DUB STEP.....WHY?

DUB STEP  SHOWS I’M GETTING OLD

I have read all of the twilight books, subscribe to people magazine, and listened to more Skrillex than is advisable for any single human being , all for the sake of staying connected to my students and building trust through mutual experiences. 

For many of my students music is a large part of who they are.  In fact, I am convinced that some of them will eventually have to have their iPods surgically removed from their ear canals.  There is perhaps one form of music that my students love but I personally cannot wrap my head around.  This, as the above title implies, is dub step.  Dub step is defined by wikipedia as:

“a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London, United Kingdom. Its overall sound has been described as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals"^[

This is how I define it, “crap.”  I know that this seems like a closed minded and harsh interpretation but I view it more as a rite of passage, it is the same definition my father gave to hip hop and his father gave to rock and roll.  After reading the  assigned passages I now have a new arsenal of knowledge with which to attempt to understand this type of music.  It is my sincere hope that I’ll be able to engage my students in evaluating the nuances of their favorite music because in my experience, when I’m open minded to what they are telling me, they are more likely to be more open minded to what I’m teaching them.  I don’t have to like dub step to understand it, all I have to do is figure out what makes it so compelling.