Andy Warhol once declared that “in the future, everybody will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” While this idea has only grown more relevant with the ever-fleeting nature of online fame, some artists stand the test of time. In November 2024, dubstep artist Skrillex took to the social media platform X to reflect on his plans to go independent in 2025 after a 15-year contract with Atlantic Records. He stated that he wants “to find ways to simplify [disseminating] music and art,” and also teased his next and final project for the label — his recent release, “F*CK U SKRILLEX YOU THINK UR ANDY WARHOL BUT UR NOT!! <3.” The record was surprise-dropped on Dropbox after his headlining performance at the Ultra Music Festival in March before its release on streaming services in April.
Skrillex’s 2023 album “Quest For Fire” reads like a grand statement on how the artist’s sound has matured and progressed in the last decade, and his second album release of that year “Don’t Get Too Close” further demonstrated his prowess through pop and rap-oriented collaborations with notable artists like Yung Lean and PinkPantheress. Even as it draws from the eclecticism of both these albums, “F*CK U SKRILLEX YOU THINK UR ANDY WARHOL BUT UR NOT!! <3” is a far more irreverent affair that’s more indebted to mixtapes and EDM’s live scene.
The album’s 34 tracks make for an appropriately maximalist body of work — think of it as the dubstep counterpart to Playboi Carti’s “MUSIC” if it was distilled down to a 46-minute runtime. Even though this structure means that few of its individual tracks feel as fleshed-out as the songs of his previous albums, the album more than makes up for this with its sheer, nonstop energy.
Following the introductory track’s disclaimer to listen to the album from start to finish, its 46 minutes of music zip by in part due to each track’s seamless transitions, on top of ebullient voiceovers by underground producer DJ Smokey on the first and last tracks. He interjects the record with commentary, even directly addressing the record label he left in 2024. Arguably the funniest moment on the record comes when Smokey proclaims, “This beat drop has been seized by Atlantic Records and has been replaced with silence” on “BIGGY BAP,” heralding an eight-count of crickets chirping that launches into a pounding techno drop.
Songs like “SPITFIRE” and “ULTRA INTRO” dole out the heavy-hitting brostep Skrillex first made his name with, with the album supported by a cavalcade of bass music talents including Virtual Riot and Space Laces. Special mention goes to the song “DRUIDS,” a collaboration with producer G Jones that weaves between crisp, bleeping melodies and pulsing bass that show off both artists’ sound design wizardry.
As well as drawing from longtime collaborators like Boys Noize, the album hosts an eclectic variety of other artist features from different genres, from experimental electronic with Dylan Brady of 100 gecs and rap with Whitearmor of Drain Gang. Appropriately, the songs these artists feature on jump between bombastic trap, propulsive techno beats, shuffling garage and even moments of euphoric atmosphere like on “SEE YOU AGAIN VIP” and “G2G.” The track “KORABU” in particular offers a super-truncated showcase of Skrillex’s curated artistic variety, segueing from gentle vocals to baile-esque rhythms and a jumpy dubstep drop.
The breakneck pace and wide-ranging influences on this album not only apply to artist features, but also encompass Skrillex’s own deeper cuts. Across the record, he incorporates iterations of his past remixes of “HUMBLE.” and “SICKO MODE,” and snippets of his earlier works like “DNB TING.” These lookbacks harken back to his releases at the start of the 2010s, which provide an abrasive contrast to Skrillex’s now-impeccably clean mixing style.
Capping off the high of “VOLTAGE” and the non-stop thrill ride that came before it, “AZASU” winds things down in a chiptune-esque credit roll, shouting out the many collaborators on the album and ending on a sincere note. As ridiculous as the idea of comparing Skrillex to someone like Andy Warhol might be, it’s also the closest he’s come to pop art’s boldness, bridging his frenetic energy with the various musical cultures he’s made himself at home in for over a decade. As a now independent artist, “F*CK U SKRILLEX YOU THINK UR ANDY WARHOL BUT UR NOT!! <3” serves as a captivating return to Skrillex’s roots, a continued assertion of his talent and a love letter to the wider electronic scene all at once.
Contact Kaleo Zhu at [email protected].