We're all familiar with Steve Aoki and his famous stage antics. Rafting over the crowds, champagne showers, sniping the most worthy fan with a cake to the face, Steve Aoki does whatever it takes to please everyone enjoying his sets. With all of this fame and love from millions of fans, there's bound to be some haters in the mix.
Some have questioned Aoki, claiming that he plays a pre-recorded mix while he performs and how his shenanigans have nothing to do with the DJ image. In a recent editorial by The Daily Beast, Steve Aoki sets things straight.
“For the record, I’ve never played a mix CD or faked DJing, in fact I started out on turntables and records, then learned Serato, CDJs, Serato video for my visual show and now often will use memory cards plugged into CDJs when I’m playing back to back with friends.”
When I perform, I don’t think about the haters, the trolls on the Internet or anyone anywhere else in the world. All I care about is the person in front of me, and I want to make that moment important…something special. I want to make that connection so powerful, something that will never be forgotten. And that’s why I bring the cake out or the raft out. When I see the person who was begging for the cake then get covered in frosting as the crowd roars, smiling from ear to ear, it’s a unique and incredibly exciting feeling for myself, for them and for the crowd. I love being part of that energy, being part of that feeling. The haters and Internet trolls don’t get it. There is no context because they don’t understand where I’m coming from.
So this is why I wrote this. I wanted to give context to what I do. I wanted to share my feelings with my fans and my haters. When it comes down to it, I plan on caking people as long as people want it. My choice is to cake.
Whether or not you approve of what Steve Aoki does during his live sets, you cannot deny his ability to get a crowd raging. That plus his success off-stage both as a producer and founder of Dim Mak Records leads to a winning combination that will silence all haters.
