A DJ's job is to do more than play the greatest hits and standard bops.
The influence of hip-hop on goth culture is way deeper than most people wanna admit and a lot of what hasn't happened is just gatekeeping. I have a problem when the phrases like "we have to keep it traditional" are used as a cover for what ulimately usually means excluding non-white artists. I have a problem when you talk about "keeping it traditional" in relation to a sub-culture that was founded in being subversive, and I especially dislike the whitewashing of the goth subculture, as if it was always this bastion of progressiveness, when in reality, the subculture has flirted with fascism in both the aestetics and the music. Death in June ring a bell? I've been to goth nights where you'll only see white people, and those white people are 100% wearing what used to be called "Nazi Chic", it's not a good look when you pair that with these traditionalist arguments.
Yeah, maybe it is more of a challenge to mix in new genres than just queuing up another She Past Away track or whatever, but you're a DJ. try something new. As a DJ, you are the gatekeeper, the influencer, the person who puts people on to new tracks, the DJ has always played a key role in any cultural space. You tell me that "hip-hop has no place in a goth scene" but there's people wearing Bones merch at the goth night. Seems like the gatekeepers haven't kept up with the culture.
You're really telling me you can't work fucking Playboi Carti into a goth set? Especially a track like Cocaine Nose? With that blown-out energy? That grimy as fuck guitar sample? You can't fade from this into Skinny Puppy? Cap. People who fuck with Carti would probably would fuck with Skinny Puppy, honestly. Way more overlap than you think. Someone's gotta make that space, someone has to take the chance. Our spaces should be one of cultural growth and exchange, that's how you keep a subculture alive. That's how you grow a scene. That's how you get more people interested in other forms of the culture.
You want to talk about fashion? You cannot deny the influence of black artists like Carti on the subculture, doing so really does seem like the worst kind of gatekeeping. The gender bending "Opium" fashion is 1000% rooted in the goth subculture. Ever heard of Clipping., or the work H09909 has done with 3TEETH? Or perhaps Backxwash?
You're telling me this person, a black transwoman, shouldn't be welcomed at the Goth Night, that the music she makes which is so clearly inspired by the music you're playing, shouldn't be played because we need to "keep it traditional", well that means you might just have some underlying racial tensions you need to resolve.
Listen to this RXknephew track, literally called "Dark Noise" and tell me that beat doesn't have a significant goth influence! You could absolutely play this after some 7-minute euro dancefloor goth banger and wake the whole room up. Seriously, listen to that beat. It's high tempo, has dark, back alley synths with a strong slasher flick energy.
These worlds are already touching. You just gotta glue 'em together.
I just wanna see more DJs take chances, that's your job, to put people on to new music. Let's get past the one token Lil Peep track (which we do love, to be clear). There's deeper cuts. There's a whole spectrum. The umbrella of "Goth" is so much wider than you'd think. Expand your horizons, expand your scene. Build the bridges. Close out your set with some Gravediggaz.
