The US Presidential Election is the biggest reality TV show of all
There are auditions, a knock out round, and an eventual ill-fated winner. The amount of hype levelled at the contest is parallel to The X Factor, and like or loathe it, everybody’s got something to say.
The Presidential race has certainly brought out the opinions of DJs who are usually trying to spend their time avoiding the law. Schools of thought are divided into two camps.
Pro Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders has pulled in as a late contender for Democratic candidate. A Brooklyn born 74-year-old ‘junior’ Senator, his politics lean further left than his competitor, Hilary Clinton.
Whilst Clinton has pulled in support from prominent females, Bernie Sanders has a long affiliation with music, himself collaborating with 30 musicians in 1987 to record an album called We Shall Overcome.
It’s no surprise then, that his liberal standpoint and musical association has gained him fans in the electronic music industry.
Diplo, who is likely to do an Arnie and run for Senator when the music dries up, had this to say about Sanders.
How highly Diplo’s opinion will rank when push comes to shove have yet to be seen, but it seems that EDM stars speaking out on who has their vote has become a top priority for American news outlets. Here’s someone from TMZ hassling a tired looking Steve Aoki into admitting he’s into the idea of hosting a rave for Sanders.
Their backing has yet to make an official appearance on Bernie’s artist endorsements page. The one DJ who is listed there is Z-Trip, named by Wikipedia as “a pioneer of the mash up movement”. He has supported Sanders’ campaign by playing at a rally alongside the Red Hot Chili Peppers, toting Sanders as someone who is “breaking up the old political machine”.
Anti-Donald Trump
Where the pendulum swings one way in favour, it swings the other in refute. Where there’s support for Bernie Sanders, there’s equally strong negativity toward Donald Trump. The mind-boggling front runner for Republican party candidacy, Trump’s made enemies for searing misogynistic and Islamophobic comments. It’s unsurprisingly made him enemies in the following camps.
German born but denizen of the US, Zedd, has made a point of condemning Trump, calling him “his favourite comedian”. Just like Diplo, he’s suggested that his residency relies on a political outcome; though this time it’s Trump winning that’ll make him leave.
North Carolina born Porter Robinson has used his position as one of the highest rated American DJs to point out the danger of a potential Trump presidency. Drawing on a fear of the unknown, this chilling tweet marked his position pretty clearly.
Though DJs haven’t issued her with the same level of support, Hillary Clinton has garnered some cred on the EDM scene, after her team chose a track by DJ Throttle to be used as a part of her campaign.
The Australian born producer is currently living in LA to pursue his career, and although not originally a Clinton supporter he is “certainly a fan of her now”. The only person he would not have given authorisation for use of the track is unsurprisingly, Donald Trump.
Marco Rubio
Currently polling second in the Republican Race, Florida Senator Marco Rubio outed himself as an EDM fan during an interview on CNN. Whilst admitting he's never attended a rave, he enthusiastically praised the genre. Apparently one of the main aspects he likes about EDM is that it hardly has any lyrics and therefore is clean for the kids to listen to. He's clearly never listened to Peaches.
Pro Trump
While we couldn't find a single DJ that's come out in favour of Trump, (Ten Walls we're looking at you), we did reckon this would be a great excuse to re-watch the Trump/Palin EDM/Country mashup that's been haunting our dreams for the past few weeks.
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