Steve Aoki: The Kids Will Have Their Say

Steve Aoki’s been around long enough that his whole persona—the energy, the cake, the endless touring—feels like a permanent fixture of electronic music culture now. He built Dim Mak into something real when progressive house was still somewhat niche, and he’s kept moving, kept championing artists who needed the platform. Whether people think he’s essential or exhausting probably depends on when they found him, but the work is done. The kids coming up now probably don’t think about whether he matters—he’s just landscape, something to navigate or reject as you move forward.