, and Ellie Goulding -- appearing across the eight tracks, the diversity is stunning. There's a generosity of spirit from all involved; The Doors, appearing on “Breakn' A Sweat,” was recorded as part of the Re:Generation Music Project -- a movie that married musicians through the ages with contemporary DJs. The track -- for all of its surprises, atmosphere, beat, and lifted vocal commentary -- still sounds exactly as you'd expect if The Doors had ridden the snake into the future to the point where production techniques and the Collective Unconsciousness were ready to receive the message. Hooks are strong, beats are big, and the beauty of the track unfolds like a potentially stormy ocean.

Production across the EP is all Skrillex. Regardless of genre and regardless of what he's handling, the man just brings the best out of sounds. Until you hear it, you'd consider terms like 'cubism' somewhat pretentious when discussing music, but what he achieves with deconstruction, reconstruction, treatment, and fill-ins is other-worldly. Ignore what you expect to hear or what you're told is acceptable, commercial, or credible; listen to the sounds and you'll see that music is nothing but a whole bunch of noise assembled in such a way that gravity can sometimes be ignored and space sometimes has additional dimensions. Phil Spector's Wall of Sound is the closest production reference you could make, but only if you'd smashed in the wall and rebuilt with mirrors, flame, liquids, and glitch.

Sonically, this is a massive EP. Volume begs and deserves to belong over every track, but this isn't a simple dose of bombastic floor-fillers. Ellie Goulding brings ethereal strains to “Summit” and proves that some mountains are both earthly and above the clouds. Her voice here is perhaps as cool as it has ever been. Closing track “Orchestral Suite By Varien” builds on the concept of air and height and feels like take-off. Fans of Skrillex will use tracks like this to illustrate the breadth of the man's vision; the detractors will level some kind of nonsense to do with lack of focus. The fact is that it's just this kind of track and the multi-palette approach that displays a larger truth.

As with the Re:Generation Music Project, the Bangarang EP underlines that music doesn't know its own color, a song has no sense of genre, and emotional content shouldn't be checked against categories, sub-categories, or codes of conduct. In that sense, Skrillex is a purely innovative artist. In the sense of what's hip, what's acceptable and expected, he may occasionally falter, but that's because he's paying attention to the tunes and not to the accessories and attachments. Add volume and await the Grammys.

Skrillex: Happy Holidays! Pirate My Music, I’ll Still Love You

As negativity surrounding online piracy grows to epic proportions in the United States, Sonny John Moore is playing the intelligent game. Moore, better known to his fans as Skrillex, has a total of six 2011 Grammy nominations under his belt but he’s still not towing the corporate line on file-sharing. As he drops his brand new album, Skrillex tells fans that don’t have the money to go ahead and pirate it instead.

 

Today, on a Christmas morning with giving, kindness and sharing on our minds, we thank Sonny John Moore for his contribution to the holiday spirit.

These days Moore is better known as Skrillex, and since taking his current form in 2008 he’s been going from strength to strength. Last year he released his debut EP, My Name is Skrillex, as a free download and he hasn’t looked back.

He’s currently nominated for no less than six Grammys including Best New Artist, Best Dance Recording and Best Dance/Electronica Album. Everyone seems to love Skrill’ and today his fans will love him even more.

After delivering his much anticipated new album Bangarang this week, Skrillex reached out to fans both rich and poor, and trashed the mainstream recording industry mantra that “file-sharing is evil”.

“Happy holidays just like I promised,” said Skrillex on his Facebook page. “Just like I always say, go pirate it if you don’t have the money, I just want you to have it.”

“You can buy it here, either way i’ll love you,” he concludes.

Quite how long Skrillex will be able to deliver this crowd-pleasing attitude is unclear. He’s signed to Big Beat Records, an Atlantic Records subsidiary which in turn is owned by Warner Music. Hopefully, though, Skrillex will be left alone to do his thing, and here’s why he should be.

Modern electronic music, and by that I mean material from the last 25 years, has drawn its lifeblood from piracy. Sampling, cut-and-paste, mixtape and more recently file-sharing cultures have ensured that artists like Skrillex can hit the mainstream, gain a huge fanbase, get Grammy nominated and yet still give stuff away for free. And make money.

But perhaps more importantly in these turbulent times, this kind of approach gains the respect of fans, regardless of how deep their pockets are today. And tomorrow, one way or another, they will spend. If they actually enjoy doing that, the rest is easy.

Skrillex: New EP, Intimate Live Dates

BANGARANG EP ARRIVES TOMORROW

Skrillex is releasing his Bangarang EP on OWSLA/Big Beat/Atlantic December 23rd via Beatport. The release will be commercially available on iTunes and all other digital retailers shortly thereafter. Bangarang features collaborations with The Doors, Ellie Goulding, Wolfgang Gartner, 12th Planet, Kill The Noise, and Sirah.

Skrillex will be releasing the Tony Truant-directed official video for "Ruff Neck (Full Flex)" off of his last EP, More Monsters and Sprites, on December 24th. You can see it here starting Saturday.

Skrillex has also announced two bi-coastal, multi-venue takeovers of Los Angeles and New York in January and February respectively. Each show will boast a different lineup at a different venue each night and many will feature performances from special guests. Dates and details below.

Bangarang EP TRACKLISTING

1. Right In
2. Bangarang (feat. Sirah)
3. Breakn' A Sweat (Skrillex & The Doors)
4. The Devil's Den (Skrillex & Wolfgang Gartner)
5. Right On Time (Skrillex, 12th Planet & Kill The Noise)
6. Kyoto (feat. Sirah)
7. Summit (feat. Ellie Goulding)

Mothership Takeover Tour Dates

Los Angeles

Tuesday, January 24 - Dim Mak Tuesday at Cinespace (Skrillex, Alvin Risk, KOAN Sound)
Wednesday, January 25 - Echoplex (Skrillex vs. 12th Planet, Diplo, Check Yo Ponytail)
Thursday, January 26 - Exchange (Skrillex, Zedd)
Friday, January 27 - Avalon (Skrillex, Huoratron, KIll the Noise)
Saturday, January 28 - The Palladium (Skrillex, AraabMUZIK, KOAN Sound, Munchi)
Sunday, January 29 - L.A.Live Event Deck (Skrillex, Benga, Nadastrom, Special Guest TBA)

New York

Tuesday, January 31 - Webster Hall (Skillex, AC Slater)
Wednesday, February 1 - Pacha (Skrillex, Zedd, Sazon Booya)
Friday, February 3 - Roseland Ballroom (Skrillex, Zane Lowe, Spank Rock, Special Guest TBA)
Saturday, February 4 - Terminal 5 (Skream & Benga, KOAN Sound, Tokimonsta)

Concert review: Skrillex at The Ritz Ybor, Ybor City

His masterful production and unrelenting performance made for a mind-melting spectacle this past Friday night; with video.

Skrillex's Friday night show at The Ritz Ybor selling out three-and-a-half months in advance probably signifies some sort of music apocalypse to some. How a whiny screamo star-turned-electronic dance music poster boy can do this and not, say, an artist who sings and plays a "real" instrument, seems blasphemously baffling.

It probably doesn't help that he nabbed five Grammy nominations, a Spin cover, and a hefty handful of major radio station airplay all over the past few months. If there was anything resembling a massive revolution in popular American music this year, it was the burgeoning wave of dubstep-driven electronic dance music with Skrillex, board and all, surfing atop the whole damn thing.

Friday night wholly justified this sentiment. Entering the massive circus of fans ranging from shirtless muscley bros (a first time sight at the Ritz), to hyper-colored ballerinas, you could tell the main draw (besides the actual music) is the weird little subculture it's spawned.

The drugs, the costumes, the glowsticks, the sweaty camaraderie of it all; it's like entering a whole new neon reality far removed from every day life.

And that's before Skrillex even hit the stage. Flanked by two towering groups of pillars resembling a hybrid between the Emerald City and the set of Total Recall, Skrillex took the helm and didn't let go for a powerful 90 minutes.

For the most part, his catalogue relies heavily on remixes of other well-known tracks with a handful of his own (dude only has three EPs) thrown in for good measure. Tracks like his remix of Avicii's "Levels" or La Roux's "In for the Kill" all take a completely formulaic and predictable trajectory (what dubstep remixes don't?) but, goddamn, it's so hard not to get caught up in the Pavlovian response to the pulse-pounding energy of it all.

This married with the visual feast exploding around Skrillex's booth made for a pretty jaw-dropping spectacle. The massive screen behind it bounced from one visual to another with a C3PO-looking avatar popping up every once and a while. About halfway through the set, I realized this figure was mirroring all of Skrillex's movements by way of the tight Tron suit he was sporting. Can this be standard for, like, every DJ set, ever?

Not that he fell back on all the visual stuff. He puts on a show himself; calling out the crowd, bouncing back and forth, flailing with his godawful hairstyle like some maniacal primate. As one-dimensional as his music can sometimes be on record, live is a different story. House, dub, reggae, even a curveball verse from Biggie's "Hypnotize" and Fatman Scoop's "Be Faithful" made their way into the mix.

Coupled with a few unrecorded tracks and the more (read: insanely) popular ones like opener "Rock n' Roll (Will Take You to the Mountain)," "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" and his remix of Benny Benassi's "Cinema," the set showed a respectable amount of diversity and influence for a DJ who get such a one-note rep sometimes.

By the end, I left the Ritz much more impressed than I expected to be. Skrillex's masterful production and unrelenting performance made for a mind-melting spectacle that easily co-signed his worth as the top guy in the game right now. Here's to wishing Skrillex doesn't get to big for his designer britches and comes back to Ritz just once more before he explodes into superstardom.

Some video highlights from the show:

Skrillex, Little Dragon and ChromodaData

Breathe (Vocal)

So some dude sent some email which was a reply to a reply to a reply to some dude claiming he hacked into OWSLA-computers and got the vocal version of Skrillex’ ‘Breathe’. Not sure about giving you the download yet. But this could be a pretty intentional ‘leak’, or just a hoax. Let’s wait what OWSLA and Skrillex himself have to say about this. On track: Really nice recording, sounds like a legit Skrillex production. Will probably update on this. Also keep your eyes on the Skrillex and OWSLA twitter pages.




Little Man (ChromadaDate Remix)

cool (relatively short) rendition by ChromodaData on Little Dragon’s ‘Little Man’. The original minimalist production is a perfect track to remix, leaving room for ChromadaData to add solid beats and additional synths. Though I’m not really sure if he used the original track with an EQ on it or if he just got the acapella somewhere.

Skrillex – Bangarang EP

As it appears Skrillex’s 4th EP entitled ‘Bangarang’ is at the very brink of being released. Big Beat recently made the announcement that it will release a date very shortly.



We also have confirmation via Wolfgang’s facebook that a track entitled The Devil’s Den will be included in the EP.



Talks via various forums have also speculated on the track-listing of the forthcoming EP. Here’s what the consensus was:




Skrillex – Bangarang EP – Preview 

 


I don’t know about you but im itching for this EP to pop out. I’m thinking that Christmas is just shy of a week away and that may be the launch date. Down below is a remix from Caveat to tie you over until the EP hits the airwaves.

Skrillex's Best New Artist nomination: One small step for dubstep, or one giant leap away from artistry?

When Skrillex, a 23 year-old dance-music producer from Los Angeles whose real name is Sonny Moore, nabbed the final Best New Artist slot at last night’s Grammy Nominations Concert, more than a few people balked:

Who is this Skill-rex person/band, and why has he/she/they taken away the nomination from my beloved (insert act here)?!

But other people were much more excited about his nomination (this is a real, if not strictly grammatical reaction from his official Facebook page):

Your  f–king amazing! I hope you win each and every one of those Grammy’s, you deserve it! F–k the haters that say otherwise, your dope as f–k!!!!!!

Truth is, if you aren’t still on the Party Rock circuit, you’ve likely never heard of Skrillex, the dubstep wunderkind whose trancey EPs blare at raves and festivals across the country and whose personal YouTube uploads have racked up over 190 million views. To the tech-savvy Gen-Zers, though, for whom thumping bass rumbles and beep-bop-boop remixes are commonplace, Skrillex is a god among DJs. (Somewhere, P!nk is totally confused by that line.)

Perhaps the Grammys were attempting to reach out to the youth demographic that every awards show so desperately desires by giving Skrillex a Best New Artist slot. Or perhaps they simply wanted to acknowledge the rise of dubstep/dance music by awarding him five nominations and giving deadmau5 three of his own. Or perhaps Grammy voters really just love Skrillex. (I mean, he clearly shares a lot of fans with last year’s Best New Artist winner, Esperanza Spalding, right?)

No matter what the reasoning, though, some people — you know, the kind who prefer guitars and pianos and lyrics (fogies!) –  just can’t consider Skrillex a legitimate music artist. They hear tracks like the one below and wonder, “Is this music or just noise?” (and also: “Get off my lawn!”):

David Guetta Congratulates Skrillex For Grammy Nomintations

David Guetta has praised fellow producer Skrillex for his Grammy and BBC Sound Of 2012 nominations.

The 'Who's that Chick' DJ claims the public recognition of Skrillex is good for the dance community as a whole.

"It's a statement: I think it's really good that an artist from our community is nominated just as 'an artist.' Not as a 'dance' artist, you know?" he said before adding "I think that it's good that [our] music is now getting the attention and the respect that all the other styles of music, like hip-hop, are getting."

Guetta, himself a multiple Grammy winner, seemed perfectly content being out of the limelight for once.

"He's extremely talented, and I'm very happy for him," he said.

Skrillex is on the longlist for BBC Sound Of 2012 and was nominated for five Grammys including Best New Artist.

David Guetta, Others Laud Skrillex For Grammy Noms

Last week, it was announced that Sonny Moore, the rocker-twisted-DJ/producer that has exploded onto the electronic music scene as Skrillex, has been nominated for five Grammy Awards. Included among the noms is Best New Artist, a initially in Grammy history for a “DJ.”

And while Skrill’s Grammy salutes may have come as a shock to him when he heard the news while in Manchester, U.K., his EDM cohorts say the recognition makes perfect sense.

“I am just so pleased for Skrillex, man!” his 19-year-ancient friend and former OWSLA tourmate, Porter Robinson said. “He certainly deserves it. I’ve been saying it all year, he’s the most influential musician of this year, in any genre. Incredible sound designer. Incredible songwriter. Incredible performer.”

EDM artist, friend and collaborator Sofi said, “He’s been in bands before. He’s an brilliant songwriter. He can sing. He’s just so versatile that I reckon that comes through in his music. He kind of brought this ‘rock,’ ‘raw’ element into electronic music. He’s the punk rock of the new generation.”

In 2011, Skrillex has whipped up hearty remixes (his remix of Benny Benassi and Gary Go’s “Cinema” remains a fan pet), unrestricted his EP More Monsters and Sprites, supplied songs for video games, launched his OWSLA record mark, played massive festivals, jumped on Kaskade’s new album and produced songs for Korn’s new album ? just to name a sliver of his endeavors.

Regardless of how Skrillex is categorized as an artist (he’s often called a “dubstep” artist ? a moniker he doesn’t agree with), fans, critics and artists alike, from niche to pop, all seem to be onboard the Skrillex train.

“He’s extremely talented, and I’m very pleased for him,” beamed dance music’s most well loved veteran, David Guetta. “It’s a proclamation: I reckon it’s really excellent that an artist from our community is nominated just as ‘an artist.’ Not as a ‘dance’ artist, you know? I reckon that it’s excellent that [our] music is now getting the attention and the respect that all the other styles of music, like hip-hop, are getting.”

To mark the Grammy recognition, Sonny’s friends questioned us to share their congratulations with him.

“Skrilly, congratulations, dude!” shouted Tommy Lee. “That’s so rad, man. I’m sitting here thinking a year ago we were sitting in my studio and you were playing me your new sh–, and Blam! Grammy nods like a muthaf—-! Congratulations, dude! Kill that sh–, brotha!”

“Sonny, man, I just want to congratulate you on the Grammys!” echoed Porter Robinson. “It’s been an absolutely insane year. The tour that we did together, the OWSLA tour, was without question the best time of my life. You deserve this like nobody else, so congratulations!”

“Skrilly, congratulations on your many nominations!” Sofi exclaimed. “I’m just really thrilled for you buddy. You’re awesomely talented and you know I’ve been a fan of yours since day one. I remember when you showed me your EP that came out on mau5trap (deadmau5′ mark) and I told you that you were going to get REAL busy! And guess what ? I can’t even get a hold of you anymore!” she laughed. “Excellent for you, buddy! Go get ‘em!”

What do you reckon of Skrillex, his nominations and what he’s been able to achieve this year? Sound off in the comments below!