Skrillex powers the return to a genre he was king, and for good reason. With an extensive 35 track album release earlier, he gives us some more surprises with this one.
There is a time, when Skrillex was all the rage. Every speaker had a remix, a sample, a song from him running. Beyond dubstep being a meme, he was a king at the throne of this genre, creating music that people actually resonated with. From raves to retreats, an upbeat energy song meant Skrillex. Then he folded into studying what the genre meant and where his talents lie for several years. Post the pandemic, this wasn’t the same artist who “made those meme songs”. This is his latest EP he’s been teasing throughout the year, hit me where it hurts x.
To be honest, Skrillex has been pretty self-aware about his relevance. If this EP was gracing the second half of this year, the first album was extensive and dove into collaborations that were fun. F*CK YOU SKRILLEX YOU THINK YOU’RE ANDY WARHOL BUT UR NOT !! <3 had some great range. Not only did he give you a nostalgia kick, but there were collabs there that fit his suit of work well. The artist was usually the headline of every EDM festival they could book him for, everyone knew his set list by heart. He was basically the David Guetta of the genre, and samples used to be wild. From relevant screenings to memes that were permanently etched in people’s memory-it’s a different form of art, he was delivering us. Was he finding deeper purpose in this?
Roots never sounded so good
So when you listen to hit me where it hurts x, Skrillex is melding his effects to very different lines. His leads are still hypnotic, and that is something every EDM fan can testify to. Like Major Lazer and Avicii, there are sections of the song you listen to that instantly show you that a Skrillex drop is coming. Not using the brush you inspired so many people to make music with would be ridiculous. Of course, there’s dubstep here. It’s interesting where he has learned to push the beats and drops too. I love how the genuinely funny parts still exist, just before the drop.
This has become normalcy now, in his world. The Oh My God! remains an iconic line, and I was on the way to count how many of them would be there. A stupid conquest, but Skrillex’s music is rooted in silliness. The artist, if not anything, has learned to not take anything that seriously. You can see him use samples from haters into his music, feeding the loop even more.
Ridiculous beat design, and the drops.
There is a house essence in while you were sleeping. With Virtual Riot and Nakeesha, this has a great mix and composition overall. As the beat builds, Skrillex experiments with steeper percussions within the gaps. Unlike traditional dubstep drops, he doesn’t rely on the distorted synths as much. When we move to move ting, it retains that fiery energy that you expect from this EDM star. Kids today would never know the hype he had around him.
From his personal life to his music, this was an internet DJ from front to back. He knew pop culture at the back of his hand. His look was copied and iconic in a way, goth but a massive fan of metal, soft rock and everything in between. So there were all these years where you wondered where the dubstep Skrillex went. He didn’t go anywhere. He was testing new stuff out, and he’s allowed to do that as an artist. Let’s mark 2025 as a powerful return to the dubverse where he truly reigns.
Samples, galore
It’s great to hear samples when you never expect them, and from the weirdest artists. You would hear a Jay Z word sometimes, but you’d never be sure. Sharp eared fans at the time would storm to Reddit to list down how many ever references they could think of in an album. Each album or song became a treasure hunt. That is where he thrived, and that’s where he has come full circle to. Writing the word dubstep so many times in an article in 2025? Not on my bingo card.
The title song of the EP comes in next, with an interesting phasing beat. I have never been a deep cut EDM fan, but I’ve had friends who got their first console all because of Skrillex. It’s great to see how he knows how to shift between hilarious punchlines to kick-ass, actually finessed drops and tracks within a moment’s notice. The EP might not stand up to Voltage and FUS, but damn, does it highlight what a great producer and mixer he is.
The 10 year wait, has weight
He’s more than a nostalgia delivery system now. To all who have missed their good time EDM artist for their parties, you can definitely check this one out, and transition to FUS. There is no dearth of music there at all. And in the 9 years you heard him go through different genres and tease this homecoming-you’re allowed to express your true joy. When you hear this version of voltage, you realise how good Skrillex really is, being able to reimagine a favourite track and give different kind of wings to it.
Press play at the top once, and you will be vibing till the whole EP is over, that is for sure. Great picks for featuring artists, beats and sound design. It hits definitely where it matters:
Self professed metalhead, moderately well read. If the music has soul, it's whole to me. The fact that my bio could have ended on a rhyme and doesn't should tell you a lot about my personality.
