DJing is an art form. Since its early days as a staple of 1970s discos and 1980s hip-hop, it has gradually become a curatorial style of musical presentation that is practised by many, but perfected by few. From the four-to-the-floor consistency of house and techno, to the breakbeat insanity of jungle, to the MC-backing UK garage and grime producers of the early 2000s, to the blaring HD bass-heavy drops of modern day EDM, DJing is dance culture's foundation. There have been so many gifted DJs that have gone on to become true legends of the format. Frankie Knuckles, Carl Cox, Ellen Allien, Kevin Saunderson, Afrika Bambaataa, Goldie, Annie Mac, Aphex Twin, Slimzee, Total Freedom, Derrick May, Nina Kraviz, DJ Rashad... The list of DJs that have taken the medium into new and exciting areas across its history is endless, and covers many genres and many eras. Sadly, the 2000s rise and rise of EDM and rock-festival-like raves in both Europe and the USA has seen mainstream versions of the art form take a huge dive in terms of quality. Instead of pushing DJing into fascinating new places or challenging dancers with complex and exclusive mixes, superstar DJs have created a (hugely successful) style that offers constant cheap thrills, simplistic sounds, crowd-pleasing riffs and bass, and a rejection of the virtuosic elements of DJing in favour of, in their own words, just "select tracks and hit spacebar". This group of DJs, many of whom have become celebrity playboys (and they are predominantly men, sadly), need to be brought down a peg or two so that those underground artists that truly represent the medium gain the exposure that they deserve. Here are 8 of the worst offenders out there today.
