Steve Aoki: Wake Up Call

Steve Aoki’s one of those figures in electronic music you can’t quite pin down. He’s been running Dim Mak forever, he plays everywhere, and there’s something genuinely committed about the way he approaches his sets—that all-in energy that makes you think he actually cares. His music is solid enough, the label has released real records, but something about him has become so commercial, so much the face of a certain version of electronic music, that I find it hard to take seriously. The cake throwing bit lost its charm years ago. Still, I can’t fault the work ethic or his actual presence in the scene. I just don’t think about him much when I’m not hearing his name.