Defining Brostep: Skrillex's 'Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites' EP

SKRILLEX: SCARY MONSTERS AND NICE SPRITES EP

SCORE: 100/100

---------------------------------------------------------------------

There will never be another project as comprehensive as this one. 

Without a doubt, this EP is one of the greatest pieces of music ever made - and it's the most important dubstep EP to ever grace the scene. This project would go on to raise an entire generation of electronic fans while defining an entire era; and dubstep hit massive mainstream success with this project being at the very front. Skrillex would go on to become a massive phenomenon throughout the 2010's, and people to this day still wonder how to replicate his complex sound. 

Skrillex had hit big on mau5trap releasing this EP, and it marked his first massive success, with the title track being his most well known and iconic track to this day, and every song on the project being a work of art and something of its own kind. There is a massive amount of quality present on each song, and it's hard to even imagine how he created each sound present on the project - from iconic hits to the lesser known later half, everything on the EP is varied and creates a new, rough atmosphere. This is as iconic as a Skrillex project gets, and the impact that he created within just nine tracks is something no other producer could ever do. 

Moore recorded the entirety of this project on a laptop out of his apartment, using his signature MacBook + Ableton combination to create unique, bassy, growling dubstep that combines heavy sampling and chopping with distinctively engineered synths, snares, growls, and kicks - creating a sound that only Skrillex could ever produce. 

Despite being widely and generally known as purely dubstep, Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites is a mix of various genres - primarily Complextro, brostep, and minimal aspects of progressive house, with brostep being the most apparent and defining genre aspect throughout the entirety of the EP. The majority of the songs are rough and gritty, with growls and massive drops making up the EP's bulk, and the softer side of Moore's producorial palate shining through with songs like 'All I Ask of You'. There is a great variety of features and unique remixes on the project, and it's an EP that does it all while pushing the boundaries of what is considered an extended play rather than a full-length album.

Brostep is the kind of rough, rugged dubstep that made up the 2010's scene, where it was booming in the mainstream after being pioneered and shaped by Skrillex. This project served as the second of many EP's in his discography, and it followed up 'My Name Is Skrillex' with something even more polished and definitive.

This EP is what made Skrillex a household name - winning him multiple Grammys and creating a massive dubstep boom that would continue throughout the decade. With just one project and 43 minutes, he made an icon out of himself. This would mark a turning point in his musical journey after his rock roots and change over to electronic music, and instead of sounding like his influences, he became his own beast in his own right.  

Not only does this EP still stand out and hold its quality over fifteen years later, it is also one of the most important projects when it comes to defining the 2010's. When I think of my early childhood, Skrillex is one of those pioneering artists that was massive when I was a kid, from Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites all the way over to Jack Ü, I have had more memories than I can count with music that was produced and formatted by Skrillex; little did I know the lasting impact he would continue to have on my life as I reach into adulthood - with his music being my main source of listening and my biggest inspiration in my own style of production. An entire era of living can be defined with Skrillex as the soundtrack - 2010's EDM shows, early internet, meme culture, and the Xbox 360 era can all be marked with Skrillex, and the massive impact of this EP is something no other EDM artist could ever even imagine.